Predicting Individual Differences in Generation of Hypotheses

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Abstract
An experiment was performed to determine the extent to which individual differences in hypothesis generation could be predicted. Measures of achievement, general mental ability, and information were included with the Alternate Uses test as predictors of hypothesis-generation performance. The Alternate Uses test was the best predictor of performance. Several variants of the Alternate Uses test were also employed to isolate the components of hypothesis generation. Two components were involved: retrieval of implicit dimensions of the objects and retrieval of uses when the dimensions are explicitly provided. The latter component was much more important. The results suggest that good hypothesis generators have skills that enable them effectively to retrieve information stored in memory.