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Can We Trust Creativity Tests? A Review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
Abstract
Dr. E. Paul Torrance, "Father of Creativity," is best known for developing the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The TTCT was developed by Torrance in 1966. It has been renormed 4 times: in 1974, 1984, 1990, and 1998. There are 2 forms (A and B) of the TTCT-Verbal and 2 forms (A and B) of the TTCT-Figural. However, in the scope of this review, only the TTCT-Figural was examined. The TTCT has been translated into more than 35 languages (Millar, 2002). It has become highly recommended in the educational field and is even used in the corporate world. It is the most widely used test of creativity (Davis, 1997) and is the most referenced of all creativity tests (Lissitz & Willhoft, 1985). Basic information is presented, including purposes, content area, norms, reliability, and validity. Strengths and weaknesses of the TTCT, including use of the TTCT in identifying gifted learners and suggestions for further development and improvement, are provided and discussed.
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Cited work 10.1207/s15326934crj1801_10 · retracted 2019-12-03 · notice 10.1080/10400419.2019.1647690 · this paper published 2006-01-01
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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
“Divergent Thinking 5 Assessing Divergent Thinking Divergent thinking is assessed with divergent thinking tasks, in which people generate ideas in response to verbal or figural prompts (Kim, 2006; Michael & Wright, 1989; Wallach & Kogan, 1965).”
BackgroundKim, K. H. (2011) · Creativity Research Journal · doi:10.1080/10400419.2011.627805 · Cited by 828
“Thus, Kim (2006) questioned the credibility of Originality scores of the 1998 TTCT, because the scores were based on the lists of responses that are statistically common developed by Torrance in 1984, over 14 years earlier.”
BackgroundSelf-citationCan Only Intelligent People Be Creative? A Meta-Analysis
Kim, K. H. (2005) · Journal of Advanced Academics · doi:10.4219/jsge-2005-473 · Cited by 516
Self-citationKim, K. H. (2008) · The Journal of Creative Behavior · doi:10.1002/j.2162-6057.2008.tb01290.x · Cited by 378
“The TTCT is known for having one of the largest norming samples with valuable longitudinal validations (Davis, 1997) and high predictive validity over a very wide age range (Cropley, 2000, for more information, see Kim, 2006).”
BackgroundSelf-citationZeng, L., Proctor, R. W., & Salvendy, G. (2011) · Creativity Research Journal · doi:10.1080/10400419.2011.545713 · Cited by 350
“80) that each of them does not provide meaningfully different information (Almeida et al., 2008; Clapham, 1998; Feldhusen & Goh, 1995; Kim, 2006; Mansfield et al., 1978).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Kim, K. H.
- Corresponding author
- Kim, Kyung Hee
- ORCID
- Kim, Kyung Hee
- Venue
- Creativity Research Journal
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-01-01
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-14
- ISSN
- 1040-0419 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-6934
- OpenAlex
- W2171882070
- Cited by
- 830
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 45 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 70 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 82 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 42 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 53 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 13.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Creativity Research Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, creativity assessment, creativity tests, test reliability, test validity, reference values, gifted identification, Torrance, test development
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