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Culture-related differences in visual creativity were investigated, comparing Italian and Japanese participants in terms of divergent (figural completion task) and product-oriented thinking (figural combination task). Visual restructuring ability was measured as the ability to reinterpret ambiguous figures and was included as a covariate. Results showed that in divergent thinking, Italians only outperformed Japanese participants in elaboration and in product-oriented thinking in terms of originality of products. Visual restructuring ability was found to play a key role both in originality and practicality of products. Both groups scored the same in terms of fluency, originality, and flexibility of visual divergent thinking, as well as in term of practicality of creative products. These findings are consistent with the idea that Italians and Japanese have the same creative potential, although from the early stages of the design Japanese seem to show a greater tendency to take practicality constraints into account when creating in the visual domain.

Threshold theory predicts a positive correlation between IQ and creativity scores up to an IQ level of 120 and no correlation above this threshold. Primary school children were tested at beginning (N = 98) and ending (N = 70) of the school year. Participants performed the standard progressive matrices (SPM) and the Test of Creative Thinking--Drawing Production (TCT-DP). Each child with IQ = 120 was grade-and-gender matched to a child with IQ < 120. Results in accordance with the threshold theory were found only for female children in the highest grade level (Grade 4). Longitudinal analysis implies that a subgroup of children goes down in IQ and creativity simultaneously, possibly due to motivational issues. Their correlated scores may be a source of evidence for the threshold theory. The relationship between intelligence and creativity is not straightforward and depends on a combination of factors including grade level and gender.