SPEED/ACCURACY COGNITIVE ABILITY TESTS
Tests that measure speed of problem-solving include:
Clerical – Symbolic Comparison Test
- A measure of mental processing speed (Gs). Examines clerical and perceptual speed and checking ability.
- These tests measure the ability to make quick decisions and think quickly.
- This cognitive ability is defined as the skill in rapidly and accurately search, compare (for visual similarities or differences) and identify visual elements presented side-by- side or separated in a visual field.
- It is also defined as the speed or fluency in performing reasoning tasks (e.g., quickness in generating as many possible rules, solutions, etc., to a problem) in a limited time.
- When dealing specifically with numbers, it refers to the ability to rapidly perform basic arithmetic (i.e., add, subtract, multiply, divide) and accurately manipulate numbers quickly.
- For clerical tasks, is is defined as reaction time (in milliseconds) to the onset of one of two or more alternative stimuli, depending on which alternative is signalled.
- When dealing with language type tasks it is defined as the ability to silently read and comprehend connected text (e.g., a series of short sentences; a passage) rapidly and automatically (with little conscious attention to the mechanics of
reading).
