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Is Curiosity Killed by the CAT? A Divergent, Open-Ended, and Generative (DOG) Approach to Creativity Assessment

Anderson, Ross C., Beghetto, Ronald A., Glăveanu, Vlad orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-6029-6718 and Basu, Marina (2023) Is Curiosity Killed by the CAT? A Divergent, Open-Ended, and Generative (DOG) Approach to Creativity Assessment. Creativity Research Journal, 35 (3). pp. 380-395. ISSN 1532-6934

Abstract
The consensual assessment technique (CAT) represents one of the most popular evaluation techniques used by researchers to assess creative artifacts. In this paper we discuss how the prototypical use of the CAT, while useful for identifying unambiguous examples of creative artifacts, can inadvertently kill the curiosity of researchers interested in interpreting and understanding more ambiguous, contested, and divergent examples of creative expression. More specifically, we open the article by briefly describing the CAT and how it can simultaneously help and hinder researchers in making judgments about the creativity of artifacts in and across domains. We then introduce a methodological elaboration on the CAT, called the Divergent, Open-Ended, and Generative (DOG) approach to interpreting creative artifacts. Next, we present a secondary analysis of CAT data to illustrate the DOG approach and how it can extend insights about creativity when used in conjunction with the CAT. We close with a discussion of implications for creativity theory and research.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Consensual Assessment Technique; Creativity Assessment; Methodology; Ambiguity; Secondary Analysis of Data
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Sociology
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School
Research Institutes and Centres > Centre for Possibility Studies
Publisher:Routledge
Official URL:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/104004...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:33105
Deposited On:18 Aug 2026 12:40 by Tam Nguyen . Last Modified 18 Aug 2026 12:40
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