David Feldman

Summary. Based on a conceptual framework developed by Jackson and Messick [1965], a technique was developed for assessing transformational power in responses to creativity test items. Aesthetic reactions of judges were used to evaluate 87 Torrance test protocols for transformational responses. of 846 "high creative strength" responses, 93 were judged transformational [80% agreement between judges]. The six most powerful transformations [100% agreement] were not necessarily produced by those who scored highest on Torrance's test. Limitations of the present study and implications of the results for future research are discussed.

. . . . The main feature of the Jackson/Messick framework is a set of "response properties" or criteria by which creative power can be judged. Of the four proposed criteria--unusualness, appropriateness, transformation, and condensation--transformation was chosen for empirical investigation in the present study. Transformational power, as conceived by Jackson and Messick, is the extent to which a given response represents the production of new forms rather than improves upon existing forms, the extent to which the apparent constraints of the stimulus situation are overcome, but overcome in highly appropriate fashion, and the extent to which the product generates additional thoughts in the observer. Transformational power therefore presumes both unusualness and appropriateness of the product, but it also requires the observer to accommodate his thinking to the transformed object..... pp. 335-336.

Method. In order to operationalize "transformational power," a suggestion of Jackson and Messick's that aesthetic reactions of observers might serve as an index was pursued. Two judges were trained to record their aesthetic reactions to a set of Torrance [1966] test protocols. Since unusualness and appropriateness are operationally defined by the Torrance scoring system, judges were told to concentrate on their own reactions to responses that" (1) seemed to break the constraints of the situation; (2) stimulate thinking and reflection about the possibilities generated by the response; and (3) that caused them to accommodate their thinking to the "new reality" generated by the response. Training consisted of reading and discussion of the Jackson/Messick paper and practice and discussion in identifying transformational responses on the Torrance test protocols.... An example of a transformational response to an activity asking for unusual questions about tin cans was: "Why don't we construct tin cans that self-destruct after we use them?" In contrast, "how much tin is in tin cans?" was not judged a transformational response. p. 336

Results and DiscussionSecond, transformational power has not been validated against an external criteria of creative productivity. While the rationale for its selection as a criterion is persuasive, acceptance must await careful empirical test.

Third, the results of the present study suggest that current creativity tests of the Torrance variety may be measuring relatively limited creative responses. . . . Criteria such as the one explored in this present study may predict creativity in other domains, but any such claim must await empirical support. p. 337