COP 3 : Primary Research - creativity tests

Creativity Tests :

After researching into methods of creativity I want to conduct my own creativity test, which will encompass the variety of tests in one. The test would be given to Graphic design students to gauge their creative abilities and see if there are any specific areas of creativity that designers excel at. To make sure that my test is fair I will also give the test out to people who do not come from a creative background, but I will not be using this data this will be just to back up my results.


Aesthetics:

I want my creativity test to have an aesthetically playful feel to it as I don't want it to come across as a 'test' which will conjure awful memories in people heads of school days. I want people to look at it and it look fun not daunting. The above example are by........... they achieve the aesthetically playful look though pattern and colour, this s something I will investigate for my test playing with patterns especially as a hand drawn pattern will add an element of free thinking and creativity and encourage the person to do as they please.

Tests :

 

The test I am going to include in my booklet are -

Torrance test of creative thinking, J. P Guilfords structure of intersect and Mednicks Remote Association test. All of these tests are used to determine creative potential, they measure Divergent thinking, ability to create association, problem solving, creative flow and many more. I will be taking aspects from each test. 

- Section 1: This will involve a divergent thinking test where the subject will be asked to think of as many different uses for a brick 

- Section 2 : This section will test the ability to create original ideas throughout the incomplete figure test (Torrance test of creative thinking) The subject must finish off a drawing where there is just a line, and name it. The more original the idea the more creative the person is said to be.

- Section 3 : This section involves a test of remote associations. The subject will be asked to find the missing link that associate three unrelated things such as Dress, Dial, Cream the answer would be Sun.

- Section 4 : Section 4 will test the subjects ability to solve problems. This is less about creativity as there is a set methodically answer, but it will be instructing to test graphic designers ability to solve problems as that is what they are often called - visual problem solvers.

- Section 5: This is another divergent thinking test trying to think of as many things that have wheels. this is a test of speed and thinking of the most unusual things that have wheels.

Design :

  

The above are the patterns that I will be using in the test. This will create an effect of playfulness and liberation, hopefully encouraging the subject to think creatively and not think of this test as a 'test'. There patterns are all in colour for the same reason to create a joyful, fun feeling.

the layout and design of the booklet is as simple as can be, whilst still using colour as a main component. The simple layout will make the booklet and test easier to follow and avoid confusion.

I have created three versions of the test to get a better understanding of what inhibits creative thought pattern. One book will ask the person to have a two minute break dividing coloured counters into colour groups e.g. all red in one group, all green in another. After this task has been done for two minute the person will be asked to repeat the brick test to see if they can come up with more creative uses for the brick. The other version of the test will make the subject sit for two minutes doing nothing before repeating the brick test, and the third version of the test will make the subject could down from 1000 in 7's for two minutes which is a hard task for most. 

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