Development and validation of Japanese version of divergent association task

Abstract

Divergent thinking (DT) has long been studied as a part of creative potentials; however, the extensive scoring process for DT poses issues. A recent solution gaining attention is automated scoring by calculating semantic distance. The divergent association task (DAT), a simplified version of the existing DT task, allows participants to engage in DT tasks within a shorter time, with immediate and automatic scoring. This study developed and validated the Japanese version of the DAT (DAT-J). Twelve candidate word vectors derived from the Japanese corpus were prepared to calculate DAT scores, and three surveys were conducted to examine the validity and reliability of the DAT-J. In Survey 1, 95 art majors completed an online questionnaire, including the DAT-J and creativity-related scales. Because Survey 1 revealed that the DAT-J may include inappropriate responses for automatic scoring, we modified the DAT-J instructions and developed a web application to validate inappropriate responses. In Survey 2, 358 students participated in the modified version of the DAT-J, the existing DT tasks, and the creativity-related questionnaire. The DAT-J was retested two weeks later. In Survey 3, an experiment was conducted comparing DAT-J responses by handwritten, web app, and web app with validation. Survey results demonstrate the basic validity and reliability of the DAT-J, underscoring its potential utility for assessing DT. Furthermore, the DAT-J answering format did not affect DAT scores. Finally, limitations of the DAT-J and future improvements for measurement accuracy were discussed.