The Effects of Scoring Formulas on the Discriminant Validity of Tests of Divergent Thinking
Abstract
Two multitrait-multimethod studies were conducted to investigate the effects of two scoring formulas on the discriminant validity of the dimensions of divergent thinking. In the first study, 39 fifth-grade students were given the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. In the second study, 60 college students were given Alternate Uses, Plot Titles, and Consequences. Findings indicate that the discriminant validity of subjectively determined originality scores is enhanced when the scores are divided by the total number of responses (yielding a percentage score). However, when the percentage formula was used to derive flexibility scores from the Torrance Tests or an originality score based on statistical rarity from the Alternate Uses test, the coefficient alpha reliabilities dropped to near zero. This finding suggests that the utility of the percentage formula is limited to subjectively determined originality scores.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Some studies have shown that the TTCT Verbal could be assessing a single construct rather than multiple abilities.
“Some studies have shown that the TTCT Verbal could be assessing a single construct rather than multiple abilities (Dixon, 1979;Hocevar, 1979;Hocevar & Michael, 1979).”
From Factor Structure of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Verbal Form B in a Spanish‐speaking Population (2016) · cites this paper as Hocevar & Michael, 1979
The study's findings do not support the existence of a general factor for the TTCT Verbal and contradict previous studies suggesting a unidimensional structure.
“Our findings do not support the existence of a general factor and contradict the results of previous studies that suggest a TTCT unidimensional structure (Hocevar, 1979;Hocevar & Michael, 1979).”
From Factor Structure of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Verbal Form B in a Spanish‐speaking Population (2016) · cites this paper as Hocevar & Michael, 1979
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Silvia, P. J., Winterstein, B. P., Willse, J. T., Barona, C. M., Cram, J. T., Hess, K. I., Martinez, J. L., & Richard, C. A. (2008) · Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts · doi:10.1037/1931-3896.2.2.68 · Cited by 912 · see citing works
Can We Trust Creativity Tests? A Review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
Kim, K. H. (2006) · Creativity Research Journal · doi:10.1207/s15326934crj1801_2 · Cited by 830 · see citing works
Nusbaum, E. C., & Silvia, P. J. (2011) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2010.11.002 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
Silvia, P. J., Beaty, R. E., & Nusbaum, E. C. (2013) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2013.05.004 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Individual differences in creative cognition.
Dygert, S. K. C., & Jarosz, A. F. (2020) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/xge0000713 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Krumm, G., Aranguren, M., Arán Filippetti, V., & Lemos, V. (2016) · The Journal of Creative Behavior · doi:10.1002/jocb.76 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hocevar, D., & Michael, W. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- ORCID
- Hocevar, Dennis
- Venue
- Educational and Psychological Measurement
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1979-12
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 917-921
- ISSN
- 0013-1644 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3888
- OpenAlex
- W2018842554
- Cited by
- 113
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational and Psychological Measurement (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- divergent thinking, scoring formula, discriminant validity, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, originality, flexibility, consequences, creativity assessment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
