A school in Lucknow gives its Class 8 students two tasks. In Task 1, students complete number series and word analogies; each item has one right answer, and they are scored on how many they get correct. In Task 2, students are given an old bicycle tyre and asked to write down all the ways it could be used. They are scored on how many ideas they give and how uncommon those ideas are. No answer in Task 2 is marked wrong.
Which of the following best describes the kind of thinking Task 2 calls for and the kind of test it belongs to?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Divergent thinking, as assessed by a creativity test
Option (1) Divergent thinking, as assessed by a creativity test — Correct. Task 2 has no single right answer and rewards many unusual ideas. This is divergent thinking, which moves out in different directions, and open-ended tasks of this kind are the mark of creativity tests.
Option (2) Convergent thinking, as assessed by an intelligence test — Incorrect. Convergent thinking narrows down to one right solution, as in the number series and analogies of Task 1. Intelligence tests use it, but Task 2 has no single correct answer.
Option (3) Divergent thinking, as assessed by an intelligence test — Incorrect. The thinking is named rightly, but the test type is wrong. Intelligence tests look for the right solution and assess memory, logical reasoning and accuracy, with little scope for originality.
Option (4) Convergent thinking, as assessed by a creativity test — Incorrect. The test type is right, but the thinking is reversed. Creativity tests are open-ended and call for divergent thinking.
NCERT (2026-27): “Creativity and Intelligence … “are off-the-beaten track, ability to see new relationships between seemingly unrelated things, ability to guess causes and consequences, ability to put things in a new context, etc. This is contrary to the tests of intelligence which mostly involve convergent thinking. In tests of intelligence, the person has to think of the right solution to the problem and the focus is on assessing abilities such as memory, logical reasoning, accuracy, perceptual ability, and clear thinking. There is little scope for the expression of spontaneity, originality, and imagination.” |