"Social Psychology of Creativity: A Consensual Assessment Technique" by Teresa M. Amabile (1982)

"The consensual assessment technique: An examination of the relationship between ratings of product and process creativity" by Beth A. Hennessey (1994)

Teresa Amabile’s 1982 paper proposes a consensual assessment technique for measuring creativity, which relies on the agreement of “appropriate observers”—those familiar with the domain being judged—rather than objective criteria. The technique is tested on artistic and verbal domains with high interjudge reliability, indicating that, while it is difficult to objectively define creativity, people can recognise it. Beth Hennessey’s 1994 paper further investigates this technique, finding that judges can reliably assess the creativity of both the product and the process that led to its creation and that these ratings tend to be highly correlated. Furthermore, Hennessey’s work suggests that judges’ assessments can be significantly influenced by the age of the creator.