Creativity Assessment

Test Number	67
Title	The Gross Geometric Forms Test for Children
Author	Gross, R. B.; Green, B. L.; Gleser, G. C.
Category	Test
Copyright Date	1982
Availability	Out of print
Restrictions
Age/Grade Level	Ages 3-12
Cost	No current information
Forms
Source	No current information. Out of print
Address
Phone
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web or e-mail
Definition	“Ultimately, however a person is judged creative by his/her productions.”- manual Creativity includes the ability to produce constructions and their names; communicability based on the degree to which the construction and name match; and the richness of thinking based on elaborations in action, color and embellishment.
Purposes	This is an experimental method for assessing creativity in a visual-pictorial medium. The goal is to develop a means of objectively measuring creativity in children that is age-appropriate using a task which circumvents problems of inequality in motor dev
Characteristics	Generating Ideas Openness and Courage to Explore Ideas Listening to One's Inner Voice Digging Deeper into Ideas

Manual
Fair	The manual presents a discussion of definition and purposes, theoretical rationale, target populations and uses, and scoring instructions. Reliability evidence and the instrument’s history and development are also presented.

Validity
Fair	Correlations with the ratings of six artists was .84. But in grade 7 the correlation with Art grades was .46. The correlations with observations of creative play among children in an English school where N=10 was .71. Validity is questionable based on th

Reliability
Fair	Stability with 29 cases ages 4-6.5 over 60 to 110 days was .60. Inter-rater reliability was .99 based on 43 cases aged 3-6.5. Six judges rated each trial on 30 protocols correlating .84 with formal total scores. Again these data are promising but limited.

Utility
Good	The measure is administered individually. It is untimed. Subjects are asked to use any of 48 colored geometric forms to make “something,” name it, and describe their work. Subjects make, name and describe 10 constructions. Scoring is based on the inclusion of elements basic to the creative endeavor.

Interpretation
Fair	While norms are presented for ages 3-6, 9-10, and 15, this data is limited. Scores relate to productivity based on constructions and their names; communicability based on the degree to which the construction and name match; and the richness of thinking based on elaborations in action, color and embellishment.

Propriety
Good	There is some question if the felt shapes are suitable for use by pre-k and kindergarten children and if they would appeal to older children grade 4 and up. Results indicate that age is associated with higher scores. No sex or racial differences were foun

Reviews & Related Lit

MMY #9, 1985: Vernon, P. E. “Though the authors should be congratulated on their initiative and their extended enquiries into generalizability and validity, it would be difficult to agree with them that the results justify calling the test ‘a valid measure of creativity.’ However …it is probably no worse, and possibly better than other tests available for 3- to 9-year-olds.” This is a promising concept. It is too bad that we have not heard of any follow-up. The manual reads like a dissertation, and while deserving of an in depth read by those in the field, it is not user friendly as a test manual. The one-on-one nature of the test makes it of questionable use as a screening tool. However it could serve as a placement tool after further research and development.