Surprising Science — February 9, 2011

ADHD Encourages Creativity

In a recent study, preference for idea generation was higher among ADHD participants, whereas preference for problem clarification was greater among non-ADHD participants.

bigthinkeditor

Previous research has suggested that adults with ADHD perform better on some measures of creativity than non-ADHD adults (White & Shah, 2006). The present study replicated previous findings using a standardized measure of creativity (the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults, Goff & Torrance, 2002) and extended previous research by investigating real-world creative achievement among adults with ADHD. Results indicated that adults with ADHD showed higher levels of original creative thinking on the verbal task of the ATTA and higher levels of real-world creative achievement, compared to adults without ADHD.

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7 min

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with

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