Predicting Individual Differences in Hypothesis Generation,
Abstract
Two experiments were performed to determine the extent to which individual differences in hypothesis generation could be predicted. In the first experiment, several published tests of creativity were used as predictors of hypothesis generation ability. The Alternate Uses test was the best predictor of hypothesis generation performance. In a second experiment, measures of achievement, general mental ability, and information were included with Alternate Uses as predictors of performance. Again Alternate Uses was the best predictor of performance. Several variants of the Alternate Uses test were also employed to isolate the components of hypothesis generation. It was found that two components were involved: retrieval of implicit dimensions of the objects and retrieval of uses when the dimensions are explicitly provided. The latter component was found to be by far the most important. It was concluded that good hypothsis generators have skills that enable them to effectively retrieve information stored in memory. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 28, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA072754
Entities
People
- Alan Nicewander
- Carol Manning
- Charles Gettys
- Stanley Fisher
- Tom Mehle
Organizations
- University of Oklahoma