Psychometric Training

What is a psychometric test?

More and more organizations are using psychometric tests when making recruitment and promotion decisions. A previous preparation for this kind of tests will greatly increase your the chance to overcome them successfully.

Psychometric tests are a standard way of measuring an aspect of mental performance. These tests usually measure general intelligence, attainment, aptitude and personality. They can also measure attitudes, interests, values and what motivates you.

The tests are usually administered under carefully controlled and timed conditions. The results a person achieves are compared with a representative sample of people who have completed the test before. This allows a psychologist or personnel professional to decide accurately how well a person has done compared to everyone else.

Types of psychometric test

For most purposes psychologists distinguish between two broad types of tests:

The first type is concerned with finding out what you are like in normal, day-to-day situations. Personality questionnaires are an example of this sort of test, and are particularly useful in those situations where job performance is dependent on how you present yourself to other people.

The second type is concerned with measuring maximum performance, and are designed to assess your reasoning or cognitive ability. They are generally named as aptitude or ability tests, and basically they include:

• Abstract reasoning tests. They measure general intellectual reasoning ability. This concerns how well you can solve a problem from first principles. It involves identifying the underlying logic of an 'argument' or question.

• Verbal reasoning tests. They are designed to measure your ability to understand and use words. They are concerned with things like spelling, grammar, sentence completion and analogies.

• Numerical reasoning tests. They measure your ability to understand and use numbers. They are concerned with the four basic arithmetic operations, number sequences, simple mathematics and the use of numerical data to solve problems.

• Perceptual reasoning tests. They are about understanding and applying information presented in a diagrammatic form.

• Spatial reasoning tests. They involves visualizing and manipulating two-dimensional or three-dimensional shapes or patterns.

• Mechanical aptitude tests. They are designed to assess your knowledge of basic mechanical and physical principles.

How can Psychometric Training help me?

Psychometric Training focuses on helping you to increase your chances of overcoming ability tests, specifically those concerning to Abstract, Numerical and Perceptual reasoning; although we are planning to include tests covering all these 6 basic abilities.

It has hundreds of different exercises for each of the 6 kinds of tests it includes: Dominoes Test, Progressive Matrices Test, Abstract Reasoning Test, Test of Numbers, Test of Numerical Sequences and Mixed Test. Many problems have been extracted from real tests, while others have been created by us, but all of them are aimed to fully develop your deductive abilities.

For each test we presented, there are two running modes: Training and Test. The first one will let you know the answers, as well as explanations that will help you to increase your deductive abilities. Test mode is the classic time trial test, designed to let you test your skills.

You can get historical statistics of your results in both modes, which will allow you to decide on which tests you need to focus and practice, and to find out if you're ready to take similar tests.

Psychometric Training is completely free, but you must register on our site in order we could keep track of your statistics. Your email address will not be given to anybody else, and we will not use it to forward spam.

Please note that these tests are for practice purposes only, although they are comprised of example questions of the type you would typically see in a psychometric test. You will be given a score at the end of each test, which represents the amount of correct answers, but those scores are not compared to any normative group for comparison, and are not intended to give you any IQ coefficient.

Tips

Here we list some tips than can help you to improve your performance when taking this kind of tests.

• Read the instructions carefully.

• Read each question twice.

• Answer the questions you find the easiest first. However, make sure to answer all questions.

• Work through briskly and accurately.

• Don't try to guess the right answer if tests are negatively scored.

• Practice so that you're not distracted by the style or formatting of questions.

• Complete as many questions as you can in the time allowed. Do not waste time on questions that you find difficult.

• Use all your time allowance. If you finish early double-check your answers.

• Don't be afraid of numbers. If you don't like mathematics, find a math book you understand, and work through some examples.

• Watch out for distracters, which are distinct sorts of incorrect answers in the answer choices designed to confuse you.

• Practice, practice and practice.