Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT, published by Scholastic Testing Service, http://www.ststesting.com) are a battery of figural and verbal tests designed to assess creative thinking in individuals from kindergarten through adulthood. Just as IQ tests are measures of some cognitive abilities related to intelligence, the TTCT are measures of intellectual abilities that are used in creative achievements. They are not purported to measure the entire global construct of creativity, as they don't measure motivation, skill, or any other of the many components that may impact an individual's ultimate creative productivity. Yet in the 40-plus years since they were created, the tests have been translated into more than 35 languages and have been used around the world. There are several studies affirming their predictive validity, most recently the results of the 40-year follow-up of elementary children who were given the tests in 1958 and were contacted in 1998 to assess their creative achievements in adulthood.

Torrance believed that everyone has creativity and that it can be nurtured. He designed the tests to measure creative thinking abilities so that they could be enhanced. The tests were seen as a means of assessing the effectiveness of creativity training, pointing [Page 1011]out abilities that might otherwise go unnoticed, understanding the human mind, and assisting with curriculum design and psychotherapy. He and his students and colleagues tested many stimuli to find ones that were motivating to children and adults, gender neutral, and not discriminatory to children from different racial or socioeconomic groups. The resultant tests are used for all ages, although the norms are age- or grade-based for conversion to standard scores.

The verbal tests consist of six activities and take about 1 hour to administer. The respondents are requested to ask questions, guess causes, predict consequences, improve a product, think of new uses for a common object, and reason in a hypothetical situation. The figural tests consist of three activities and take approximately 45 minutes to administer. The respondents are given 10 minutes each to add details to black-and-white shapes and abstract line drawings to make something out of them. The instructions for the activities are designed to motivate the respondents to give creative responses by instructing them to give many unusual, detailed ideas.

The TTCT are most often used as part of a multiple-criterion approach to identifying students for gifted programs. The recent and growing emphasis on identifying a broad array of talents in a diverse population of students has increased interest in assessments like the TTCT, especially the figural forms, which are not heavily dependent on language. Also, because Torrance was originally interested in creative students, “wild colts” who were often in trouble in schools, the TTCT may be particularly useful for discovering and redirecting such children's energies and talents toward more positive pursuits.