The relationship between creativity and intelligence is positive. All creative acts require some minimum ability to acquire knowledge and the capacity to comprehend, retain, and retrieve. Hence, a certain level of intelligence is required for creativity.

However, beyond a certain level, intelligence does not correlate well with creativity. Terman found that persons with high IQ were not necessarily creative, and creative ideas could come from persons with average IQ. Both high and low levels of creativity can be found in highly intelligent children as well as children of average intelligence.

Therefore, the same person can be creative as well as intelligent, but intelligence by itself does not ensure creativity.