Brain Rules for Baby (John Medina) / quote 31 of 91
The Torrance test predicts creative output
Can you predict creativity in kids? Psychologist Paul Torrance created a 90-minute exam called the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. The tests are composed of some truly delightful problems. Children might be presented with a picture of a stuffed rabbit, then told they have three minutes to improve upon the design to make it more fun to play with. They might be presented with a scribble, then told to make a narrative from it. Torrance first administered the exam in 1958 to several hundred children, then followed their lives into adulthood, assessing their creative output throughout: things like patents filed, books written, papers published, grants awarded, and businesses started. The study is still ongoing, the participants christened “Torrance’s Kids.” Torrance died in 2003, and the study is now supervised by colleagues. As a research tool, the exam has been formally evaluated many times. Though the test is not without its critics, the most amazing finding remains how well a child’s scores predict his or her future creative output. Indeed, the scores predict lifetime creative output with a correlation three times stronger than native IQ can predict. The test has been translated into 50 languages and taken by millions of people. It is the go-to standard for evaluating creativity in children.