This article was downloaded by: [University of Toronto Libraries] On: 19 November 2014, At: 19:48 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Journal of Personality Assessment Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjpa20
The Measurement of Creativity by the Stroop Color and Word Test Charles J. Golden Published online: 10 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Charles J. Golden (1975) The Measurement of Creativity by the Stroop Color and Word Test, Journal of Personality Assessment, 39:5, 502-506, DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_9 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_9
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Journal of Personali~Assessment, 1975,39, 5
The Measurement of Creativity by the Stroop Color and Word Test CHARLES J. GOLDEN University of Hawaii
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 19:48 19 November 2014
Summary: The development of a valid and reliable measure of creativity has been a challenging problem to psychologists. Gamble and Kellner (1968) have suggested that the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT)might be such a measure. The advantages of the Stroop include that it tests basic processes, is stable over long periods of time, and is easy to administer and score. The present study investigated the relationship of the Stroop to three independent measures of creativity: a verbal task ,a nonverbal task, and ratings by teachers. In all cases a significant relationship was found between these measures and the Stroop interference score. A concept of creativity as a basic underlying process is discussed by the author as well as implications for further research.
The development of a valid and reliable measure of creativity has challenged many psychologists interested in personality research (Davis & Belcher, 1971). Numerous tests have been proposed ranging from Mednick's (1967) Remote Associates Test to self rating scales (e-g., Rookey, Note 1). However these tests have suffered from various defects including dependency on past achievement or experience with a given type of item, truthfulness of the responder, correlations with intelligence scores, and most importantly, the inability to demonstrate a relationship with other measures of creativity as well as with peoples' recognition of what is a creative person. However, Gamble and Kellner (1968) have recently suggested that the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) might be a good measure of overall creative ability. The Stroop gives a subject a page of color words (RED, GREEN, and BLUE, for example) which are printed in incongruous colors (e.g., RED is printed in blue). Rather than read the word itself the subject is required to name the color in whch the word is printed. In addition, two other pages are included to determine the subject's reading and colornaming speed without any interference from conflicting stimuli. When these speeds and intelligence were controlled, Gamble and Kellner (1968) found a significant relationship between the Stroop interference score (the color-word page) and Mednick's (1967) Remote Associates Test.
While no other researchers of the Stroop have studied the specific question of creativity, the results of some are suggestive in this area. Klein (1954) found indications that the Stroop scores are closely related to the trait of cognitive flexibility, a trait normally associated with creativity, Others have found that the Stroop scores can indicate lack of constriction (Hardison & Purcell, 1959), stability (Smith & Nyman, 1962), persistency (Smith & Klein, 1953), adaptivity (Klein, 1954), independence from outside cues (Gardner, Holzman, Klein, Linton, & Spence, 1959), independence from past responses (Podell & Phillips, 1959), and toleration of ambiguity (Loomis & Moskowitz, 1958). These traits are, in general, the same kind used to describe creative individuals. Clark, Veldman, and Thorpe (1965) found that the creative adolescent was more mature (stable) and less constricted than other adolescents, while Kurtzman (1967) concluded that creative individuals are better able to tolerate stimulus ambiguity and are more mature. Cashdan & Welsh (1966) found creative youths to be more independent, more adaptive, and better able to deal with ambiguity. In light of these findings it was hypothesized that the Stroop is a measure of creativity. Specifically, it was hypothesized that h g h creative individuals would do better on the Stroop than average or low creative subjects. Three independent groups of subjects were rated for their creativity. One group was rated by teach-
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 19:48 19 November 2014
CHARLES J. GOLDEN ers, a second group by Guilford's (1967) Matchstick Test, and a third group by Roweton's (1969) Improvements Test. Group differences as well as correlations were calculated because of the potential problems inherent in these measures for rating individuals (e.g., bias, past experience, intelligence). Method Subjects Subjects were 450 high school students attending a Southern California school. The sample was nearly evenly divided by sex with 232 females and 218 males. The median age of all subjects was 16 with a range of 14 to 18. All subjects were volunteers who received no compensation other than some time off from normal classroom routine. Measures A group form of the Stroop Color and Word Test (Golden, 1975) was used for this study. The test consisted of three pages, each with 100 items arranged in 5 columns of 20. Each item on the first page was either the word RED, GREEN, or BLUE written in capitals and printed in black ink. The second page consisted of all XXXX's printed in either red, green, or blue ink. The third page contained the words of the first page printed in the colors of the second page. The word and the color it was printed in never matched, e.g., green was always printed in red or blue. The Improvements Test (Roweton, 1969) involved giving the subject the name of a common item (such as a doorknob) and asking the subject to produce possible improvements. The Matchstick Test consisted of problems in which the subject had to remove matchsticks to produce a given pattern. Each of these tests consisted of two parts. The last measure was a form listing only the student's name, which requested the teacher to rate the student's creativity on a scale of one to nine, with one being lowest. Procedures All subjects were given the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT). On the
first page the subjects were asked to read the color words (as a warm up to acquaint them with the procedure), while on the last two pages they were asked to name the color of the ink. Subjecis were given 45 seconds for each page ant1 asked to indicate how many items they completed. Subjects then were divided into three independent groups and rated by three measures of creativity; 75 subjects were given the Matchstick Test, 133 subjects took the Impirovements Test and 212 subjects were rated by teachers. Four teachers were asked to give rating,$,each teacher having had the subjects in class for at least 6 months prior to rating. All testing was done during a normal 50-minute claw period and was completed over a 3 day span. Half of the subjects (38) who took the Matchstick Test were given Part I first followed by Part 11, while the remaining subjects (37) took Part I1 first. The same procedure was followed with the subjects taking the Inlprovememts Test. Results The subject's score was the number of items completed on the third page (colorword) minus the number of items he should have finished based on predictions from the regression of the page two' scores on the page three scores. For this sample the equation was the third page score minus .495 x the second page score plus 39. The overall average was 45.93 with a standard deviation of 9.74. The mean score for the Matchstick Test was 11.33 with a standard deviation of 3.05. For the Improvements Test the mean performance was 19.96 answers with a standard deviation of 8.416. The mean teacher creativity rating was 5.48 with a standard deviation of 1.93. Correlations between the Stroop Test and each of the three creativity measures can be seen in Table 1. Table 1 also includes the Stroop results for each level of the Matchstick and Improvements Test. It can be seen that the higher the group was on these tests the better the performance on the Stroop. The t be-
504
Stroop Color and Word Test Measure of Creativity Table 1 Stroop Scores and Correlations for All Variables and Variable Levels Stroop Scores Test
Level
Matchstick
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 19:48 19 November 2014
High Medium Low Improvements High Medium Low Teacher Rating
"* p < .001 tween the high and middle levels of the Matchstick test was 2.28 @
Journal of Personality Assessment Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hjpa20
The Measurement of Creativity by the Stroop Color and Word Test Charles J. Golden Published online: 10 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Charles J. Golden (1975) The Measurement of Creativity by the Stroop Color and Word Test, Journal of Personality Assessment, 39:5, 502-506, DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_9 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa3905_9
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Journal of Personali~Assessment, 1975,39, 5
The Measurement of Creativity by the Stroop Color and Word Test CHARLES J. GOLDEN University of Hawaii
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 19:48 19 November 2014
Summary: The development of a valid and reliable measure of creativity has been a challenging problem to psychologists. Gamble and Kellner (1968) have suggested that the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT)might be such a measure. The advantages of the Stroop include that it tests basic processes, is stable over long periods of time, and is easy to administer and score. The present study investigated the relationship of the Stroop to three independent measures of creativity: a verbal task ,a nonverbal task, and ratings by teachers. In all cases a significant relationship was found between these measures and the Stroop interference score. A concept of creativity as a basic underlying process is discussed by the author as well as implications for further research.
The development of a valid and reliable measure of creativity has challenged many psychologists interested in personality research (Davis & Belcher, 1971). Numerous tests have been proposed ranging from Mednick's (1967) Remote Associates Test to self rating scales (e-g., Rookey, Note 1). However these tests have suffered from various defects including dependency on past achievement or experience with a given type of item, truthfulness of the responder, correlations with intelligence scores, and most importantly, the inability to demonstrate a relationship with other measures of creativity as well as with peoples' recognition of what is a creative person. However, Gamble and Kellner (1968) have recently suggested that the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) might be a good measure of overall creative ability. The Stroop gives a subject a page of color words (RED, GREEN, and BLUE, for example) which are printed in incongruous colors (e.g., RED is printed in blue). Rather than read the word itself the subject is required to name the color in whch the word is printed. In addition, two other pages are included to determine the subject's reading and colornaming speed without any interference from conflicting stimuli. When these speeds and intelligence were controlled, Gamble and Kellner (1968) found a significant relationship between the Stroop interference score (the color-word page) and Mednick's (1967) Remote Associates Test.
While no other researchers of the Stroop have studied the specific question of creativity, the results of some are suggestive in this area. Klein (1954) found indications that the Stroop scores are closely related to the trait of cognitive flexibility, a trait normally associated with creativity, Others have found that the Stroop scores can indicate lack of constriction (Hardison & Purcell, 1959), stability (Smith & Nyman, 1962), persistency (Smith & Klein, 1953), adaptivity (Klein, 1954), independence from outside cues (Gardner, Holzman, Klein, Linton, & Spence, 1959), independence from past responses (Podell & Phillips, 1959), and toleration of ambiguity (Loomis & Moskowitz, 1958). These traits are, in general, the same kind used to describe creative individuals. Clark, Veldman, and Thorpe (1965) found that the creative adolescent was more mature (stable) and less constricted than other adolescents, while Kurtzman (1967) concluded that creative individuals are better able to tolerate stimulus ambiguity and are more mature. Cashdan & Welsh (1966) found creative youths to be more independent, more adaptive, and better able to deal with ambiguity. In light of these findings it was hypothesized that the Stroop is a measure of creativity. Specifically, it was hypothesized that h g h creative individuals would do better on the Stroop than average or low creative subjects. Three independent groups of subjects were rated for their creativity. One group was rated by teach-
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 19:48 19 November 2014
CHARLES J. GOLDEN ers, a second group by Guilford's (1967) Matchstick Test, and a third group by Roweton's (1969) Improvements Test. Group differences as well as correlations were calculated because of the potential problems inherent in these measures for rating individuals (e.g., bias, past experience, intelligence). Method Subjects Subjects were 450 high school students attending a Southern California school. The sample was nearly evenly divided by sex with 232 females and 218 males. The median age of all subjects was 16 with a range of 14 to 18. All subjects were volunteers who received no compensation other than some time off from normal classroom routine. Measures A group form of the Stroop Color and Word Test (Golden, 1975) was used for this study. The test consisted of three pages, each with 100 items arranged in 5 columns of 20. Each item on the first page was either the word RED, GREEN, or BLUE written in capitals and printed in black ink. The second page consisted of all XXXX's printed in either red, green, or blue ink. The third page contained the words of the first page printed in the colors of the second page. The word and the color it was printed in never matched, e.g., green was always printed in red or blue. The Improvements Test (Roweton, 1969) involved giving the subject the name of a common item (such as a doorknob) and asking the subject to produce possible improvements. The Matchstick Test consisted of problems in which the subject had to remove matchsticks to produce a given pattern. Each of these tests consisted of two parts. The last measure was a form listing only the student's name, which requested the teacher to rate the student's creativity on a scale of one to nine, with one being lowest. Procedures All subjects were given the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT). On the
first page the subjects were asked to read the color words (as a warm up to acquaint them with the procedure), while on the last two pages they were asked to name the color of the ink. Subjecis were given 45 seconds for each page ant1 asked to indicate how many items they completed. Subjects then were divided into three independent groups and rated by three measures of creativity; 75 subjects were given the Matchstick Test, 133 subjects took the Impirovements Test and 212 subjects were rated by teachers. Four teachers were asked to give rating,$,each teacher having had the subjects in class for at least 6 months prior to rating. All testing was done during a normal 50-minute claw period and was completed over a 3 day span. Half of the subjects (38) who took the Matchstick Test were given Part I first followed by Part 11, while the remaining subjects (37) took Part I1 first. The same procedure was followed with the subjects taking the Inlprovememts Test. Results The subject's score was the number of items completed on the third page (colorword) minus the number of items he should have finished based on predictions from the regression of the page two' scores on the page three scores. For this sample the equation was the third page score minus .495 x the second page score plus 39. The overall average was 45.93 with a standard deviation of 9.74. The mean score for the Matchstick Test was 11.33 with a standard deviation of 3.05. For the Improvements Test the mean performance was 19.96 answers with a standard deviation of 8.416. The mean teacher creativity rating was 5.48 with a standard deviation of 1.93. Correlations between the Stroop Test and each of the three creativity measures can be seen in Table 1. Table 1 also includes the Stroop results for each level of the Matchstick and Improvements Test. It can be seen that the higher the group was on these tests the better the performance on the Stroop. The t be-
504
Stroop Color and Word Test Measure of Creativity Table 1 Stroop Scores and Correlations for All Variables and Variable Levels Stroop Scores Test
Level
Matchstick
Downloaded by [University of Toronto Libraries] at 19:48 19 November 2014
High Medium Low Improvements High Medium Low Teacher Rating
"* p < .001 tween the high and middle levels of the Matchstick test was 2.28 @
