Divergent Thinking as an Indicator of Creative Potential

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are very often used in creativity studies. Certainly DT does not guarantee actual creative achievement, but tests of DT are reliable and reasonably valid predictors of certain performance criteria. The validity of DT is described as reasonable because validity is not an all-or-nothing attribute, but is, instead, a matter of degree. Also, validity only makes sense relative to particular criteria. The criteria strongly associated with DT are detailed in this article. It also summarizes the uses and limitations of DT, conceptually and psychometrically. After the psychometric evidence is reviewed, alternative tests and scoring procedures are described, including several that have only recently been published. Throughout this article related processes, such as problem finding and evaluative thinking, are linked to DT.