Creative Thinking as a Predictor of Creative Problem Solving in Architectural Design Students

The findings demonstrated that creative thinking, operationally defined as the cognitive ability to generate a large number of original ideas/solutions predicted creative thinking in solving problems in architecture. Research participants were 111 students of architectural design. A strong correlation was found between the predictor and criterion measures, r = .45, p < .001. Creative problem solving in architectural design was more highly correlated with the verbal than with the figural component of the creative thinking measure, r = .51, p < .001 and r = .31, p < .005, respectively. The findings suggest the potential benefits of including both domain-general tests of ideational fluency and domain-specific tests of creative thinking in architectural problem solving in admission procedures for departments of architecture.