The instructional enhancement of the flexibility and originality scores of divergent thinking tests

Abstract This investigation was conducted to examine the effects of insturctions designed to enhance ideational origianlity and flexibility, and to test the prediction that flexibility is functionally related to originality. Twenty‐nine adolescents received three divergent thinking tests with conventional (inexplicit) instructions, one test with explicit originality instructions, and one test with explicit flexbility instructions. Contrary to expection, results indicated that originality scores were low when the adolescents were given the explicit flexiibility instructions. This suggests that flexibility does not facilitate originality. However, the explicit originality instructions did elicit the highest originality scores, and the explicit flexibility instructions elicited the highest flexibility scores.