Levels of Questions Asked in Interview and Reading Sessions by Creative and Relatively Noncreative College Students

Summary Two experiments examined the kinds of questions asked by male and female undergraduates identified as relatively creative and relatively non-creative. In Experiment I (N = 260) creative students were found to ask significantly higher numbers of application, synthesis, and evaluation level questions in interview settings, while relatively noncreative students asked significantly higher numbers of knowledge and comprehension level questions. In the second experiment (N = 96), creative students wrote significantly greater numbers of higher order questions in the margins of reading materials than did relatively noncreative students. The relatively noncreative students wrote significantly higher numbers of factual level questions. The possible application of these results to the training of creativity in students is discussed.