A Measure of Creativity or Intelligence? Examining Internal and External Structure Validity Evidence of the Remote Associates Test

The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is often assumed to be a measure of creativity; however, the RAT has been broadly applied in psychological studies. Originally developed to assess individual differences in associative processing, the RAT has been used to study various constructs, such as creativity, problem solving, insight, and memory. Aside from early validation studies, the psychometric properties of the RAT remain largely unexplored. This study examines the internal and external structure validity evidence of a computer-based, 30-item RAT based on scores from a sample of undergraduate students. We examined internal structure via classical test theory item statistics, dimensionality analysis, item response theory analysis, and differential item functioning analysis. Results showed that the two-parameter logistic (2PL) model, in which items have unique discrimination and difficulty parameters, had good fit to item responses from our 30-item RAT. In addition, the relationships among scores on the RAT and a series of other cognitive measures including divergent thinking, intelligence, and working memory tasks were examined to assess the external validity of the RAT scores. Results indicate that the RAT assesses cognitive processes similar to those from a wide range of other analytical and convergent thinking test, distinguishing it from traditional, divergent thinking tests of creativity. In light of concerns regarding the internal and external psychometric properties of creativity measures, our findings help to clarify the item and test characteristics of the RAT.