Divergent thinking is the ability to generate many different ideas in response to an open-ended prompt. J. P. Guilford (1967) contrasted it with convergent thinking (arriving at a single correct answer) and proposed it as a key component of creativity. Divergent thinking is assessed through tasks such as the Alternative Uses Task (AUT: "How many uses can you think of for a brick?"), Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, and remote association tests.
Measures
Divergent thinking performance is typically scored along several dimensions. Fluency: the total number of ideas generated. Flexibility: the number of different categories of ideas. Originality: the statistical unusualness of ideas (ideas given by fewer participants score higher). Elaboration: the detail and development of ideas. Research shows moderate correlations between divergent thinking scores and real-world creative achievement, though the relationship is stronger for some domains (arts) than others (science).
Enhancing Divergent Thinking
Research has identified conditions that enhance divergent thinking. Positive mood generally facilitates divergent thinking (broadening attention and associations). Incubation periods (taking a break) can improve subsequent performance. Exposure to diverse experiences and ideas broadens the pool of concepts available for recombination. Constraints, counterintuitively, can sometimes enhance creativity by forcing novel approaches. Mindfulness and meditation practices have been associated with improved divergent thinking in some studies.
The threshold hypothesis proposes that intelligence is necessary for creativity up to a point (approximately IQ 120), beyond which additional intelligence provides diminishing returns. Above the threshold, personality factors (openness, intrinsic motivation), domain knowledge, and creative thinking skills become more important determinants. While the precise form of the intelligence-creativity relationship remains debated, it is clear that creativity requires more than raw cognitive ability.