In a test of creativity, researchers asked 145 students to think of as many unusual uses as possible for such common items as a brick or toothpick, then divided them randomly into four groups.
The researchers ranked students on a widely used measure called the Torrance Test of Creativity, which involves such tasks as drawing an "interesting and exciting" picture from a curved shape on a sheet of paper, giving the picture a title, and then writing a story about it.