The Alternate Uses Task (AUT) was designed by

J.P. Guilford Joy Paul Guilford (March 7, 1897 – November 26, 1987) was an American psychologist best remembered for his psychometric study of human Intelligence (trait), intelligence, including the distinction between Convergent thinking, convergent and Div ...

in 1967. It is used to measure

divergent thinking Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, "non-linear" manner, such that many ideas are generated in an emergent c ...

Design

The intent of the AUT is to have the test taker think creatively. It is generally used with a time-constraint, and consists of someone thinking of one object to start. Then within that time-constraint, that person thinks of as many objects as they can that are comparable to the original object chosen. The AUT measures a certain level of divergent thinking; exploring multiple answers using

creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...

It doesn't compare to a traditional test that looks for a specific solution. As a result, from the AUT it is measured in four ways: *

Fluency Fluency (also called volubility and eloquency) is the property of a person or of a system that delivers information quickly and with expertise. Language use Language fluency is one of a variety of terms used to characterize or measure a perso ...

: the number of other uses you can think of, from the original object *

Originality Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

: how different the other uses are, showing creativity *

Flexibility Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. Calculations The stiffness, k, of a b ...

: the assortment of ideas that you come up with showing such a vast range *

Elaboration Elaboration (from Latin ''ex-'' "out" + ''laborare'' "to labor") is the act of adding more information to existing information to create a more complex, emergent whole. Elaboration is the variant of development implementation: creating new stru ...

: "level of detail and development of the idea" For example, the phrase "plank of wood" could be provided and the examinee would then proceed to write down words such as porch, bridge, swing, etc. There are two approaches used in scoring participants and their output; traditional and

subjective Subjective may refer to: * Subjectivity, a subject's personal perspective, feelings, beliefs, desires or discovery, as opposed to those made from an independent, objective, point of view ** Subjective experience, the subjective quality of conscio ...

. A traditional approach is measured based on the output of "fluency, originality, and flexibility. The output of the scores is then rated based on creativity. On the other hand, the definitional approach involves rating things entirely differently. In the definitional approach the ratings on whether or not it is useful in comparison to traditional that rates on creative.

References

{{reflist Cognitive psychology 1967 introductions