A Cognitive Interpretation is not at Odds with Equal Odds: A Latent Variable Investigation

Whether chance models of creativity are in accordance with a cognitive ability explanation of individual differences in creative cognition is a fundamental question. To address this question, we conducted two studies (NStudy1 = 462 and NStudy2 = 331) where we extended previous work on the Equal Odds Baseline (i.e., a chance model of creativity) by using a latent variable analytic approach to model latent residual factors rectified for fluency. Specifically, we compare three measurement models: the EOB latent variable model, a residualized model, and a ratio score model. We report their reliability and examine their association with cognitive abilities (i.e., fluid intelligence and working memory capacity). We found that when a chance model of creativity is deemed to be an appropriate fit for a given dataset, as evidenced by Dataset 2 in our study, a cognitive interpretation of η is warranted (i.e., around 21% of variance can be explained by working memory capacity). Our work thus contributes to and refines related discussions that have previously viewed chance models of creativity as being incompatible with such a cognitive interpretation.