The Iowa inventiveness inventory: Toward a measure of mechanical inventiveness

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop the Iowa Inventiveness Inventory (III), an instrument to measure biographical, personality, and vocational variables associated with mechanical inventiveness. Items for the III came from case data from 34 prominent inventors who held agricultural and industrial patents. The III was shown to be an internally consistent scale with moderately high test‐retest reliability. Also, the scale discriminated between inventors and noninventors in both adolescent and adult populations.