Divergent Thinking

Definition

Divergent thinking is best defined by contrasting it with convergent thinking. Simply put, the former is thinking that moves in different directions and the latter is thinking that moves toward one or a very few correct or conventional answers. “How are automobiles and bicycles alike?” allows divergent thinking; “What is the capital of California?” requires convergent thinking.

Convergent thinking can be judged by correctness. Responses to divergent thinking exercises and tests, in contrast, may be quite varied, numerous, and original. In fact, that is the attraction of divergent thinking. Originality is particularly important because it is vital for creative thinking. Originality is apparent in divergent thinking that leads to unusual or unique ideas. There are other important features of divergent thinking, including ideational fluency (the number of ideas given to a particular question) and flexibility (the number of categories or themes in the ideational set). The different aspects of ideation are highly intercorrelated, but not entirely redundant. It is best to use all of them to get a real understanding of an individual's thinking.

Uses

Divergent thinking exercises can be used in education, with preschool-aged children through college, in order to exercise the ideational basis of creative thinking. There are numerous divergent thinking exercises available, and many others can be found by simply altering questions such that they are open-ended to allow ideation and to avoid a focus on one correct or conventional answer.

More formally, divergent thinking allows the objective assessment of creative potential. Thus it can be used as either a means for exercising the ideational skills that are associated with creative thinking or used as a psychometric measure to estimate the potential for creative problem solving. Sometimes these two things go hand in hand, with tests of divergent thinking used as criteria to assess the impact of programs that are designed to enhance creative potentials. This is a logical approach to take, though in precise terms divergent thinking should be used more as a predictor of the potential for creative problem solving and not a criterion of actual creative performance. Too often, when it is used as a criterion, the assumption is that divergent thinking is synonymous with actual creativity. This view is inaccurate. It is, again, a useful estimate of the potential for creative thought.

It is only an estimate of potential because other things in addition to divergent thinking are involved in actual creative performances. These include motivation (usually intrinsic), tolerance, risk taking, openness, and a few other attitudes, capacities, and abilities that operate in various combinations in different domains of creative performance (e.g., art, mathematics, science, interpersonal relationships, to name just a few). Creative talent usually is defined as a complex, the idea being that no one predictor or trait is sufficient and that various things are involved.

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