COGNITIVE,MOTIVATIONAL AND TEMPERAMENTAL INDICANTS OF CREATIVITY AND INTELLIGENCE1

Relationships between measures of creativity and measures of intelligence were analysed to show that even when the intercorrelations among the former are not appreciably larger than correlations between creativity and intelligence measures, dimensions of creativity are found to be psychometrically and conceptually distinct from dimensions of intelligence. One hundred eighty-eight art and engineering college students were administered objective tests and questionnaires designed to tap a number of ability and nonability indicants of creativity and intelligence. Some of these measures were of a kind that some investigators would regard as “criterion” measures of creativity and intelligence. Data were analysed by means of correlational and factor analytic procedures. Eight major influences were indicated by independent factors rotated to approximate simple structure. The influences represented by these factors were identified as: fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, memory, fluency, rule-orientation versus intuitive thinking, and self-sufficient-calculated-risk-taking. The fourth, seventh, and eighth factors were discussed as representing distinct cognitive, motivational, and temperamental aspects of creativity. At the level of test intercorrelations discriminant validity did not obtain–measures of creativity did not intercorrelate more highly among themselves than they correlated with measures of intelligence. The putative factors of creativity did correlate more highly with creativity criteria, however, than did the factors identified as representing intelligence. Moreover, the intelligence factors were more highly related to intelligence criteria than to creativity criteria. Thus the evidence of this study suggests that it is useful to think of creativity and intelligence as the outgrowths of distinct (although overlapping) sets of influences, even when this is not well indicated by discriminant-convergent validation analyses carried out with respect to tests (in contrast to factors).