Pyschometric / Personality / Emotional Intelligence Testing - Part 2

CPP - Cognitive Proficiency Profile
I'm sure most of you might not have heard of this CPP Test being used by certain recruitment consultants. Apparently this is quite a mainstream subject, CPP being the brainchild of a Dr. Maretha Prinsloo, to quote PyschometricsForum:

The Cognitive Process Profile is a computer-based assessment that helps individuals to understand their preferred style of thinking along with an insight into the level of complexity they can handle (in bothquality andquantity). The assessment is the brainchild of aSouth African neuropsychologist, Or Maretha Prinsloo whowanted to develop an assessment that would overcome thecultural issues inherent in her country and demonstrate 'true'potential in individuals who may have only had up to 5 yearsschooling compared to the UK standard 11 years

Recently I had to take one of these tests under the examination of a South African contractor based in London. They were so specific about the test itself and stressed the importance of the test being the first thing one does in the morning, the test must be taken in the morning when the brain/mind is most fresh and active. They also stress that if you've taken a similar test before then it defeats the purpose and the results will be invalid, the test itself should be taken just once in a person's life time because familiarity of the test itself defeats the purpose.  They were so serious that because there was a problem with the test venue, the building was closed due to essential buildings work that we had to re-schedule. Apparently, because it's computer-based, the computer logs the date/timestamp of the test, and on submission the auditors review the logs and can tell whether or not the test was indeed taken in the morning or not.  So I'm going to tell you a little bit of the CPP based from memory, but I won't go into too much detail, such that you grown familiarity and result in a void test should you get the chance to attempt one in future.

The context behind my test was as a result of another recruitment process, a company in South Africa. I'd passed the face-to-face interview, the next step was a Pyschometric assessment. If I thought the BBC experience (See Part 1) was bad, it pails in comparison to this assessment. This assessment consisted of the following:

• Computer-Based CPP Test (2-3 hours)
• 10 minutes to answer 35 multiple choice questions based on Abstract shapes and Pattern recognition
• 8 minutes to answer 25 multiple choice questions on English vocabulary
• 8 minutes to answer 25 multiple choice questions on mathematical numeracy
• 120 questions on Personality tests
• 120 questions on Emotional Intelligence

All in all, it was a full morning's worth of non-stop evaluation....being the weekend, I was impatient to get this over and done with, and basically did the whole thing in 4 hours, without double checking my responses. The timed multiple choice questions, in my opinion, were designed so that it's nigh on impossible to complete all...I'd previously played with the Mensa Brain Test app on my ipod for about 1 hour before the assessment as a mini preparation, and that test allowed 1 minute per question, even the BBC questions were time to at least two minutes...so 8 minutes to answer 25 questions is a bit of a tall order!

So what is this CPP anyway?
The CPP is a computer-based testing program that is based around a card game. It's not a game so to speak, there is a collection of cards. Each card has a symbol drawn on it. Each symbol has a meaning. The way in which the symbol is drawn, for example, the accent of the line (thick bold lines, thin lines), colours convey meaning (e.g. a symbol in red indicates severity), dotted lines. Symbols can have more than one interpretation. There are helper cards offering clues. Some helper cards have no meaning and can be discarded. Some cards change the meaning of the symbol. Some cards change direction, etc.

The program first starts off by introducing you to the rules of the game. It takes you through the motions of using your mouse to drag and drop, to turn cards over, etc. It then has a few practice examples to show you how things work.

Essentially, there are about 8 scenarios or stories. Each story contains a collection of these cards. The cards are left covered, and you have to turn each card over to know what it means. You then have to use the available cards to put a story together. Based on the symbols revealed by turning over the cards, you decide which cards to keep for your story, and which cards can be discarded.

The computer is noting down your every move, every mouse click and time on each story. It expects you to remember the symbols without turning the cards over too much, it expects you to remember useless cards.

A story can have any interpretation you like. There is no right or wrong answer. It tries to measure ones ability to understand symbols, and measure how one translates those symbols into a coherent story in your mind.

Computer presents a series of symbols. You then look up the cards from available pool and then place the cards next to the given series, and build up a story. When you're ready, you then write down in words you see.

Take for example the following symbols:

Hospital

Lightning or Accident

I or Me

And then the computer presents following series, to be interpreted left-right:

So what story can we write about this sequence?

• So the colour red indicates seriousness or emphasis
• A bold/thick line indicates past tense
• So you could say: 
• I had a very bad accident and landed in hospital or
• I was struck by a the worst lightning bolt in history, but thankfully due some protective gear I had on, managed to survive and landed in hospital to recover or
• I was struck by lightning and now find myself waiting in hospital to be seen by an ER attendant

So you're free to write down any story that makes sense to you. And in doing so, some brainy psychologist will interpret your results, and then through some black art assess your mental stability, ability, cognitive reasoning, creative disposition, creative flare, professional attitude, cognitive proficiency and make recommendation if you're good enough for the job, or progress through the next round of the recruitment process...


By the way, I did make it through the next round, and waiting for my test feedback. Once I have that report I'll update this post!


Cheers