Age and Set in Creative Test Performance

The Unusual Uses Test was administered to 36 boys and 36 girls from two Grade 5 and two Grade 12 classes, and Ss told they were taking a “creativity exercise” produced more uses than Ss taking a word exercise.

Abstract

The Unusual Uses Test was administered to 36 boys and 36 girls from two Grade 5 and two Grade 12 classes. The resulting fluency and originality scores were then analyzed. As hypothesized, Ss told they were taking a “creativity exercise” produced more uses than Ss taking a “word exercise.” This effect was chiefly due to the older Ss being strongly influenced by the creative set. There was no effect of sex. The “exercise” manipulation did not effect the originality scores (fluency as the covariate). Younger Ss and males appeared to be more original, but an interaction of sex × grade with unusually low scores by older girls was chiefly responsible for these effects. Implications for assessment of creativity and research are discussed.