Current trends in improving the educational system involve the parallel acquisition of multifaceted knowledge, the maximum expansion of horizons and the preparation of students for the optimal choice of profession. Scientists and methodologists from many countries work in this direction. The solution of these problems is inextricably linked with the task of developing general intelligence and creative thinking. In this work the role of lateral thinking in the creative process is discussed. Lateral thinking is an important component of creative thinking. The article discusses the essence of lateral thinking and possible ways to test it. Here we discuss also the features of the probability distribution function for various psychological parameters characterizing the personality. It was noticed that the more universal the psychological parameter, the closer its probability distribution to the ideal normal distribution. It is shown that the probability distribution of the lateral thinking parameter is similar to the normal distribution of Eysenck’s parameter for general intelligence. The latter indicates that lateral thinking is a fairly universal personality trait.