Cognition

The Cognitive Process Profile

Cognitive skills that affect an individual’s ability to strategically direct an organization include the capacity to deal with vagueness, comfort with complexity, open-mindedness, an orientation toward learning, creativity, intuition, good judgment, logic, political savvy, personal drive, and a commercial orientation.

To measure these abilities, many companies combine IQ tests with personality and Emotional Intelligence (EI) assessments, which rely on questionnaires to provide information on an individual’s leadership and interpersonal skills. Unfortunately, IQ and EI measures only provide limited information on an individual’s capacity for critical thinking.

Capitalizing on cognitive and learning potential requires an in-depth understanding of the way in which an individual processes information, understands issues, creates new ideas, and solves problems. No single score can reflect this. At ITD we use the Cognitive Process Profile (CPP), a multi-dimensional tool that has been developed to meet this challenge, as well as to address:

• Cross-cultural applicability
• Measurement of learning potential
• Tracking thinking processes for diagnostic and developmental purposes
• Measuring metacognitive strategies
• Applicability and predictive validity in the work environment
• Non-transparency (i.e., the assessment cannot be manipulated)

For employee selection, the CPP is particularly useful where no relevant track record of behavior exists – for example, with entry-level positions and in transformation situations where people are needed to carry out very different roles from those existing in the organization at the time. For employee development, CPP output can be used to determine where to focus specific individual or group problem-solving strategies. The test’s indication of potential can also help the organization decide which investments in people will yield the best return.

For more information on the CPP, visit http://www.cognadev.com.