Creativity: definition, actors and tests

Through this work we want to make known the creativity basics, what are the influencing factors, how it is evaluated and how it relates to education. The study of creativity has been a very complex work that has aroused educational, occupational, organizational and scientific interest and has been approached from multiple perspectives. This variety of contexts in which creativity research has taken place has generated a great deal of definitions depending on the theoretical and philosophical foundations of the approach, as well as methodological interests.

Within psychology we find a very similar panorama, characterized by the diversity of conceptions about the phenomenon, as well as an intense concern to arrive at the technology necessary to introduce creativity as an objective behavior of the process of teaching.

Index

1. Creativity at school
2. Definition of creativity
3. The Creative Subject
4. Creative Thinking
5. The Creative Product.
6. Levels and modalities of creativity
7. Creativity Assessment and Testing
8. Creativity tests

Creativity is not only expressed in art but also in all areas of human endeavor, not only the scientific and technical, but also in our daily work from our way of loving and relating, even in the way of knowing, behaving, and discover the world, thus allowing us to solve in an innovative way the different challenges that arise in life and develop the potential of each individual. Much of a child's learning is provided by the school establishment.

In this environment the child learns to relate to people and in this way acquires significant models, which will give certain guidelines that will guide him in his personal development. For this reason we believe that this institution can be in charge of motivating the child, giving him innovative tools and ethical principles that help him face the world. We consider that creativity is one of the fundamental skills that should be present in any school project, since it allows the child to reach new conclusions and solve problems in an original way. To stimulate creativity in children, factors such as social climate, conceptual, linguistic, motivational and student processes must be taken into account. Creativity to a certain extent is a protective factor that reduces the probability of high-risk behaviors, such as drugs, alcohol, violence and crime. It is also seen as one of the fundamental pillars of resilience, in the sense that being creative would help the individual to overcome or overcome difficult situations, leaving renewed and enriched from her.

The concept of creativity is different depending on the context in which it is found, and it does not have a single meaning, since the human activity implicit in it can be varied. This does not mean that any situation can be called creative. There are certain limits to the use of the word, but those same borders are vague; the limits, indeterminate. Which does not imply that we cannot recognize that these limits exist.

To define the concept of creativity it is necessary to know its etymological root. The word creativity derives from the Latin "creare", which is related to "grow", which means to grow; therefore the word creativity means "to create from nothing." Within the different areas and according to various authors we can find different and varied definitions about creativity according to the different approaches. Some publications speak of 400 different terms of creativity. Some terms are ambiguous and confusing. What is clear is that creativity would be more than a necessary condition in current living conditions and that it has otherwise It has always been necessary since it means forcing man to modify it so that it is more adaptable to his environment and can get better Profits. If you think about it, then it can be said that most of humanity's achievements are creative achievements as per An example is writing, electricity, the telephone and so many more elements that have helped the progress of the humanity.

Definitions of creativity

Let's start with the most basic definitions of creativity found in literature. The dictionary of Psychology defines creativity as a not well defined term that designates a series of personality traits, intellectual and non-intellectual who expect subjects to creative. For Guilford the creativity implies fleeing the obvious, the safe and the predictable to produce something that, at least for the child, is novel. He says that creativity in a limited sense refers to the aptitudes that are characteristic of creative individuals, such as fluency, flexibility, originality, and thinking divergent. On the other hand, he showed that creativity and intelligence are different qualities. He also posited in 1965 that creativity is not the gift of a select few, but rather a property shared by all of humanity to a greater or lesser degree.

For his part Amabile (1983) He affirms that creativity exists as long as there are: skills in the field, skills for creativity, and specific characteristics of motivation to the task.

According Beltrán and Bueno (1995) creativity would be the essential capacity of the intelligent being that allows it to produce a kind of works called "creations" or created work. These authors make a distinction between the ontological notion of creativity and its psychological notion. Creativity according to its ontological notion would be "that present in existence by the creator, taking it out of nowhere, in such a way that in the production of it he does not have to dip into using something preexisting. This type of work is only of God (creator par excellence). Men are also creators and their action consists of making something new and original, but of something already existing ”. The work creativity according to its psychological notion, refers to a being that existed, but that by virtue of the action of the intelligent being, which is the creator, receives a new way of being; and this is what gives them the consideration of "true creations." Several features of creation would also emerge: Contingency or secondariness, since there was already a being and the creator gave it a new way of being. rationality, that new form and its insertion into existing materials corresponds to intelligent beings and, by virtue of their intelligent activity, to what you can add the selection Originality, which is a form or structure of matter that no one had grasped before (psychology would refer to this as creative imagination) The singularity, which is the rarity or exceptionality and consists of the exclusion of other copies of the same work The sensitivity of the creator and of viewers The flexibility of the creator to accept the best form for those materials The independence, which refers to the tastes of the creator Work, the intellectual and material elaboration that implies an effort Enrichment of the culture, must develop the faculties of man, putting above the intelligence, reason or will.

Csickzentmoholyi (1995), from an integrated perspective, explains creativity as a function of three elements: field (place or discipline where it occurs), person (who performs the creative act) and domain (social group of experts). Creativity is defined as "the state of consciousness that allows generating a network of relationships to identify, pose, solve problems in a relevant and divergent way." According to Papalia in his book on Psychology, creativity would consist of the ability to see things from a new perspective and then invent new, original and effective. There would therefore be two types of thinking that would be related to problem solving and creativity: divergent thinking, which is the ability to discover new and original responses; and convergent thinking, which defines it as the ability to discover a single correct answer. These thoughts would also be highly related to motivation, prior knowledge, learning, independence of character, and determination.

For his part Mayers (1998) defines creativity as the ability to produce new and valuable ideas. The different outlets for creativity depend on culture, where culture means expressing familiar themes through new ways. This author identifies five components of creativity:

• Competence: a well-developed knowledge base. The more ideas, pictures, and phrases we come across throughout our learning, the more chance we have of combining these mental pieces in new ways.
• Imaginative Thinking: It provides the ability to see things in different ways, to recognize patterns, to make connections.
• Bold Personality: tolerates ambiguity and risk, perseveres in overcoming obstacles along the way, and seeks out new experiences, rather than going with the flow
• Intrinsic motivation: creative people do not focus on external motivations such as achieving goals, impress people or earn money, but rather on the intrinsic pleasure and challenge of your job.
• A creative environment: elicits, supports, and refines creative ideas.

According Venturini, which takes a more biological approach, refers to creativity, the human capacity to modify the vision that it has of its environment from the connection with its essential self. This allows man to generate new ways of relating to that environment and create new objects; and it would be strongly determined by the genes but it can also be developed and stimulated. According to this author, biological research says that the brain structure is modified according to the activity it has, the creative stimulus would then stimulate the brain. He also defines it as the ability of the human being to face an expressive need and manage to communicate it. Torrance argues that creativity is a process that makes someone sensitive to problems, deficiencies, cracks or gaps in knowledge and leads them to identify difficulties, seek solutions, make speculations or formulate hypotheses, approve and test these hypotheses, modify them if necessary, in addition to communicating the results.

In order to G. Aznar (1973), creativity designates the breadth or aptitude to produce new solutions, without following a logical process but establishing distant relationships between the facts. There is a trait that everyone attributes to the creative and it is the new, this being something that previously did not exist having a positive aspect. And Margaret Mead describes creativity as the discovery and expression of something that is both a novelty to the creative individual and a fulfillment in itself. Creativity would then arise from three central elements: From the awareness of the need for change, both to face existing problems and to approach desirable goals. From the perception of the possibility of creating change through the formulation of problems, considering their various dimensions, from the search for a wide range of solutions and the ability to carry out what seems convenient The possibility of change is subject to the existence of people creative (capable of facing change with a perspective such as the one indicated) and the presence of a sociocultural context that allows welcoming and training those people.

So we can say that creativity is a difficult concept to define, there are authors who frame it within intelligence and others who hope that everyone can be creative subjects. Various authors have studied creative subjects and determined different characteristics of creative subjects. Mackinnon summarizes the creative personality characters What:

“These individuals are intelligent, original, independent in their thinking and in their doing, open to experience of your inner and outer environment, intuitive, aesthetically sensitive and free of constraints inhibitory. He also possesses a high degree of energy, a persistent commitment to created effort and a strong sense of predestination, which includes a certain degree of decision-making and selfishness. "

In addition, he argued that the most creative subjects are little interested in the details and more practical aspects of life, they are inclined to meanings, implications and symbolic equivalents of things and ideas, are able to tolerate the tension caused by conflicting values ​​and effect a synthesis and integration between the two aspects. To these qualities is added the sense of humor.

Taylor notes the importance of divergent thinking In creative subjects, this means that there is not just one solution but many possible solutions. solutions, especially when it comes to idea production, fluidity, flexibility and originality. Humor and imagination also account for a truly creative individual, in addition to curiosity, eagerness to manipulate objects, ability to find questions and to structure ideas in a different way present.

The personality characteristics that are attributed to creative subjects are:

• Autonomy
• Femininity of interests
• Dominance
• Self-assertion
• Self acceptance
• Ease of resources
• Radicalism
• Psychological complexity

Barron in his research on creativity, studying the differences that the most creative people had with the non-creative When responding to order and disorder, he found that more creative people respond to and tolerate disorder more than non creative. From this research he formulated five hypotheses about creative people:

• They prefer complexity and a certain apparent imbalance in phenomena.
• They are psychodynamically more complex and possess a greater personal range of creativity.
• They tend to be more independent in their judgments.
• They are more self-assertive and dominant.
• They reject repression as a defensive mechanism for impulse control.

Barron stated that the most creative individuals are endowed with large reserves of available energy, this can be the result of a high level of mental health. Barron's research shows twelve basic characteristics of highly creative people:

• They are more observant than most.
• They express half truths.
• In addition to seeing things like other people, they see them differently.
• They are independent in relation to their cognitive faculties, which they value highly.
• They are motivated by their talent and values.
• They are able to handle and compare several ideas at the same time and make more elaborate syntheses.
• Their sexual impulse is more pronounced, they are physically more vigorous and more sensitive.
• Both his life and his perception of the universe are more complex.
• They are more aware of their unconscious motivations and fantasies.
• Your ego is strong enough to regress without risk of disintegration.
• They allow the distinction between subject and object to disappear in some situations, such as love and mysticism.
• They experience the objective freedom of their organism to the maximum, and their creativity is a function of their subjective freedom.

Torrance He has said: “I have always emphasized the importance of moral courage and honesty, because I think that everything Negative conditioning of these traits is contrary to creativity and the integral development of potential human".

John M. Keil he points out that creative people have particular characteristics such as great curiosity, they are capable of having ideas and taking them out, to accept criticism, to endure pressure, they do not get impatient and are able to work on more than one thing at a time. He argues that there are two fundamental characteristics in children: the ability to surprise, eidetism and the ability to overcome frustrations. The ability to surprise allows the child to be impacted by reality and this catches their attention and together with eidetism allows the child to find something that she does not know can imagine it in a vivid way, and assume the consequences of this or that action. The ability to overcome frustrations has developed more and more thanks to computers, this is because it has been observed that adults become frustrated and they quickly abandon their interest in something that causes them distress, while the child plays and has fun, transforming what initially causes them into a challenge frustration. To summarize, we can say that the creative individual is capable of tolerating conceptual ambiguity and does not panic in the face of configurative disorder. He has also raised the idea that to be a creative subject you have to learn to be one, being creative.

The different forms of perception and response to the environment explain the existence of different cognitive styles. Various authors have agreed on two different ways of thinking, which have been called in different ways, to mention some: convergent and divergent, primary and secondary, lateral and vertical, autistic and realistic, multiple and sequential thinking etc. Today, thanks to the advancement of knowledge about brain function, there is evidence which supports the existence of two different cognitive styles related to the hemispheres cerebral. Antonijevic and Mena in 1989, try to synthesize the elementary characteristics of these two types of thinking in the following way:

Convergent thinking or secondary process: A cognitive style is observed whose functioning is under conscious control and is rational, so that the ideas appear connected to each other in a linear and sequential way, avoiding the superposition between them, using the laws of logic. This thinking is oriented towards reality and aimed at solving problems that it offers and whose resolution is important for adaptation to the environment.

Divergent thinking or primary process: This other type of thinking is characterized by being less noticed, it is not necessarily under the conscious control nor governed by the laws of logic, predominating in it the connections logical. Besides this, it is rich in metaphors, it is timeless and symbolic. It can also be said that it works more in the realm of fantasy than of concrete reality.

Creative thinking is the same as divergent thinking. The education or thinking of the development of creative thinking is based on the same principles that the development of logical thinking, that is, in the need to perfect the potential of which we are able. However, creativity should not be considered as an independent or even antagonistic process of intelligence or reason; it is part of it. It is part of that capacity that allows us to know, read inside things. Given the strong intuitive or imaginative content of creative thinking, the creative act, as Human act, free and responsible, must also be oriented by reason, so that it results constructive. Like all human faculty, creative thinking can be developed and exercised as a constant and well-oriented practice, In fact, we can all develop the skills that allow us to create, invent, imagine and improve everything, including our own lifetime. Creativity can be referred to any thought process that allows us to solve a problem in a useful and original way.

Wallas (1926) has come to distinguish four phases or stages in this course: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. Although Vinacke (1952) understands that the creative act is a unitary process in which these phases are presented without interruption and not always in the same order, however, it is appropriate to make a differential description of the themselves:

• The preparation: it is the phase in which in a more remote moment knowledge and attitudes are acquired from which the creative thought will emerge. Preparation is an aspect of the creative process that is often overlooked by those who conceive of the creative act as a simple process of intuition. Creative thinking is supported by the skillful use of certain knowledge (scientific, literary, artistic, etc.), but what is more important is the possession of certain aptitudes by which the creative act. Without these two elements there can be no creativity to launch into creative expression without adequate preparation, it does not produce competition or creativity. It is the process of collecting information, it intervenes perceptual processes of memory and selection.
• Incubation: Here the creator seems not to be thinking about the problem, but has a certain distance from it. According to Mckinnon, it is the stage in which there is a psychological abandonment of the field that sometimes needs the germ of an idea to be able to acquire form. It is the process of analysis and information processing focusing on the correction and search of data
• The lighting: it is the moment in which the inspiration of the idea is given; when the problem is restructured and the solution appears. It is the process of realizing and is identified more as a process of information output, it usually appears after a period of confusion. This stage occurs together with the incubation stage. Many times the lighting comes when the subject was not even thinking about the subject, and curiously it passes through a didactic process with moments of tension and relaxation, and the climax tends to coincide with the phase distentica. Some authors assume that both incubation and illumination are explained by a non-consenting process. Thus Kubie (1967) alludes to the preconscious mind which consists of a remarkably rapid and continuous stream of an afferent, integrating, creative and efferent is intertwined delivered by indicators and encrypted signals, but without any symbolic representation completely developed. Williams (1967) believes that processes, both conscious and preconscious, take place in these stages.
• The verification: it is the last stage of the creative process; the solution has to undergo criticism and verification and thus be able to polish. The name of this last stage has been discussed, since it seems to refer more to the creative processes of a scientific type; but neo thus to artistic processes. It is the evaluation process on the temporary usefulness of the object or creation process.

GuilfordFor his part, he sees creativity within divergent thinking. But creative thinking is sustained by the same normal processes, such as coding, comparison, analysis and synthesis processes among others. It has been seen that although all individuals possess both modes of thought, not all have the ability to use them and to alternate the dominance of one over the other. The development of creative capacity includes facilitating and stimulating access to both thoughts, developing the ability to resort to them, making them functional to the creative process. Many times, creativity has tended to be associated with the second type of these thinking styles more than with the first. However, today most authors agree that creativity arises from an integration of both modalities. In the different stages of the creative process, I can preferentially use one of these styles, depending on the objectives pursued. In perception and in finding ideas, convergent thinking tends to be used and divergent thinking is used preferentially in the evaluation and realization stages.

Regarding the evaluation of thought, there are authors who have identified certain skills of the thought that would be related to the possibility of giving answers and novel solutions or creative. Guilford in 1964, states that the thinking of creative people combines the primary process with the secondary process. The contribution of this author is in the description of the skills associated with each style. Based on various studies, he proposes a list of skills found in creative people. These skills are:

• Fluency: it is the characteristic of creativity or the facility to generate a large number of ideas. According to Guilford there are different types of fluidity: Ideational fluidity (quantitative production of ideas), fluidity of association (referring to the establishment of relationships) and fluency of expression (ease in the construction of phrases. Example: A child is given a certain amount of legos, with which he should be able to build a series of figures. If at the end of the task the child managed to form several figures, it can be affirmed that he possesses this ability.
• Sensitivity to problems: sensitivity denotes the ability of creative people to discover differences, difficulties, failures or imperfections, realizing what must be done. Example: Children are presented with two similar pictures and asked to find the differences. If the child is able to find all the differences in a certain time, this means that the child has sensitivity to problems.
• Originality: It is the aptitude or disposition to produce unusual, remote, ingenious or novel responses in an unusual way. Empirical observations identify this quality as essential to all products that have originated in creative processes. Example: Give students a variety of materials to design an alien clothing.
• Flexibility: Involves a transformation, a change, a rethinking or a reinterpretation. Flexibility can be of two types: spontaneous (if the subject is capable of varying the kind of response he gives) and adaptation (when the subject makes certain changes: of approach solution strategy to have success). Example: After reading a story the students must be able to change the ending.
• Elaboration: is the level of detail, development or complexity of creative ideas. It implies the requirement to complete the impulse until its completion. It is the ability of the subject to develop, expand or embellish ideas. Example: students are asked to add more details to a TV weather forecast. to make it more interesting.
• Redefinition capacity: is the ability to restructure perceptions, concepts or things. The creative person has the ability to transform something into something else. Example: The child is presented with 10 circumferences, he must be able to transform them into other objects, such as: a ball, a sun, a clock, etc.

According to this author, each of these abilities seems to be related to the different stages of the creative process. Sensitivity is central in perception to perceive problems; evaluation is more necessary for the final stages.

Originality is understood as the uniqueness of a given product and more than a skill it can be considered as a judgment about the product itself. Thought fluency refers to the person's ability to generate ideas against a given problem in a given period of time. Redefinition refers to the ability to postulate novel ways to define already known objects.

In various studies, it has been seen that people are not taught alternative or different ways to work information, and theirs uses only three or four basic strategies when having to solve a trouble.

Thus, the development of creativity involves the knowledge and training of a wide range of strategies, which allows solving problems in a new and different way from the rest of the people.

exist three main factors considered an integral part of created thinking:

• Ability to conceive a large number of ideas: "Fluency factor". This could be measured with the standard questions: "How many uses can you give a certain object?"
• Flexibility in thought patterns, that is, the ability to move from one thought to another.
• Ability to conceive unusual or remote ideas.

Affects present in creative thinking are:

• Sensitivity to discrepancy: is the feeling that things are just not right. Environments in which the detection of inconsistency is encouraged are more likely to be conducive to creativity.
• Positive feelings towards challenges- People need to be reminded of how good they feel when they are working on something that challenges them.
• Openness to memories laden with affection: the will to suspend taboos, at least temporarily. Be open to recalling memories of the past. A person free of phobias and denials to make many more connections and diverse responses.
• Tolerance of frustration and other negative affectsNegative work is never calm and predictable. People who throw in the towel at the first failure do not achieve the negative project.
• Sensitivity to the joy of creating: the feeling of victory that accompanies the solution or discovery of something. It is a feeling of accomplishment and accomplishment that can be savored. If the pleasure of finishing creative work is enjoyed to the fullest, then it is easier to take the next step of continuing to create.
• Processing emotions freely and integrating affects: the creative project involves using the imagination as free as possible and being in contact with associated affections. Positive affect is an important motivator for cognitive interest.

According Gowman, Demos and TorranceFor a product to be creative (for example, a car), there must be five components that have predictive value, but must also occur simultaneously:

• 1) Connectivity criteria: the essence of human creativity is "relational" and so that an analysis of its nature will refer to the connectivity of any element that can enter to build the relationship creative. With this analysis, he must show that man, although he cannot give existence to the basic components, if he can establish a relationship with them.
• 2) Originality criterion: originality is a quality essential to all products that have had their origin in creative acts. To exist as a singular subject, it must have 4 qualities: novelty, unpredictability, uniqueness and surprise.
• 3) Criterion of non-rationality: Most of the authors agree on the existence of certain unconscious mental processes, responsible for creativity. That it is unconscious is a criterion for creativity. This character of non-rationality explains the apparent naturalness and lack of effort of creative activity; autonomy and the feeling of being possessed or hearing an inner voice.
• 4) Criterion of self-realization: creativity involves a personality structure: the achievement of the realization of one's own fullness, the positive growth of oneself. There would also be a relationship between creativity and motivation (Maslow 1958)
• 5) Opening criteria: refers to those conditions of the environment, both internal and external, both personal and possible and as indeterminate roles. These conditions or characteristics are those of sensitivity, tolerance to ambiguity, self-perception and sporadicity. They are learned, not inherited.

The forms or levels of creativity are the result of the degree of transformation or alteration of the environment. They integrate the person, the process, the environment and the problem, becoming more present in the product. They aim to answer how creative talent or creative behavior manifests itself in the subject. According to Taylor, creativity is evidenced through different levels:

• Expressive level: represents the most elemental form of transformation, characterized by improvisation and spontaneity. Man is capable of discovering new ways of manifesting himself, which allow him, on the one hand, a self-identification and on the other, a better communication with others and with the environment. These new forms of expression allow the capture and inclusion of affective life, of multiple nuances and non-repeated relationships.
• Productive level: it is characterized by the accentuation of the technical character. Its orientation towards productivity allows the numerical increase of the product, the refinement of details that make it more suitable and attractive. In other words, improvisation is replaced by the application of pertinent techniques and strategies appropriate to the desired result. The objective to be achieved is set, and the result is a realization valuable for its originality.
• Inventive level: it takes place when, exceeding logical expectations, certain elements of the environment are manipulated. This level of creativity with social value is manifested in scientific discoveries.
• Innovative level: assumes a good level of ideational flexibility and a high degree of originality. The subject transforms the environment by communicating unique and relevant results. You must grasp the implications and relationships between the elements. It can occur in the creation of attitudes towards change and transfer of certain information to other contexts.
• Emerging level: the creative force bursts in with such force that it is no longer a question of modifying, but of proposing something new. Subjects bring radically new ideas. It is generally presented in abstract language. It is the level that characterizes talent and ingenuity. As has been seen, the levels of creativity raised by Taylor are fundamentally oriented towards a scale from less to greater richness of creativity, although this criterion used is not absolute.

To diagnose or evaluate creativity, a series of tests, largely inspired by Guilford, are used, which acquire their nature itself to the point that the most progressive educational institutions use creativity tests as a common instrument. The creativity tests or tests are numerous and continue to be produced constantly. Trying to diagnose creative ability with only one type of test runs the risk of leaving out many creative minds. Experts, such as Guilford, De Bono, Murria, and others, suggest that in the design and construction of creativity assessment scales We must take into account certain factors that help us evaluate the creative product, such as fluidity, flexibility, originality and elaboration.

The creativity tests have had two fundamental dimensions: one of a spatial nature and the other of a verbal nature. Within the spatial type tests we find:

Perceptual Testing

The material subject is offered that can be mentally contemplated from different points of view. The captured object varies according to the number of figures perceived. For this, ambiguous representations are used such as drawings of multiple, linked cubes, whose number varies according to how they are considered, or figures hidden in a tangle of lines or hidden in a landscape. The ability to overcome first impression and discover hidden sets involves mental agility and a capacity to interpret the material that is offered, which is a good sign of creativity. Currently these tests are more neglected and need more input from research.

Graphic Tests

They are of varied nature, and are reduced to drawing tests, due to the ease of realization and wealth of value possibilities. One of the most popular consists of drawings of simple open figures, made up of few lines, straight or curved. Completing these schematic graphics, the subject has to elaborate the most original figures, those that he considers that no one else will think of by adding as many details as he imagines. In other words, they are simple figures that must be part of a more complex figure than the subject's imagination must anticipate. The important thing is that remote relationships and unsuspected associations appear. Other times you are given a page full of squares or circles that serve as a basis to represent the most varied objects. The important thing is that personal elaborations are freely structured from a not very complex material. And the verbal tests have the word as a fundamental vehicle. They range from the purely verbal to authentic creations using the expressive capacities of language and fantasy.

Write words that respond to a specific condition: that end in a given suffix, or begin with a prefix or a specific letter. Either you are shown various words and you must form meaningful sentences or paragraphs. They must build ingenious material.

• Analogies: It is one of the most valuable tests with discriminating power. As a stimulus, a word is offered and the subject is asked not only to formulate synonyms but also all those meanings that the word acquires in different contexts. You may also be asked to list all objects that are alike in some quality. Comparisons, metaphors, and symbols uncover remote relationships characteristic of creative thinking.
• Questions: Refers to the ability to solve problems. Faced with a reality situation whatever the subject indicates or discovers its defects or the problems that cause it. The presentation of drawings that collect represented situations is also widely used, around them it is interesting see the subject's ability to ask questions regarding the scene represented, its implications and consequences. Inquisitive ability, mental curiosity, being able to ask numerous, varied and sharp questions is another indication of originality. Finding the way out unknown to others implies the ability to invent solutions. The ability to ask questions is also stimulated with the use of ordinary objects. The questions detect the corresponding problems.
• Unusual uses: Points to a redefinition of the object. Various items are offered, and it is suggested that you list as many uses that occur to them in all possible situations.
• Product improvement: It is a consequential test to the sensitivity to detect problems. It consists of recording how many transformations occur to the subject, which can turn a toy into something ideal that satisfies his needs, for example. These can be easy, affordable improvements, as well as others for which we have no means. There is also talk of "redefinition of the object", of "multiple uses".
• Synthesize: Overcome scattered data in search of infinite solutions. Titling small stories or images is widely used, or creating propaganda slogans for a product.
• Make a plan: Anticipate all the steps necessary to make the product. It consists, in other words, in listing all the activities that herald a creative activity.
• New and unexpected situations: To detect and stimulate this innovative capacity, putting difficult or unusual situations before the subject. In other words, it is to see the fertility of the subject in obtaining consequences from a hypothesis that does not condition him, as happens in ordinary life to take attitudes more or less known, but forces him to use and unfold his imagination creative. For example, they are told to suppose what would happen if people stopped dying, or what their life would be like in the year 3000.
• Ability to relate: For associationists this is the secret of creative thinking, as long as the associations are remote.
• Imaginative tales: It is an easy resource to write imaginative stories with a free or imposed theme. Especially when the theme presents a divergent quality, that is, it does not correspond to the subject. Then the personality is projected more freely. Some themes may be, the dog that did not bark, or the lion that did not roar.
• Autobiographies: The subject must indicate all the activities that he has spontaneously carried out- With this procedure all those activities that were reflecting the creative figures during their childhood and youth, and that seem to be the revealing of a disposition towards creativity in a field determined. It reveals the problems, interests or fundamental vocation, in addition, the irony, syntactic variety, richness and precision of the vocabulary, the ability to shape ideas and feelings, convey a message and make a strong impact better reveal talents creators.

Now, if we take a closer look at the creativity tests, we will see that they are numerous. That is why we selected some of those that have had more resonance or are better known.

Guilford test

We put Guilford first, because he is the most prominent figure in this field. Since 1950 he has been patiently constructing with his collaborators, the tests in which he demonstrated the validity of his Theoretical Model of Intelligence, integrating 120 factors.

He initially started from the assumption that creativity was circumscribed to the operation of divergent thought, that crossing with the four contents (figurative, symbolic, semantic, behavior), and the six products (units, classes, relations, systems, transformations, implications) gives place 24 modalities. All people possess these abilities, albeit unevenly.

The factors relating to creativity for which he has developed tests are the following:

Divergent thinking:

• Figurative, verbal, association, ideational or thought and expression fluency.
• Spontaneous and adaptive figurative flexibility.
• Spontaneous symbolic flexibility.
• Spontaneous semantic flexibility and adaptation or originality.
• Divergent production of figurative systems and symbolic systems.
• Figurative, symbolic and semantic elaboration.

Convergent Productive Thinking:

• Systematic management capacity
• Figurative, symbolic and semantic redefinition
• Deduction.

Evaluation operation:

• Logical evaluation and according to experience
• Ability to judge and see problems.

The scope of factors that have to do with creativity continues to expand and subsequently also includes implications and evaluation. The expansion of factors related to creativity has been a constant in Guilford's research, which is always linked to the creation of tests capable of detecting each of these factors, trying to avoid interferences and confusion that falsify the results.

E. Paul torrance

Torrance and his collaborators have been inspired by Guilford but have reduced the painstaking complexity of his factors to four: fluidity, flexibility, originality, and workmanship. In 1966 Torrance published his test "Thinking Creatively with Words", Thinking creatively with words, which are the best known and used throughout the world, especially in speaking countries English. These are two 16-page brochures, which are the parallel forms of the same test. Each one consists of seven verbal tests, but five of them present a figure as a stimulus. The first three refer to a drawing, in which the activities are: ask and guess, suppose the causes, and guess the consequences. The fourth test asks for improvement of the product, and the fifth asks that unusual uses of the object be listed. The sixth asks unusual questions, and the seventh sets out all the consequences of an unusual or impossible event. In his graphic tests, he presents as simple stimuli lines made up of several straight or curved segments, which must be the basis for drawings that represent meaningful objects. Sometimes he gives a page of circles, or gives a simple spot where you have to make an imaginative drawing. Other times he suggests comic strips. Torrance has developed a questionnaire consisting of 100 items, in line with the questionnaires of things done.

Welch Shape Preference Test

It consists of presenting a series of figures for the subject to indicate those that he likes the most. The test has undergone a profound transformation. Initially it consisted of 400 drawings, but later by Barron's investigations, it was drastically reduced since it was found that with fewer figures the results were similar. Finally I am left with 40 which is known as the Barron-Welch Art Scale. They affirm that creative people, and more specifically artists, prefer complex and asymmetrical figures. Barron also found a positive correlation between the inclination for complexity and some traits that have become considering as typical of creative personalities, such as verbal fluency, independence of judgment, originality and breadth interest.

Remote Associations Test

Mednick's Remote Associations Test (R.A.T.), consists of 30 items; in each one there are three words with very different meanings and you have to find another one that relates them. The number of correct answers is scored, in a time of thirty minutes. The theory on which it is based is that creativity is the ability to discover associations that are not very obvious, and the more remote, the more they indicate creative talent. This test has a good correlation with the Wechsler intelligence test, and it is criticized that it measures convergent thinking more than divergent thinking, hence its high correlation with the W.I.S.C.

Alpha biographical

The hypothesis is that a good predictor of future behavior is what has been done. It is a biographical questionnaire, consisting of 300 items, aimed at high school students. It contemplates very different areas such as family life, personal development, study, interests, etc. It has been prepared by the Institute for behavioral research in creativity, and validated by NASA scientists.

Getzels and Jackson test

It consists of five tests:

• Word association: expose the different meanings of common words.
• Object uses: list all possible uses of common objects.
• Hidden figures: discover a figure camouflaged between complex geometric figures.
• Fables: Four comics from which the endings have been suppressed are presented, and they are invited to complete them by adding sad, humorous and moral endings.
• Construction of problems: the pertinent numerical information is offered in a paragraph, and it is invited that from these data they formulate as many problems as possible.

Wallach and Kogan test

It is made up of five tests:

• Similarities: pairs of objects are mentioned and you have to discover all the similarities between them.
• Alternative uses: of ordinary objects, different from the usual use
• Meaning of lines: you have to see the meaning of abstract drawings of a single line that must be part of an object.
• Meaning of drawings: you have to interpret abstract drawings.

Typical of the Wallach and Kogan tests lies in the mode of application. They are given a playful air, where there is no time limit. The climate must be cordial, eliminating everything that can be assimilated or similar to an exam.

Mosaic Test

Made by Barro. Squares of different colors are offered to be composed with mosaics in which taste and personality are reflected.

In this sense, another way to evaluate creativity in children is through drawings and toys. The first drawings are between 15 to 18 months, and the first scribbles give the child great creative pleasure. In the drawing, the child does not reproduce reality but gives a personal interpretation. The first creative graphic expressions do not always appear on a sheet of paper, but they do so spontaneously in a mush, for example. The drawing represents an exchange, a communication. The intentional drawing is presented at approximately 18 months. The child's interpretation of the drawing is subjective and linked to the affective position of the moment. This gives way to an imaginary and creative world. In conclusion, we can say that the child's concern when drawing is to evoke, to make present and his strokes are frequently determined by unconscious factors. Creative play is expressed when children use familiar materials in new ways and play roles and play imaginative play. The games help the child to express himself and to develop the creative expression of it. Parents should help their children to base their games on their own inspirations, stimulating games and creative ideas by encouraging children to use other materials. In this sense, toys play a fundamental role. Children without toys have been found to understand reality later and never reach an ideal. The world of objects represents the child's first conquest. The toy is not only a kind of intellectual enrichment, but also a mediator between the complexity of existence and the weakness of the child. It is an instrument by which the child will secure a position in the world. Psychoanalysis suggests that through the toy the child can develop other characteristics of creativity. Educational games such as assemblages, puzzles, mosaics, etc., sharpen the child's analytical skills. It is important to bear in mind that creativity is closely linked to intelligence and affectivity.

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