Professional Learning Indicator

Cognitive Testing
Intelligence or cognitive abilities have for many years been considered pivotal to an individuals
on-the-job performance and individuals ability and pace of learning. Many experts and
companies see the assessment of logical indicators as just as important as the assessment of
personality. As Bill Gates famously remarked in the December 1999 Entrepreneur article to
explain the success of Microsoft: Hiring smart people has been the single most important
thing weve done as a company from the very beginning.

Ever since the publication of Charles Spearmans seminal writings on intelligence (1904, 1923,
1927) it has been almost universally accepted among intelligence scientists that a unitary
factor of cognitive ability (or intelligence) exists the g factor. A persons level of general
intelligence can be measured by a cognitive test such as PLI. The validity of cognitive tests
increases with the job complexity, but even when it comes to jobs that are only moderately
complex you will find these tests to be the best predictor of success by far as it is also
documented by Smith and Smith (2005). All kinds of work involve some kind of cognitive
processing, and all such processes reflect g. Indeed, In the world of work, g is the main
cognitive correlate and best single predictor of success in job training and job performance. Its
validity is not nullified or replaced by formal education (independent of g), nor is it decreased
by increasing experience on the job (Jensen 1998). Furthermore, Jensen points out that
hundreds of test validation studies have demonstrated that the validity of cognitive tests for
one position in an organisation is universally applicable to all other jobs in the same broad
range or family.
Several significant analyses on the degree of g and predictability of performance
and training have been conducted and in general they show a corresponding increase in the
validity of g for predicting job performance and learning as jobs increase in their complexity
related to information-processing demands. Hunter & Hunter (1984) demonstrated the
differences in an analysis of 515 different occupations that were categorised in different
complexity levels. The performance validity in highly complex jobs was 0.58, in medium
complex jobs 0.51, and in insignificantly complex jobs 0.40. So, predictability is certainly
correlated to the job complexity, but even in jobs with low complexity you will find that
cognitive tests is an extremely valuable tool in predicting job performance and learning
capabilities.
Schmidt & Hunter (1998) have investigated 19 different selection procedures for
predicting job performance, training performance and the paired combinations of general
mental ability and 18 other selection procedures. The study combines measures of different

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 Professional Learning Indicator

Cognitive Testing
human factors with job performance and generally points to g (general intelligence) as the
best predictor of job performance. Further, general cognitive ability is the single factor that has
been measured for the longest period and by most researchers. Thus the findings related to
general cognitive ability tests are based on a more solid amount of research than structured
interviews or assessment centres.
Schmidt and Hunter have summed up the research and noted the following about
measuring general cognitive abilities in personnel selection: ... [general cognitive ability] has
the highest validity and lowest application cost ... the research evidence for the validity of
[general cognitive ability] measures for predicting job performance is stronger than for any
other method ... [General cognitive ability] has been shown to be the best available predictor
of job-related learning. It is the best predictor of acquisition of job knowledge on the job and
of performance in job training programs ... the theoretical foundation for [general cognitive
ability] is stronger than for any other personnel measure. And Partner in the leading global
search firm Egon Zehnder, Claudio Fernandez Araoz concurs: IQ is indeed important, since
some of the basic cognitive competencies measured by IQ tests (such as memory and
deductive reasoning) are prerequisites for performing (p. 149).
Combining personality and logical assessment gives companies an unparalleled
insight into a candidates or staff's potential for delivering in any given future position.
According to general research and empirical studies over 30 years by a major international
company the two assessments in combination account for as much as 40-60 % of the
likelihood of success in any position.

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Cognitive Testing
References and further studies:

Fernandez Araoz, C. (2007), Great People Decisions, John Wiley & Sons.

Carroll, John B. (1993), Human Cognitive Abilities: a Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies,

University of Cambridge Press.

Hunter, J., & Hunter, R. (1984), Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job
performance, Psychological Bulletin, 96, pp. 72-98.

Jensen, Arthur R. (1998), The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability, Praeger Publishers.

Schmidt, F., & Hunter, J. (1998), The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel
Psychology: Practical and Theoretical Implications of 85 Years of Research
Findings, Psychological Bulletin 124, pp. 262-274.

Smith, M. and Smith, P., (2005), Testing People at Work: Competencies in Psychometric
Testing, Wiley-Blackwell.

Spearman, C. (1904), General Intelligence Objectively Determined and Measured, American

Journal of Psychology 15, pp. 201293.

Spearman, C. (1923), The Nature of Intelligence and the Principles of Cognition, London,
Macmillan.

Spearman, C. (1927), The Abilities of Man, London: Macmillan.

Sternberg, R. and Grigorenko, E. (2002), The General Factor of Intelligence, Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, New Jersey.

Sternberg, R. (2000), Handbook of Intelligence, Cambridge University Press.

Frank L. Schmidt and John E. Hunter, Select on Intelligence. Handbook of Principles of

Organizational Behavior, Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

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