Intelligence, Divergence and Potential Originality

Abstract

RECENTLY, many attempts have been made to isolate the intellectual and personal qualities which enable people to do original work, particularly in science. One of the most interesting results so far is Getzels and Jackson's¹ discovery of the “High Creative” type among American school-children. (These are children who are successful academically, whose intelligence quotients are relatively low, but who excel in open-ended tests—for example, “How many uses can you think of for each of the following objects?”) The contrast between “High Creative” and “High Intelligence Quotient” types is seen to support a more general distinction between ‘divergent’ and ‘convergent’ styles of thinking, the former—it is argued—being the style which leads to original work among adults.