The Advantages of a Cognitive Abilities Test

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - October 30th, 2011

As any parent knows, children in school these days are subjected to many different kinds of tests. Each subject has tests, each grade has criteria for advancement, and many different standardized tests abound. So what’s the big deal about a cognitive abilities test? It may seem like just another round of questions and answers. However, it’s actually much more.

Unlike “regular” tests, in which there is a right and a wrong answer, a cognitive abilities test is more interested in finding out how a student thinks. They are presented with several different types of cognition questions, and their answers help to determine whether they are functioning at an above-average, average or below-average level. These tests have nothing to do with learned knowledge; they’re all about how the student reasons and solves problems. While a high score may indicate a gifted child and a low score may indicate that the child has fallen behind, a cognitive abilities test is much more comprehensive, and gives a far better picture of how a child thinks than “right or wrong” tests can provide.