Is Creativity Unidimensional or Multidimensional? Analyses of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

There is disagreement whether creativity is a unidimensional or multidimensional trait. The dimensionality of creativity is important to understand the mind’s cognitive functioning; thus aiding the development of human potential. Much of this dimensionality debate is related to the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Confirmatory factor analyses were thus conducted with data from 500 Grade-6 students, and several factor models were tested. The findings of this study show that the TTCT consists of 2 factors rather than a single factor, contrary to the majority of research on this subject. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) The TTCT was first published by E. Paul Torrance in 1966. There are two forms of the verbal and two forms of the figural. The tests have been renormed four times. The original purposes of the tests were for understanding strengths of students, research and experimentation, and general use for instructional planning (Torrance, 1966, 1974). Therefore, uses should reach for inclusion of higher scoring students, rather than exclusion of lower scoring students, for individualizing instructional programs (Treffinger, 1985). The TTCT has been translated into over 35 different languages (Millar, 2002), and it is the most widely used test of creativity (G. A. Davis, 1997), including those for research purposes (Lissitz & Willhoft, 1985). The TTCT has been especially useful for identifying gifted and talented students and for counseling purposes (e.g., D. H. Cropley & Cropley, 2000). With 25 years of extensive development and evaluation (Millar, 2002), the TTCT has large norming samples, longitudinal validations (G. A. Davis, 1997), and high predictive validity for a broad age range (A. J. Cropley, 2000). The Figural form, especially, has equity benefits in terms of gender and race and for persons who have various language, socioeconomic status, and cultural backgrounds (Cramond, 1993; Torrance, 1977).