Abstract:

Remote associates test (RAT) and its variant Compound RAT (CRAT) are the most commonly used experimental materials to reveal the neural mechanism of convergent thinking and insight, as well as to measure individual creative potential. Compared with CRAT, RAT is more suitable for cross-cultural research. However, direct revisions to the RAT are unsuitable due to linguistic and cultural differences and the diversity in Chinese word association methods, necessitating the development of the Chinese Word RAT (CWRAT). Based on the classical hierarchical theory of association and the association characteristics in Chinese context, this study developed 80 CWRAT items, enhancing item parameters such as difficulty, insight level, and association methods. Given the non-uniqueness of answers, a gradient scoring model was implemented.Validity tests indicated significant correlations of CWRAT with creative analogical reasoning, creative achievement, and openness to experience. Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) with association methods as classification indicators, the items were categorized into three groups. C1 and C3, characterized by higher probabilities of symbolic/metaphorical associations, showed higher levels of insight, whereas C2, involving more conventional associations, indicated lower levels of insight and difficulty. These results demonstrate that the variance in the insight experience of CWRAT is influenced by different association methods. This measurement not only enriches the toolkit for assessing creativity in the Chinese context but also provides new material for cross-cultural comparisons in creativity.

Key words: remote associates test, association hierarchy, creativity, semantic distance