Measure of Original Thinking in Elementary School (MOTES)

Abstract

The Measure of Original Thinking in Elementary School (MOTES), developed by Acar, Dumas, Organisciak, and Berthiaume (2024), is a sophisticated, computerized assessment tool designed specifically to evaluate original thinking among elementary school students. Recognizing the challenges inherent in measuring and nurturing creativity in educational settings, MOTES utilizes three distinct interactive, game-like activities to engage young respondents effectively.

The scale underwent a rigorous development process, starting with an extensive literature review and initial pilot testing. Expert validation, involving teachers, school counselors, and creativity specialists, alongside cognitive laboratory sessions with students, led to the refinement of the instrument. The final version consists of 24 items distributed across three core subscales: Uses, Examples, and Sentences, with eight items dedicated to each subscale.

Administration of the tool was conducted with elementary students across the United States. Subsequent Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) provided strong empirical support for a unified, higher-order Originality factor. The study also noted the presence of significant Differential Item Functioning (DIF) (p = .01), necessitating careful interpretation of scores across different groups. Comprehensive findings regarding both reliability and validity were reported in the foundational study.

Keywords

Original Thinking, Originality, Creativity, Elementary School Students, Game-Like Computerized Activities, Differential Item Functioning, External Validity, Computational Psychometric Approach, Uses, Examples, Sentences

Authors

Selcuk Acar, Denis Dumas, Peter Organisciak, Kelly Berthiaume

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Measure of Original Thinking in Elementary School (MOTES) is to provide a standardized, objective, and engaging method for assessing the psychological construct of original thinking in children enrolled in elementary education programs.

The instrument was specifically developed to move beyond traditional paper-and-pencil assessments by leveraging electronic administration and computational scoring methods, thereby addressing the need for scalable and innovative tools for creativity assessment in the modern classroom.

Construct

The central construct measured by MOTES is Original Thinking. This construct is defined operationally within the instrument as the ability to generate unique, unusual, or novel responses across various domains and contexts.

MOTES operationalizes original thinking through three distinct facets, represented by its subscales: the ability to generate novel Uses for common objects, the ability to produce original Examples within a given category, and the ability to formulate creative Sentences based on specific prompts. The CFA results support the theoretical position that these facets converge onto a single, higher-order factor of Originality.

Validity

The validity evidence for MOTES is primarily supported by comprehensive external validation findings, demonstrating its robust relationship with established measures of creative ability and academic success.

External Validity was demonstrated through strong predictive capability: MOTES scores predicted originality and abstractness of titles scores derived from the established TTCT–Figural Form A (Torrance, 1998b). Furthermore, the scale showed significant correlations with standardized academic achievement metrics, including strong correlations with Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Mathematics (ß = .59) and MAP Reading scores (ß = .63). Weaker, yet still significant, correlations were observed with reading speed and self-rated originality, reinforcing its primary focus on cognitive originality rather than self-perception or processing speed.

Reliability

The reliability of MOTES was assessed through internal consistency measures and interrater agreement, particularly focusing on the efficacy of the automated scoring system.

Internal Consistency Reliability was found to be strong across all components. Hancock’s H coefficients were 0.82 for the Uses subscale, 0.85 for Examples, and 0.88 for Sentences. The higher-order originality factor demonstrated exceptional internal consistency (H = 0.89, with McDonald’s Omega (ω) = 0.87). Additionally, the study confirmed the feasibility and accuracy of the computational psychometric approach, showing high agreement between automated scores and scores provided by human raters (rs = .79, .91, and .85 for the respective subscales).

Factor Analysis

The psychometric structure of MOTES was rigorously investigated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) based on data gathered from elementary students in the U.S.

The analyses indicated that both a three-factor correlated model, recognizing the distinct nature of the Uses, Examples, and Sentences subscales, and a higher-order model, positing a single underlying trait of Originality, provided a good fit to the empirical data. For both theoretical clarity and practical utility in deriving a comprehensive originality score, the higher-order model was ultimately selected and confirmed as the preferred structural representation of the scale.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Task-Based Assessment

Format: Electronic administration where responses are scored by raters (human or AI) on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not original) to 5 (very original).

Language Available: English (based on the U.S. population study)

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Childhood (6-12 yrs), Adulthood (18+ yrs). Note: The scale is designed and validated specifically for Elementary School Students (typically 6–12 years).

Population Details: Respondents were Elementary School Students located in the United States.

Test Methodology: Test Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Interrater Reliability, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Keywords

Psychometrics, Originality Assessment, Original Thinking, Educational Psychology, Computational Scoring, Elementary Education, TTCT, MAP Scores

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Selcuk Acar: ORCID
• Denis Dumas: ORCID
• Peter Organisciak: ORCID
• Kelly Berthiaume: ORCID Not provided in source.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source.

Correspondence Address: Affiliations include University of North Texas, University of Georgia, and University of Denver.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2024

Information regarding specific permissions, licensing fees, or commercial availability is not provided in the source documentation. The scale DOI is 10.1037/t91308-000.

Reference’s

Acar, S., Dumas, D., Organisciak, P., & Berthiaume, K. (2024). Measuring original thinking in elementary school: Development and validation of a computational psychometric approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 116(6), 953–981. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000844

Items of the Measure of Original Thinking in Elementary School (MOTES)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The specific items or prompts utilized in the Measure of Original Thinking in Elementary School (MOTES) were not provided in the source content for this entry. The scale comprises 24 items divided into three subscales: Uses, Examples, and Sentences.