The Remote Associates Test: Divergent or Convergent Thinking?

Abstract

The Remote Associates Test was administered in a battery of tests of convergent and divergent thinking abilities ro 107 high school students. Contrary to previously rcported results, it related largely to the convergent thinking measures.Claims have been made that the Remote Associates Test (RAT) can be assumed to be a measure of creative thinking (Mednick, 1962;Andrews, 1965; Lucas & Dana, 1966). This test requires S to find a word which is associated in some way with two other given words. Datta (1964) and Shapiro (1965) have expressed doubts as to its suitability as a test of divergent thinking since it appears to be culture-bound, highly dependent on verbal ability, and because there is only one allowable solution for each item The present study represented an attempt to resolve its status with respect to divergent and convergent thinking.Method.-The RAT was administered, together with a battery of tests representing convergent and divergent chinking factors, to a sample of 107 high school students who had completed ninth-grade examinations 5 mo. previously. The convergent thinking measures included: verbal and quantitative IQs on A.C.E.R. Form W (Total IQ Range, 82 to 135+, M = 110.7, SD = 13.6);Raven's Progressive Matrices; A.C.E.R. Speed and Accuracy test (a 12-min. test of number and name checking), and the Number Series subtest from the Army Alpha. The divergent thinking battery consisred of four of the Guilford tests: Ideational Fluency, Word Pluency, Consequences, Unusual Uses, and a Figure Completion test. These were scored to yield three measures: Fluency, Flexibility, and Originality; and total scores were obtained for each of these dirnensions by adding the relevact four standard scores. School achievement tests of English, Mathematics, and Science, and a total score were also calculated from ninth-grade statewide examinations.Reszllts.-Product-momenc correlations of all measures with the RAT are given in Table 1. With few exceptions individual tests correlate positively with RAT, but the convergent thinking tests, and even school achievement as a whole, correlated considerably higher than the tests of divergent thinking. The highest correlation for the divergent tests was with Word Fluency, a simple test of speed of producing words cornme~cing with particular prefixes. While this correla-'The authors thank Mrs. Marrhj Mednick for kindly making rhe RAT available for this study.

Remotely Close Associations: Openness to Experience and Semantic Memory Structure

“…Although the task examines the ability to form associative elements into novel and remote combinations, there has been some debate about whether the RAT actually measures creativity (Lee, Huggins, & Therriault, 2014;Taft & Rossiter, 1966). Most of the literature suggests that the RAT is a convergent thinking task (has a single correct answer), which is supported by relationships to other measures of convergent thinking such as working memory and intelligence (Harris, 2004;Lee & Therriault, 2013).…”

Investigating the structure of semantic networks in low and high creative persons

“…Despite the wide use of the RAT to investigate creativity, some argue against the RAT as a measure of creativity (Taft and Rossiter, 1966; Lee and Therriault, 2013). These objections are mainly due to the fact that the RAT is considered a convergent, and not a divergent, measure of creativity.…”

“…As the RAT measures the success of a participant to find the single correct solution, it is considered a convergent test of creativity. However, Taft and Rossiter (1966) examined whether the RAT measures divergent or convergent modes of thought, by having participants complete the RAT with other convergent (such as school achievement and verbal IQ) and divergent (such as ideational and word fluency) measures. While the authors show how the RAT highly correlated with the convergent measures (measured by IQ and achievement scores), they also found significant correlations between the RAT and the divergent measures (measured by flexibility, originality, and fluency scores).…”

The combined effects of relationship conflict and the relational self on creativity

“…This required thinking from a novel perspective, based on the ability to analyze associations between remote ideas. The RAT has consequently been used within creativity studies to measure convergent type of creativity or general creativity levels (Cushen & Wiley, 2012;Dewhurst, Thorley, Hammond, & Ormerod, 2011;Storm, Angello, & Bjork, 2011;Subramaniam, Kounios, Parrish, & Jung-Beeman, 2008;Taft & Rossiter, 1966). We used the number of correct RAT answers provided as a creativity index for each participant.…”