Aptitude and creativity

Aptitude is a person's potential to acquire a specific skill with training, such as a mechanical or musical aptitude. It is about what you could learn, not what you already know.

Success needs both aptitude and interest: a person with musical aptitude but no interest in music is unlikely to become a musician.

Aptitude tests come as independent tests (for one skill) or as batteries (several tests together):

• The Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT), the most common battery in education, have eight subtests: verbal reasoning, numerical ability, abstract reasoning, clerical speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling and language usage.
• Others: the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).
• In India, J.M. Ojha developed an Indian version of the DAT.

Creativity is the ability to produce something new and unique (and useful): an idea, a solution, a work of art. It exists at different levels, from a scientist's discovery to a child's new game, and everyone has some, not only geniuses.

Heredity sets the limits of creative potential; the environment (motivation, family support, training, freedom to explore) decides how much of it is realised.

Creativity and intelligence: a certain level of intelligence is needed for creativity, but beyond that, the two are only weakly related. A very high IQ does not guarantee creativity.

Why tests differ:

• Intelligence tests mostly involve convergent thinking: finding the one correct answer.
• Creativity tests are open-ended and use divergent thinking: producing many possible answers. Example: 'List all the uses of a brick you can think of.' Answers are scored for number, variety and originality.