Validation of the Italian Remote Associate Test

Abstract

The scientific approach to the study of creative problem‐solving has shifted from using classic insight problems (e.g., the Nine‐dots problem), toward sets of problems that have more robust psychometric properties, such as the Remote Associate Test (RAT). Because it is homogeneous, compact, quickly solvable, and easy to score, the RAT has been used more frequently in recent creativity studies. We applied the Item Response Theory (IRT) to develop an Italian version of this task. The final 51‐item test was reliable (α = .89) and provided information over a wide range of ability levels, as revealed by the IRT analysis. The RAT correlated with five measures of creative performance: The Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), three classic insight problems, a set of anagrams purposefully developed, the fluency and flexibility scores of the Alternative Uses Task (AUT), and the Creative Achievements Questionnaire (CAQ). The new measure provided is meant to encourage the study of creativity and problem‐solving in the Italian language.

Oculometric signature of switch into awareness? Pupil size predicts sudden insight whereas microsaccades predict problem-solving via analysis

“…Afterward, the problem words were erased and participants had to report, via button press, whether they had solved the problem via insight or analysis. Self-reports for insight and analytic solving have been established in numerous behavioral and neuroimaging studies (e.g., Cristofori et al, 2018 ; Jung-Beeman et al, 2004 ; Kounios et al, 2006 ; Laukkonen and Tangen, 2018 ; Salvi et al, 2018 ; Salvi et al, 2016a ,b; Santarnecchi et al, 2019 ; Salvi et al, 2020 ; Salvi and Bowden, 2019 ). No feedback was given to participants regarding whether the solution they had provided was correct.…”

TDCS to the right anterior temporal lobe facilitates insight problem-solving

“…CRAs have been shown to correlate with several measures of creative performance e.g., the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, classic insight problems, the Alternative Uses Task and the Creative Achievements Questionnaire 69 .…”

The Effect of Dopaminergic Replacement Therapy on Creative Thinking and Insight Problem-Solving in Parkinson's Disease Patients

“…Each cue word may combine with the solution word to form a compound word or phrase or may relate to the solution word by semantic association or synonymity (e.g., problem: tooth/potato/heart — solution: SWEET). The example used in the Italian language was scuola, tutto , and domani (translation: school, all, tomorrow) which forms the compound doposcuola, dopotutto, and dopodomani (translation: afterschool, after all, after tomorrow; Salvi et al, 2015b , 2018 ). For this study, CRA problems consisted of 40 trials per session (for a total of 120 Italian CRA problems, taken from Salvi et al, 2015b ).…”

“…These problems are also used to study the cognitive processes of idea generation, as they can be solved either via sudden insight (i.e., “Aha!” moment) or in a step-by-step (i.e., analytic) fashion (e.g., Jung-Beeman et al, 2004 ). Many ideas or solutions to problems are generated through sudden insight that is then construed as creative thinking (Friedman and Förster, 2005 ; Salvi et al, 2018 ). Creativity is the result of multiple interacting cognitive processes supported by a large network of brain areas (Eysenck, 1993 ; Heilman, 2005 ; Beaty et al, 2016 , 2018 , 2019 , 2020 ).…”