| Test Number |
72 |
| Title |
Torrance Test of Creative Thinking |
| Author |
E. Paul Torrance |
| Category |
Test |
| Copyright Date |
1966-1998 |
| Availability |
From Publisher |
| Restrictions |
|
| Age/Grade Level |
K-grad. school |
| Cost |
Administrator Set (with 20 test booklets), $40.80; Examiner’s Kit, $29.90 |
| Forms |
A and B, Figural and Verbal |
| Source |
Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. |
| Address |
480 Meyer Rd. Bensenville, IL 60106-1617 |
| Phone |
800-642-6STS |
| Fax |
630-766-8054 |
| web or e-mail |
www.ststesting.com |
| Definition |
Creativity involves fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration. |
| Purposes |
To sample a variety of verbal and figural dimensions of creative thinking. |
| Characteristics |
Generating Ideas Openness and Courage to Explore Ideas Listening to One's Inner Voice |
| Manual |
| Excellent |
The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking are accompanied by separate Norms and Technical Manuals for both the Verbal and Figural forms, separate scoring guides for each form, a separate 44 page review of research on the TTCT, and three additional monograph |
| Validity |
| Excellent |
The separate publication reviews many studies of the TTCT’s validity, from a variety of researchers. It includes extensive documentation of content, concurrent, and construct validity, including several short-term and long-term predictive validity studies |
| Reliability |
| Excellent |
Interscorer reliabilities are reported in excess of .90 from numerous studies. Test-retest reliabilities and alternate-form reliabilities are presented from many published reports, with the results ranging from .59 to .97. |
| Utility |
| Good |
The tests are easy to administer, and may be administered to groups from Grade 4 upward. The figural form requires 30 minutes of working time, and the verbal form requires 40 minutes of working time. The directions for administration are presented clearly and in detail. There are detailed scoring instructions. Scoring may take approximately 20 minutes per student, per form, and requires careful study of the manual, practice, and attention to detail; the publisher offers a scoring service. |
| Interpretation |
| Excellent |
The tests provide specific data about creative thinking, and are accompanied by reports describing a variety of appropriate uses. The norms are the most extensive of any creativity instrument; the verbal norms are based on responses from 37,327 students, and the figural norms are based on 88,355 students from 42 states. The “streamlined scoring” norms, updated in 1998, were based on 55,600 responses from 37 states. |
| Propriety |
| Fair |
There are cautions regarding the importance of understanding the rationale for the tests, and there are separate publications addressing the uses of the test. |
| Reviews & Related Lit |
| Cramond, B. (1998). The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking: Going beyond the scores. In: A. S. Fishkin, B. Cramond, & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.). Investigating creativity in youth: Research and methods. (pp. 307-327). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. Rosenthal, A., DeMers, S. T., Stilwell, W., Graybeal, S., & Zins, J. (1983). Comparison of interrater reliability on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking for gifted and non-gifted students. Psychology in the Schools, 20(1), 35-40. Runco, M. A. (1986). Divergent thinking and creative performance in gifted and non-gifted children. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 46, 375-384. Runco, M. A. (1991a). Divergent thinking. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Runco, M. A. (1991b). The evaluative, valuative, and divergent thinking of children. Journal of Creative Behavior, 25, 311-319. Runco, M. A., & Albert, R. S. (1985). The reliability and validity of ideational originality in the divergent thinking of academically gifted and nongifted children. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 45, 483-501. Runco, M. A. & Mraz, W. (1992). Scoring divergent thinking tests using total ideational output and a creativity index. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 213-221. Torrance, E. P. (1968). Examples and rationales of test tasks for assessing creative abilities. Journal of Creative Behavior, 2(3), 165-173. Torrance, E. P. (1981). Predicting the creativity of elementary school children (1958-1980) and the teacher who "made the difference". Gifted Child Quarterly, 25(2), 55-61. Torrance, E. P. (1981). Empirical validation of criterion-referenced indicators of creative ability through a longitudinal study. Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 6(3), 136-140. Torrance, E. P. (1984). Some products of twenty five years of creativity research. Educational Perspectives, 22(3), 3-8. Torrance, E. P. (1986). Are children becoming more creative? Journal of Creative Behavior, 20(1), 1-13. Torrance, E. P. (1987). Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Press. Torrance, E. P. (1987). Survey of the uses of the Torrance tests of creative thinking . Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing. Torrance, E. P. (1987). Teaching for creativity. In S. G. Isaksen (Ed.), Frontiers of creativity research: beyond the basics (pp. 189-215). Buffalo, NY: Bearly Limited. Torrance, E. P. (1987). Using the Torrance tests of creative thinking to guide the teaching of creative behavior . Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing. Torrance, E. P. (1988). The nature of creativity as manifest in its testing. In F. J. Sternberg (Ed.), The nature of creativity (pp. 43-75). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Torrance, E. P., & Haensly, P. A. (1990). Assessment of creativity in children and adolescents. (pp. 697-719). Handbook of Psychological and Educational Assessment of Children. Torrance, E. P., & Hall, L. K. (1980a). Assessing the further reaches of creative potential. Journal of Creative Behavior, 14, 1-9. Torrance, E. P., & Presbury, J. (1984). The criteria of success used in 242 recent experimental studies of creativity. Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 9(4), 238-242. Torrance, E. P., & Safter, H. T. (1989). The long range predictive validity of the just suppose test. Journal of Creative Behavior, 23(4), 219-223. Torrance, E. P., & Sato, S. (1979). Differences in Japanese and United States styles of thinking. Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 4(3), 145-151. Torrance, E. P., & Torrance, P. (1972). Combining creative problem solving with creative expressive activities in the education of disadvantaged young people. Journal of Creative Behavior, 6(1), 1-10. Treffinger, D. J., Torrance, E. P., & Ball, O. (1980). Guidelines for training creativity test administrators and scorers. Journal of Creative Behavior, 14(1), 47-55. Treffinger, D. J. (1985). Review of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Ninth Mental Measurements Yearbook, 2, 1632-1634. |
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