Arbel, PI Cognitive Assessment expert at JobTestPrep.
Have a question? Contact me at: ask_arbel@jobtestprep.com
What is the PI Cognitive Assessment
The Predictive Index cognitive assessment is used by many leading employers to help them select candidates for positions within their company. The PI test aims to measure your cognitive ability through 50 multiple choice questions that you must answer in 12 minutes - leaving you an average of just over 14 seconds per question. The questions belong to three main categories: numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning, all of which are used to predict a job candidates' ability to make decisions, learn, and adapt to different roles and situations.
- Verbal Reasoning: these questions measure your English language comprehension and expression abilities through a variety of questions. In the PI test, the verbal reasoning questions that you will need to prepare for the most are vocabulary related questions such as opposites, odd one out, and analogies, along with logical reasoning questions also known as syllogisms.
- Numerical Reasoning: these questions measure number-based cognitive abilities that generally range from basic math to complex numerical problem solving. In the PI test, the focus is mainly on two types of numerical reasoning questions: number series where you need to discover the rule and select the missing number in a series accordingly, and word problems which are math problems phrased in words.
- Abstract Reasoning: these questions measure your ability to draw conclusions based on hidden information in symbols or matrices. You are asked to identify a missing item that completes a certain pattern of logic that you must recognize in a sample given to you. In the PI test, the main abstract reasoning questions you will need to prepare for are next in series, odd one out, and analogies.
There is no better way to understand what these different types of questions are than solving them for yourself. Take Our Free PI Cognitive Assessment Sample Test, or keep scrolling to the sample question section below.
Check out our video, where we'll go over PI cognitive assessment questions, features, and preparation tips:
PI Cognitive Assessment Practice Questions
The PI Cognitive Assessment consists of multiple choice questions that assess three types of cognitive abilities: numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and abstract reasoning. Set a timer to 14 seconds to simulate the 12 minute time limit of the real test, and try solving the following sample questions to get an idea of the PI Cognitive Assessment experience:
PI Cognitive Assessment Practice Questions - Numerical
Numerical reasoning questions require performing basic calculations in math problems such as number series and word problems. Since you are not allowed to use a calculator, we recommend using scrap paper over trying to calculate everything in your head.
Numerical Reasoning - Next in Series. In these questions you need to identify a hidden rule within a series of numbers, and to select the correct number to appear next accordingly.
What is the next number in the series?
3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 33 | __
The answer is 65.
The series in this question advances according to the pattern: *2 -1
whereby: :
1st term = 3 and then: preceding term*2-1
2nd term = 3*2-1 = 5
3rd term = 5*2-1 = 9
4th term = 9*2-1 = 17
5th term = 17*2-1 = 33
6th term = 33*2-1 = 65
Another way to look at the logic of this series is that the difference between two adjacent terms doubles as the series progresses:
Numerical Reasoning - Word Problems. These questions combine verbal and numerical reasoning - you will need find the pertinent numerical information within the text and use it to answer the question. You will often need to convert the words into equations to get these right.
Ann, Matt, and Zack are working for a cleaning company. Together, they can clean a house in 2 hours. If Ann does the job alone, she can finish it in 5 hours. If Matt does the job alone, he can finish it in 6 hours.
How long will it take Ann and Zack together to complete the job?
PI Cognitive Assessment Practice Questions - Verbal
Verbal reasoning questions will test both your vocabulary and ability to analyze new information and draw conclusions. These include Word Analogies, Antonyms, and Formal Logic.
Verbal Reasoning - Logic. In these questions you need to use given statements, rules, or assumptions in order to decide if a conclusion is correct or not.
Read the facts and determine if they prove the conclusion or not:
FACTS: If Jason is late to the meeting, Kevin will have to work late. Lois will not cook dinner for Kevin unless Kevin gets home from work on time. If Lois does not cook dinner for Kevin, Kevin will order pizza for dinner. Lois cooked dinner for Kevin.
CONCLUSION: Jason was late to the meeting.
choose the correct statement:
Verbal Reasoning - Vocabulary (Opposites). These questions measure your familiarity with English, and even though improving your vocabulary significantly within a short timeframe isn't easy, there are many hacks and ways to improve at these questions through repeated practice.
Imperious is the opposite of...
PI Cognitive Assessment Practice Questions - Abstract reasoning
Abstract reasoning questions will examine your ability to mentally rotate images, spatial awareness and to analyze and identify visual patterns. These include Visual Series, Visual Analogies and Odd One Out questions.
Abstract Reasoning - Analogies. In these questions you need to identify the hidden relationship between two or more shapes / patterns, and then use the same relationship in order to select a pattern that fits a second set of patterns.
Choose the correct shape:
Click here for ten more free PI cognitive assessment practice questions with full answers and tips.
PI Behavioral Assessment
As part of their recruitment process, many employers measure candidates' personality attributes through a personality test as well as their cognitive abilities. Predictive Index have developed a unique type of personality test that is frequently given alongside the PI cognitive test, and allows your employer to understand whether your profile matches with their organization's culture and values.
Through your answers on the PI behavioral assessment, one of 17 unique reference profiles is created that provides insight to your work style, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and basically what makes you tick.
While many people believe personality tests such as the PI behavioral assessment don't require any preparation, this is a misconception. Understanding the unique elements of the PI behavioral assessment is your best way of ensuring that your strengths are properly represented in the results and that you don't miss out on that job.
Visit our PI Behavioral Assessment page to see how this challenging assessment is built, and how you can best prepare for it. You can even try out some free sample questions on our PI behavioral assessment questions page.
How to Ace the PI Cognitive Ability Test
The PI Test pits you against highly challenging questions that you have minimal time to answer - meaning that without accurately planned prep, you can easily become overwhelmed during the real test. With JobTestPrep's PI Test PrepPack you will receive the tools you need to both improve your time management and learn the ins and outs of each type of question.
Our Full-Length PI Cognitive Assessment simulations are the exact format as the actual PI test, and with each simulation you solve your problem solving abilities efficiency will improve significantly - giving you the keys to passing the test and landing the job.
What Is a Good Score on The PI Cognitive Assessment?
PI Cognitive Assessment scores are calculated based on the number of questions you get right, and the relative percentile score - how high your score is relative to a large pool of other candidates' results. The score you need to pass to the next stage of the hiring process depends greatly on the position you’re applying for and the criterion score that is set for it.
The average PI cognitive assessment score is 20/50 correct answers (that is 250 in terms of the scaled score). So, a score of 40/50 is considered a very high score - in fact, it is a higher score than ~98% of all test taker's scores.
Learn more about how to understand your score on our PI scores page!
How to Prepare for the PI Cognitive Assessment
- Practice the most relevant questions
Research has shown that cognitive ability test results improve greatly when practicing the required task in different variations, and the PI test is no exception.
Practicing questions that accurately simulate the PI cognitive assessment questions, such as those in our prep pack, will help you significantly improve your score even with short practice.
- Personalize your PI cognitive assessment practice
To make the most out of your PI cognitive assessment practice, you should start by identifying your weaknesses and strengths. Then, conserve your energy by focusing your effort on the question types that are the most difficult for you, in which you the highest potential to improve.
- Focus On Speed
The main challenge of the PI cognitive assessment is its TIME LIMIT.
Answering 50 questions in 12 minutes means you'll have approx. 14 seconds per question.
Practicing accurate PI cognitive assessment questions and answers will help improve your time management skills and allow you to solve questions more quickly, even when encountered for the first time. This is because you will learn to quickly identify those details you need to solve in each type of question.
Why Practice with JobTestPrep?
Everybody has certain fields that they find more challenging than others, and part of the trick to optimizing your preparation is to identify your weak points and focus your effort on them. To avoid wasting valuable prep time, JobTestPrep has built an exclusive PI introduction test that will help you pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you know where you need to focus your efforts, our targeted PI Cognitive Assessment Practice Tests will help you improve your results on the question types you struggle with the most.
Tips to Boost Your PI Cognitive Assessment Score
Use these tips to skyrocket your PI assessment test score:
Don’t be afraid to guess
Answering questions wrong doesn’t cost you points; you can only gain points on this test. Therefore, even if you’re not sure, try and take your best guess.
Manage your time
As mentioned, time is the most important and challenging aspect of this test.
- Aim to SEE all 50 questions to “collect” as many questions you’re confident about as possible within the time limit.
- As you go through questions, first answer those you’re most confident of.
- Don’t spend more than 25 seconds per question. If you feel stuck, take a guess and try to go back to the question later on.
- Answer ALL questions, even if you’re not sure of the answer. For questions you are not sure about, write down the question number so that you can go back to it later.
Get familiar with the personality assessment
In many cases, candidates are given a supplementary personality test. If this is the case for you, read more about the behavioral test on our Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment page.
Reduce stress
The PI Cognitive Assessment time limit can lead to a high level of stress. Here are a few of important ways to deal with this:
- Get familiar with the test questions by practicing sample questions and full PI Cognitive Assessment practice tests.
- If you’re taking the test online, make sure to find a comfortable environment in which you feel relaxed and undistracted.
- Before taking the real test, take a break from practicing for as much time as you need (at least a night before), so that you feel fresh before starting the test.
- When facing questions, make sure to fully read the instructions. If you feel overwhelmed at the beginning of the test, take a guess, and start with a simple question to boost your confidence.
About Predictive Index
Predictive Index (or PI for short) is a leading psychometric assessment company from the United States which was founded over sixty years ago in 1955. Although Predictive Index began as a company that offers behavioral assessment tools (PI Behavioral Assessment), they have since grown and now also offer a leading cognitive assessment tool (PI Cognitive Assessment) as well as a tool used by organizations to internally analyze their positions and the attributes they’re looking for in applicants (Predictive Index Job Assessment).
These three assessments together mean that Predictive Index offer tools for comprehensive, in-depth analysis when it comes to a company’s HR needs, and it’s no surprise that these are used by some of the job market’s leading employers, including IBM, Canon, Nissan, and more.
The Predictive Index Test is as tough as it is respected, so being well prepared is crucial. Our test development team have learned the tests in and out to make sure that we can offer accurate and thorough Predictive Index prep which guarantees you get the score you need.
FAQs
Getting a question wrong doesn’t cost you points, and in multiple choice tests you always have a good chance of guessing correctly. In other words, if you don't know the answer or don't have much time, go ahead and guess. It's a good way of getting a few more correct answers.
Most people DO NOT answer all 50 questions in 12 minutes. In fact, only 1% of the population answers more than 40 questions correctly in the allotted time.
You should aim to answer as many questions as you can. This means taking a guess even if you’re not sure of the answer, and especially when you feel like you’re stuck. You can always go back to earlier questions, so try to first move forward and solve questions you feel confident with.
The overall purpose of cognitive tests such as the PI test is to provide the employer with a broad holistic evaluation of the cognitive capacity of incoming job applicants.
The test aims to reveal how your brain functions in terms of attention, speed, memory, and visualization.
These skills are necessary to ensure that you are capable of handling certain roles and their complexities, and that you are able to solve problems.
The PI Cognitive Ability Test isn't considered much more difficult than other cognitive tests.
However, cognitive ability tests are designed to be challenging, and the PI Cognitive Assessment is no exception.
The challenge lies in the test's format, which requires you to answer a large number of questions in a very short time span.
The challenge is staying calm and in the right mindset and not sacrificing accuracy for speed (i.e., answering quickly but incorrectly).
We have helped tens of thousands of job seekers before you to prepare for this type of test, and we can help you too!
Even though the PI Cognitive Assessment shares some common features with IQ tests, it does not examine your IQ level.
Its purpose is to check your adaptability and assess your ability to handle complex problems deemed necessary for certain jobs.
The test measures your ability to do the following:
- Understand complex ideas
- Solve problems
- Adapt effectively to a new environment
- Learn from experience
- Reason
- Overcome obstacles
The PI Cognitive Assessment is backed by science and meets the standards of both the APA (American Psychological Association) and the SIOP (Society of Industrial & Organizational Psychology).
You will most likely receive an email with a link to a PI Learning Indicator online testing platform containing instructions for your specific test.
Some employers choose to conduct the test in a controlled environment at their offices or at a testing center. If you have to take the test at a testing center, you'll be notified and given a date and location.
Yes you can, and you should. After all, your future employment depends on it.
The test provider, Predictive Index, discusses the benefits of preparation on its website:
"Experience shows that if someone is used to these types of assessments, he or she will be able to get consistently closer to his or her ‘capacity’ or maximum score.
In other words, it is actually ideal when an assessment taker is trained or familiar with the PI item types, as it gives the company the best possible insight into the candidate’s true potential."
You can reach your full capacity within just a few days by preparing with our specially tailored PI test simulations and practice drills.
This way, by the time you take the test you'll be very familiar with the questions and format.
The following companies use the PI LI Cognitive Exam:
Related PI Cognitive Assessment Test Pages
There is a huge variety of cognitive ability tests used in the hiring process of the job market's leading employers. the PI Cognitive Assessment for example is often used by Maersk to select candidates and predict their job performance. Other similar pre-employment cognitive ability tests are the CCAT test, the Wonderlic test, and Saville.
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