Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking refers to the ability to develop original and unique ideas and to envision multiple solutions to a problem.

The concept of divergent thinking was developed in the 1950s by American psychologist Joy Paul Guilford (1897–1987), who saw it as a major component of creativity and associated it with four main characteristics: fluency (the ability to rapidly produce a large number of ideas or solutions to a problem); flexibility (the capacity to consider a variety of approaches to a problem simultaneously); originality (the tendency to produce ideas different from those of most other people); and elaboration (the ability to think through the details of an idea and carry it out). Guilford, whose research was oriented toward testing and measurement (psychometrics), believed that creative thinkers are at a disadvantage when taking standard intelligence tests, which penalize divergent thinking and reward its opposite, convergent thinking—the ability to reduce all possible alternatives to a single solution (the type of thinking required by multiple choice tests).

Although creativity is associated with the highest levels of achievement in many fields and presumably valued by society, the mainstream educational system often penalizes divergent thinkers. The typical standardized measure of intelligence is the multiple-choice test, which is diametrically opposed to the divergent thinker's problem-solving process. To a creative thinker, it may seem more productive to try finding reasons why all the choices on a multiple-choice question could be correct than to select the preferred answer. In addition, most classroom teaching is heavily biased toward the learning style of convergent thinkers, a fact that helps explain the dismal school performance of such legendary geniuses as Thomas Alva Edison, who was considered retarded and expelled from school.

Research conducted since the 1980s has shown that such factors as mood and adequate sleep can either foster or inhibit divergent thinking. Self-reported mood checkrecalled or worked outlists administered to university students in Norway indicated that the students demonstrated a higher capacity for divergent thinking (as measured by task performance) when they were in a positive or upbeat mood and a lower than normal capacity when they were depressed, irritated, or upset. What this study indicates is that divergent thinking is still a form of thinking; it should not be confused with emotion-driven reactions to problems.

Another important factor that affects divergent thinking is sleep deprivation: tests of sleep-deprived college students showed that divergent thinking is significantly more affected by sleep loss than is convergent thinking. In addition, heavy use of cannabis (marijuana) impairs divergent thinking rather than expanding it—contrary to popular belief.

KEY TERMS

Convergent thinking—
The type of thinking oriented toward finding the single best answer to a question or solution to a problem. Convergent thinking works best in situations in which an answer readily exists and simply needs to be either recalled or worked out through? decision making.
Episodic memory—
Autobiographical memory; recollection of past personal experiences and the specific details (time, location, other persons, etc.) associated with the events.

While divergent thinking cannot be taught in the same way as the skills associated with convergent thinking, there are some exercises or activities that people can do to expand their capacities for divergent thinking:

See also Convergent thinking ; Intelligence tests .

Resources

BOOKS

Comrey, Andrew L. Joy Paul Guilford (1897–1987): A Biographical Memoir. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1993.

Guilford, Joy Paul. The Nature of Human Intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

Koutstaal, Wilma. The Agile Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Runco, Mark A., ed. Divergent Thinking and Creative Potential. New York: Hampton Press, 2012.

PERIODICALS

Cousijn, J., et al. “The Relation between Gray Matter Morphology and Divergent Thinking in Adolescents and Young Adults.” PLoS One 9 (December 16, 2014): e114619.

Kowal, M. A., et al. “Cannabis and Creativity: Highly Potent Cannabis Impairs Divergent Thinking in Regular Cannabis Users.” Psychopharmacology (Berlin) 232 (March 2015): 1123–34.

Lippelt, D. P., B. Hommel, and L. S. Colzato. “Focused Attention, Open Monitoring and Lovingkindness Meditation: Effects on Attention, Conflict Monitoring, and Creativity: A Review.” Frontiers in Psychology 5 (September 13, 2014): 1083.

Madore, K. P., D. R. Addis, and D. L. Schacter. “Creativity and Memory: Effects of an Episodic-Specificity Induction on Divergent Thinking.” Psychological Science, July 23, 2015 [E-publication ahead of print].

Radel, R., et al. “The Role of (Dis)inhibition in Creativity: Decreased Inhibition Improves Idea Generation.” Cognition 134 (January 2015): 110–20.

WEBSITES

Atherton, J. S. “Learning and Teaching Convergent and Divergent Learning.” http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/converge.htm (accessed August 25, 2015).

Briggs, Saga. “30 Ways to Inspire Divergent Thinking.” http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/ divergent-thinking/ (accessed August 25, 2015).

TheDTresource.co.uk. “Divergent Thinking.” http://www.thedtresource.co.uk/designing,%20divergent%20thinking.html (accessed August 25, 2015).

Sloane, Paul. “Divergent and Convergent Thinking.” http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2012/10/24/divergent-and-convergent-thinking/ (accessed August 25, 2015).

ORGANIZATIONS

Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development, 123 Aderhold Hall, 110 Carlton St., Athens, GA, 30602, (706) 542-3237, Fax: (706) 583-8207, creative@uga.edu, http://coe.uga.edu .