It is very difficult to capture
inventiveness through a
formal test, and on the
other hand, creativity tests
are as trustworthy as
intelligence tests. Typical
procedures for assessing
creativity are based on how
many unusual or original
responses the subject is
able to give questions such
as "How many uses do you
think can be given to a
brick?" or "What
consequences would result
from the prohibition of
private vehicles?" This type
of test reveals the existence
of two basic mental
"styles": the convergent and
the divergent.
The person of convergent
thinking tends to address
problems in a logical way
and to establish
conventional relationships.
Those with divergent
thinking tend to use illogical
or "marginal" judgments,
looking for innovative
ebetty solutions.
They are cited: intuition,
original thinking,
irrationality, value,
flexibility. There is an
indirect way to evaluate
creativity more adapted to
psychometric standards,
such as the one proposed
by the CREA test (Corbalán
et al.) By studying cognitive
versatility.
The Western school
education system favors
the child of non-creative
intelligence (the
convergent) to the
detriment of the creative
child. The creative child
may have a not entirely
"desirable" personality; it
is easy for him to be shy,
reserved, little inclined to
believe in the teacher's
word at all times,
preferring to follow his
own inclinations rather
than sticking to the
limitations of the study
program. On the contrary,
the convergent is, by
definition, a person who
easily adapts to the type of
work required by the
academic apparatus,
without calling into
question his intellectual
and pedagogical
orientation.
This division between the
creative divergent and the
conventional mind convergent
is not, however, absolute.
Convergent individuals who
are asked to respond to the
tests as if they were divergent,
that is, as they imagine that an
anti-conventional artist would
answer them, can give very
similar answers to those of
the "genuine" divergent. This
indicates that although there
may be innate and unalterable
differences in individuals in
terms of their creativity, the
way of thinking of the
conformists is due not so
much to an inability to the
original thought, but to the
fear of the possibility of
looking like a person strange
or strange, to the fear of
losing the approval of society,
or a resistance to trust
intuition rather than reason.
An important component of
creativity is independence
from the opinions of others.