Wonderlic test
This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (May 2020) |
Type | Multiple choice |
---|---|
Developer / administrator | Wonderlic, Inc. |
Knowledge / skills tested | Math, vocabulary, and reasoning |
Purpose | Assessing cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees |
Year started | 1936 |
Duration | 12 minutes |
Score / grade range | 0–50 (1 point per question; score of 20 intended to represent average intelligence) |
Languages | 12 different languages |
Scores / grades used by | Prospective employers; notably administered at the NFL Scouting Combine |
Variants | Wonderlic Personnel Test – Quicktest (WPT-Q); Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam (SLE); WonScore |
Website | www |
Part of a series on |
Psychology |
---|
The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test (formerly the Wonderlic Personnel Test) is an assessment used to measure the
The most recent version of the test is WonScore, a
History
Created in 1936 by E. F. Wonderlic, the Wonderlic Personnel Test was the first short-form cognitive abilities test.[2][8] It was developed to measure general cognitive ability in the areas of math, vocabulary, and reasoning.[2][8] Wonderlic created and distributed the test as a graduate student in the psychology department at Northwestern University.[9][8] Regarding the time allotted to take the test, Wonderlic, in an article released in 1939, stated that "the length of the test was made such that only about two to five per cent of average groups complete the test in the twelve-minute time limit."[3]
Originally designed to aid in employee selection at companies such as
The Wonderlic test is continually updated with repeated evaluations of questions.[12][13] Also, beginning in the 1970s, Wonderlic began to develop other forms of the Wonderlic Personnel, some of which include: Wonderlic Perceptual Ability Tests, Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam, or the Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test.
Current Wonderlic tests
The Wonderlic company released the Wonderlic Personnel Test in the 1990s, measuring an individual's problem solving and learning capability. The Wonderlic Personnel Test has two different forms: the Wonderlic Personnel Test--Quicktest (30 questions in 8 minutes) and the Wonderlic Personnel Test (50 questions, 12 minutes). The Wonderlic Personnel Test – Quicktest differs from the Wonderlic Personnel Test in that it is not proctored. The Wonderlic Personnel Test is a much more comprehensive test.[14][15]
The Wonderlic SLE is the scholastic version of the Wonderlic Personnel Test and is commonly administered to nursing school and medical program applicants.[16]
Sample questions
Similar to other
- If a piece of rope cost 20 cents per 2 feet, how many feet can you buy for 30 dollars?
- Which of the numbers in this group represents the smallest amount? a) 0.3 b) 0.08 c) 1 d) 0.33
- A high-speed train travels 25 feet in 1/3 second. In 4 seconds, the train will have traveled __?__ feet.[17]
- A clock lost 2 minutes and 36 seconds in 78 days. How many seconds did it lose per day?[17]
Application to industrial-organizational psychology
The Wonderlic test, as a vocational and intelligence test, falls under the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. As a personnel test the Wonderlic is used to gauge an applicant's job potential, educational potential, and training potential.[18] Six forms of this test are made available (A, B, C, D, E, and F) in which Wonderlic suggests that when two of these versions are to be used, the best combinations are A and B or D and F.[19] However, a study conducted by psychologists Kazmier and Browne (1959) shows that neither of these forms can be regarded as directly equivalent.[19] While there is no lack of tests that could be used in place of the Wonderlic, such as the IQ or the Mechanical Aptitude Test, it is a quick and simple vocational test for personnel recruitment and selection.[13] The Wonderlic test has been peer reviewed by the American Psychological Association and has been deemed worthy of field applications to the industrial use of personnel testing.[20] Other sources can be found on the database APA PsycNET.[21]
Reliability
In 1956, Weaver and Boneau reported in the Journal of Applied Psychology that two of the five forms, A and B, that were published at the time were harder than the others which caused scores on those forms to be significantly lower than scores obtained on forms C–F.[22] Concerning these observed differences, Weaver and Boneau state: "This accords with the history of the development of the test. Forms D, E, and F are made up of items selected from the Otis Higher, while A and B were developed later and include types of items not found in the Otis."[22] Those findings, seemingly, invalidate the claim that those forms were equivalent or consistent.[22] E. N. Hay made a similar observation as well. Hay found that form F was significantly easier than Form D.[23] Furthermore, Kazmier found Form B to be the most difficult of the five forms and, thus, recommended that it "not be regarded as directly equivalent to any of the forms."[6] Kazmier also found Forms D and F to be significantly different from each other and recommended that these forms be regarded as inequivalent.[6] In a study of the Wonderlic's test-retest reliability, conducted in 1992, Stuart McKelvie "concluded that conscious repetition of specific responses did not seriously inflate the estimate of test-retest reliability."[24] To put it simply, one's memory of some of the answers does not significantly affect one's score on the Wonderlic.[24]
In 1982, Carl Dodrill conducted a study in which 57 adults were administered the Wonderlic twice over a five-year period. In the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Dodrill reported that the test-retest reliability for the Wonderlic was .94.[25] According to a 1989 article in Psychological Reports, the Wonderlic scored a r=.87 on the reliability scale compared along with the Pearson test score of r=.21.[26]
Validity
In an article written in Psychological Reports, T. Matthews and Kerry Lassiter report that the Wonderlic test "was most strongly associated with overall intellectual functioning," which is what it is purported to measure.[26] However, Matthews and Lassiter did not find the Wonderlic to be a successful measure of fluid and crystallized intelligence, and they stated that "the Wonderlic test scores did not clearly show convergent or divergent validity evidence across these two broad domains of cognitive ability."[26] In academic testing, the Wonderlic test has shown high correlations with aptitude tests such as the General Aptitude Test Battery.[26]
A more recent study by Hicks and colleagues from the
Legal matters
Jordan v. New London
In May 1997, Robert Jordan filed a lawsuit against the city of New London, Connecticut, alleging violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States and Connecticut constitutions, in a case that was referred to by several media outlets as "Too Smart To Be A Cop",[28][29] based on the city's application of scores generated by the Wonderlic test.
Jordan was born and raised in New London, and had previous experience in law enforcement, working as a part-time officer in near-by
Jordan filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, where his case was dismissed by Judge Peter C. Dorsey, who noted: "The guarantee of equal protection under the Fifth Amendment is not a source of substantive rights or liberties, but rather a right to be free from invidious discrimination in statutory classifications and other governmental activity. It is well settled that where a statutory classification does not itself impinge on a right or liberty protected by the Constitution, the validity of the classification must be sustained unless the classification rests on grounds wholly irrelevant to the achievement of [any legitimate government] objective....[Jordan] may have been disqualified unwisely but he was not denied equal protection."[30] The dismissal was upheld on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
Central tendency of Wonderlic scores
Serving as a quantitative measure for employers, scores are collected by the employers and the applicant's score may be compared to a professional standard, as is the case with security guards or, simply, compared to the scores of other applicants who happen to be applying for the same or similar positions at that time.
Average score in the NFL by position
The Wonderlic test is used in the
- Offensive tackle – 26
- Center – 25
- Quarterback – 24
- Guard – 23
- Tight end – 22
- Safety – 19
- Linebacker – 19
- Cornerback – 18
- Wide receiver – 17
- Fullback– 17
- Halfback – 16
An average football player usually scores around 20 points.[9] Quarterbacks and offensive linemen usually have higher scores.[31] Most teams want at least 21 for a quarterback.[33]
Predictor of success in the NFL
John P. Lopez of
The Lyons study also found that the relationship between Wonderlic test scores and future NFL performance was negative for a few positions, indicating the higher a player scores on the Wonderlic test, the worse the player will perform in the NFL.
Scoring too high can be as much of a problem as scoring too low. Football coaches want to command the locker room. Being smarter than the individual players makes that easier. Having a guy in the locker room who may be smarter than every member of the coaching staff can be viewed as a problem – or at a minimum as a threat to the egos of the men who hope to be able when necessary to outsmart the players, especially when trying in some way to manipulate them.
Job performance in the NFL also includes deviance. A 2016 study found that the Wonderlic significantly predicted future arrests, referred to as criminal off-duty deviance, with players testing below the league average being almost twice as likely to get arrested in the future as players who scored above the league average.[43]
In popular culture
A simplified and condensed version of the Wonderlic test appeared in older editions of the
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-4711-9263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g Pollick, Michael. "What is the Wonderlic Personnel Test". www.wisegeek.com. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
- ^ doi:10.1037/h0056432.
- ^ "WonScore by Wonderlic Review" Finances Online. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- ^ "Newton Partners With Wonderlic for Pre-Hire Assessments" Newton Software. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- ^ doi:10.1037/h0045688.
- ^ a b "Personality and Aptitude Career Tests. (2004). "Wonderlic personnel test: A short and quick iq test". personality-and-aptitude-career-tests.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "History". wonderlic.com. 2012.
- ^ a b c d Merron, Jeff (2007). "Taking Your Wonderlics". espn.go.com.
- ^ "How A Multiple-Choice Test Became A Fixture Of The NFL Draft" Five Thirty Eight. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- ^ O'Connell, Robert (March 2, 2022). "Without the Wonderlic, the N.F.L. Finds Other Ways to Test Football I.Q." The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ "History". wonderlic.com. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
- ^ a b Lindzey, Gardner (November 1, 1949). "Remarks on the use of the Wonderlic Personnel Test as a 'pre-test.'". Journal of Clinical Psychology. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
- ^ "Ready. Test. Go". Wonderlic. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ "Wonderlic Test – Cognitive Ability Test". All Practice Test. December 6, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ^ "What Is the Wonderlic?". Beat the Wonderlic. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "Free Wonderlic Practice Test – 50 Questions, 12 Minutes". Beat the Wonderlic. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^ a b c Wonderlic Personnel Test Manual. Northfield, IL: E.F. Wonderlic & Associates, INC. 1983.
- ^ a b Kazmier, L.J. & Browne C.G.(1959). Comparability of Wonderlic test forms in industrial testing. Journal of Applied Psychology. 43(2):129–132.
- PMID 3346441.
- ^ "PsycNET". psycnet.apa.org.
- ^ doi:10.1037/h0047065.
- doi:10.1037/h0061766.
- ^ PMID 1613489.
- .
- ^ S2CID 41253312.
- .
- ^ "Too Smart to be a Cop?". CBS News.
- ^ Yglesias, Matthew (May 2013). "Too Smart to be a Cop?". Slate.
- ^ "Jordan v. New London". www.aele.org.
- ^ a b c d Ledbetter, D. Orlando (March 6, 2010). "NFL's success using Wonderlic Test subject to interpretation". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
- ISBN 9780671453947.
The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football.
- ^ Pompei, Dan (April 19, 2010). "Notre Dame's Clausen wild card in NFL draft". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Lopez, John P. (July 8, 2010). "The Rule of 26–27–60 helps predict NFL quarterback success or failure". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013.
- ^ Mirabile, McDonald P. (Spring 2005). "Intelligence and Football: Testing for Differentials in Collegiate Quarterback Passing Performance and NFL Compensation". The Sport Journal. 8 (2). United States Sports Academy. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ S2CID 145416436.
- ^ Gladwell, Malcolm (December 15, 2008). "Most Likely to Succeed". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
- ^ Shipley, Amy (October 25, 2011). "Ryan Fitzpatrick's Wonderlic score: What does it mean?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Lopresti, Mike (September 26, 2011). "Harvard's Ryan Fitzpatrick gets passing grades for 3–0 Bills". USA Today. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
- ^ Jordan Heck (July 30, 2019). "Patriots player avoided Wonderlic questions so he wouldn't 'scare teams off' with his intelligence". Sporting News.
- ^ McClellan, Bob (June 15, 2006). "McInally continues to perfect the Wonderlic". Rivals.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ Florio, Mike (February 28, 2011). "Greg McElroy gets a 48 on the Wonderlic". Profootballtalk.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2011.
- ^ Seifert, Kevin (April 12, 2016). "Using data to predict arrest rates of NFL draft picks". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
- ^ EA Sports (2005). "NFL Superstar", Madden NFL 2006 (manual) (in English). Electronic Arts, page 11.
External links
- Official website
- Merron, Jeff (February 28, 2002). "Taking your Wonderlics". ESPN Page 2. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- Reilly, Rick (April 23, 2001). "Liccing My Wounds". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 13, 2016.