Creative Brain Test: 10 Best Ways To Test Your Creative Intelligence

Did you know you can boost your levels of creativity by simply moving your eyes from side to side? While there is no firmly established formula for creativity, there are ways to increase it; ways just as crazy as eye movement!

Yet, how do we know how creative we are? Luckily for us, there are ways we can test our creativity. Let’s look at 10 of the best ways and see how creative we really are.

1. WKOPAY

What Kind of Person Are You (WKOPAY) is a measure of inquisitiveness, self-confidence, and imagination. This creativity test is a self-assessment for creative intelligence. ^[1]

Test it: Take a self-assessment and determine what type of personality trait you possess at BuzzFeed.

2. Reverse Thinking

Instead of adopting the typical logical way of looking at a problem, try the reverse approach. Turn around the challenge and look for the opposite ideas.

Example: A good example of reverse thinking is as follows. ^[2]

• Typical Approach: How can I double my fan base?
• Reverse Thinking: How do I make sure I have no fans at all?

Looks like this:

Test it: Think of a problem you would like to solve. Now think of the reverse of that idea and write it down. Do you see anything interesting?

3. Anagram

An anagram is switching of words or word play. It is where we rearrange letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word.

How it works: Simply rearrange the letters of a word or phrase. For example, change Life hack to hack file.

Example: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll famously used anagrams. Carroll’s real name was actually Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. In developing the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, Dodgson began by translating Charles Lutwidge into Latin – Carolus Ludovicus. He then reversed the order of the Latin translation and translated the back into English arriving at Lewis Carroll. ^[3]

Looks like this:

Test it: Test your anagram creating skills at www.wordplays.com.

4. Storyboarding

A storyboard is simply a sequence of illustrations demonstrating how a story will unfold.

How it works: Here is a great step-by-step guide on how to create a storyboard with a group of people. ^[4]

• Step 1: Choose the problem.
• Step 2: Take notes.
• Step 3: Mind map.
• Step 4: Crazy eights.
• Step 5: Storyboard.
• Step 6: Silent critique.
• Step 7: 3-minute critiques.
• Step 8: Super vote.

Looks like this:

Test it: Choose a problem, grab a piece of blank paper, fold the blank sheet of paper in half four times, then unfold it. Take five minutes to draw eight sketches (one in each panel) and crank out your ideas. ^[5]

5. Riddles

Riddles are an extremely creative way to wrap your mind around a puzzle shrouded in mystery. Riddles challenge your mind and make you think beyond the simple words. ^[6]

How it works: Answering a riddle is difficult enough, but creating one is extremely difficult. Use the following guideline and create your own riddle. ^[7]

• Step 1: Choose an answer.
• Step 2: Brainstorm your answer.
• Step 3: Use a thesaurus.
• Step 4: Think like the object.
• Step 5: Use figurative language.

Example:

• Riddle: Imagine you are in a dark room. How do you get out?
• Answer: Stop imagining it.

Test it: Riddles.com is a great place to visit to test your ability to solve riddles. Take their 10 Best Riddles Quiz and see just how inquisitive you are.

6. Analogy

An analogy is the comparison or similarity between two things in order to explain something.

How it works: The following is a great step-by-step outline for creating your own analogy. ^[8]

• Step 1: Choose your analogs (two things you are comparing). You should be familiar with analog #1.
• Step 2: List the characteristics of analog #2.
• Step 3: Start relating.
• Step 4: Figure out which points you want to write about.
• Step 5: Merge and clean up your list.
• Step 6: Expound on each point.
• Step 7: Finalize your analogy.

Example:

Analogy: Be involved in things but don’t commit. It’s like eggs and bacon. The chicken was involved, the pig was committed.

Looks like this:

Test it: Visit Museumofhorror.com and see how creative you are with analogies.

7. Incomplete Figure

Incomplete figure is a test developed in the 1960’s by psychologist Ellis Torrance as one of the elements of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). ^[9]

How it works: With this test, you are provided a shape and asked to complete the image.

Looks like this:

Test it: Visit 99u.com and try it yourself. Print out the figures from the site and see what you can turn them into within 5 minutes.

8. Nine Dots

The 9-Dot puzzle is a lateral thinking puzzle that some believe as the origin to the expression thinking outside the box.

How it works: You have nine dots arranged in a set of three rows. You must draw four continuous straight lines going through the middle of all the nine dots without removing your pencil off the paper. ^[10]

Looks like this:

Alternative Solution: There are alternative solutions to this puzzle. One solution is the Tridimensional solution.

Test it: Try this puzzle out for yourself online at Brainstorming.co.uk.

9. Morphological Analysis

The morphological matrix is a tool that helps us generate ideas based on possible variation of a problem. It provides us a systematic approach in generating a large amount of possibilities.

How it works: Use the following steps for this tool. ^[11]

• Step 1: State the task clearly and identify the parameters.
• Step 2: Select the first parameter and enter it as the heading.
• Step 3: Generate many attributes (including unusual ones) for that parameter. List them in the rows under the column heading.
• Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each parameter. List the attributes for each.
• Step 5: Randomly select combinations.
• Step 6: Write each combination and dive into each.
• Step 7: Explore several potential combinations.
• Step 8: Choose one of the potential combinations to apply.

Looks like this:

Test it: Identify a problem and follow the tips and suggestions at Creativethinktank.

10. SCAMPER

SCAMPER is a mnemonic device that stands for: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse. You or your team my find it difficult to identify new ideas. SCAMPER can assist with this. ^[12]

How it works:

• Step 1: Find an existing product you want to improve.
• Step 2: Ask questions using the mnemonic device SCAMPER to guide you.

Example:

Example questions for each element of the mnemonic device.

• Substitute: What rules could you substitute?
• Combine: What could you combine to maximize the uses of this product?
• Adapt: What else is like your product?
• Modify: What element of this product could you strengthen to create something new?
• Put to another use: How would this product behave differently in another setting?
• Eliminate: What features, parts, or rules could you eliminate?
• Reverse: What if you try to do the exact opposite of what you’re trying to do now?

Test it: Identify a product or service you would like to improve. Now, use the mnemonic device SCAMPER to get in the right frame of mind in order to ask the right questions.

So, did any of these creativity tests give you a boost in your creative abilities? If not, try them again! Boosting your creativity will help you in every area of life. Use these tools and techniques in order to find your creativity sweet spot and tap into your creative genius!