"Assessing Associative Distance Among Ideas Elicited by Tests of Divergent Thinking" by Selcuk Acar & Mark A. Runco

Summary

This academic paper, published in the Creativity Research Journal, investigates how to objectively measure the "associative distance" between ideas generated during divergent thinking tests, which are commonly used to assess creative potential. The authors, Selcuk Acar and Mark A. Runco, used three computerised semantic networks (WordNet, Word Associations Network, and IdeaFisher) to quantify this distance, aiming to improve on traditional scoring methods that don't account for how connected or remote ideas are. Their findings suggest that these networks can reliably identify both remote and close associations, and importantly, that individuals with higher scores on a creative attitudes and values measure tend to generate more remote associations, supporting the idea that creative individuals make less obvious connections. This research proposes a promising, objective method for assessing a key aspect of creative thinking.