Remotes Associates test (Rat)

remote associates test (Rat

2004

Creativity is a level of creative endowments , ability for creation which compose relatively stable characteristic of person . During last years this term became very popular , and people almost forgot the word creative ability . These terms seem to be identical , but it is better understand creativity not only as creative ability or a number of such abilities , but also as ability for creation and these concepts are not identical , although they are very close one to the other

Creative components of intellectual processes were of great interest

to many scientists during the whole time of development of psychological science . We can just remember names of Alfred Bitnet , Frederic Bartlett and works of Max Wertgamer , Wolfgang Keller , Charles Dunker and many other interesting researches . Still , these works actually didn 't take into consideration individual differences in creative abilities although they confessed that different people have different creative abilities

Interest to individual differences in creative abilities appeared in connection with evident achievements in the field of testometrical researches of intellect and with no less than evident omissions in this field . Till the beginning of 60-ies scientists already had large scale of intellect testing , and this fact presented new problems and questions . Particularly , they found out that professional and life success is not connected directly with intellect level , calculated with the help of IQ testing . The experience have shown that people with not so high IQ coefficient are able for great achievements , and many others which IQ is much higher , are very often left behind (Hamilton , M . A Scientists supposed that the decisive role play here some other features of mind , which were not seized by traditional testing

Inasmuch as comparison of successful decision of problem situations with traditional testing of intellect in majority of cases have shown absence of connections between them , some psychologists came to conclusion that effectiveness of solving problems depends not of knowledge and experience , which can be measured by intellect tests , but of special ability to use information given in tasks by different ways and in high tempo . Such ability was called `creativity

The main way of creativity diagnostics became Remote Associates Test (RAT , with help of which they measure peculiarities and quickness of transference of attention at some symbolic level in limits of big volume of information (Mednick , S .A , The associative basis of the creative process

RAT test has a little bit other conception in its basis . Mednick considers that creativity process consists of convergent and divergent parts , to tell more distinctly , division of cognitive act for these parts shows it discrepancy . Mednick thinks that when you take problems from more remote areas , the more creative is process of solving this problem . In this way , divergence is replaced by actualization of remote zones of sense space (Mednick , S . A (1968 . The Remote Associates Test Journal of Creative Behavior . But , at the same time , synthesis of elements can be non-creative and stereotype , for example , combination of features of horse and man actualizes image...