IDEATIONAL FLUENCY AS A CONFOUNDING FACTOR IN THE MEASUREMENT OF ORIGINALITY

Three of J. P. Guilford's tests of divergent thinking--Alternate Uses, Plot Titles, and Consequences--were completed by 60 college students and scored for ideational fluency and originality. The originality scores were reliable, and significant intercorrelations were found among the tests. However, when the effects of ideational fluency were partialed out of the originality scores, all reliabilities showed substantial decrements, and correspondingly, the interest correlations dropped to zero or showed a substantial decrement. Such results indicate that the reliability and convergent validity of the originality scores were a function of individual differences in ideational fluency rather than originality. This finding held true whether the originality scores were subjectively or objectively determined. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.