Fluency or Similarities? Cognitive Abilities that Contribute to Creative Metaphor Generation

This study focused on the cognitive abilities that contribute to creative metaphor generation. A
concept explanation task was used to test conventional and novel (creative) metaphor generation.
Conceptual fluency and similarities were measured using the Tel-Aviv Creativity Test
(TACT). The main goal was to investigate how fluency of ideas and similarities contribute to
creative metaphor generation. Fifty-four children (M = 12.59, SD = 2.05) participated in the
study. The findings demonstrated that fluency of ideas contributed to the prediction of creative
potential, but not conventional metaphor generation, beyond similarities, cognitive abilities,
executive functions, verbal abilities, and age. The results thus show that novel metaphor
generation is unique and separate estimate of creative potential, which is reciprocally related
to conceptual fluency.