Status: In Progress
How creative do you think you are? The Guilford Alternate Uses Task was developed in 1967 as a way to measure creativity. The task asks participants to write down as many different ways as possible to use an object, such as a newspaper, a brick, or an envelope, within a short amount of time. Four criteria are used to score how people approach this puzzle: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality. Looking for these qualities in participants’ answers is believed to measure something known as divergent thinking, the ability to think of multiple different ideas, perspectives or uses when faced with a question. This project looks at this task and how it compares to a single-item question where people rate their creativity. It can also see how creativity changes after various personal growth workshops.