What is Cognitive Aptitude?
Cognitive Aptitude — sometimes called General Mental Ability (GMA) — measures the speed and accuracy with which someone can reason across verbal, numerical, and abstract problems. EQIQs never uses it for hiring or performance decisions, and it is private to the person unless they choose to share it.
Key Dimensions
Verbal Reasoning
Vocabulary, analogies, reading comprehension
Numerical Reasoning
Percentages, rates, basic financial math
Abstract / Pattern
Sequences, logical deduction, novel patterns
How We Use Aptitude in Compatibility Scoring
EQIQs uses Cognitive Aptitude as one input among 21 — not as a ranking. We surface it to predict ramp speed in cognitively demanding roles and to flag mismatch where a partner or team consistently operates at a different processing speed.
Why Aptitude Matters
Cognitive aptitude is not 'intelligence' — it's processing speed under pressure. Knowing yours (and respecting where it differs from others) prevents the most common form of professional resentment.
Who Uses Aptitude?
Wonderlic
Used by 90% of Fortune 500 companies and the NFL Combine
Criteria Corp / CCAT
The dominant pre-hire cognitive assessment for tech and finance
💡 Did you know?
Schmidt & Hunter's 85-year meta-analysis found GMA correlates ~0.65 with job performance — higher than interviews, references, or personality tests alone.
Start your free read — question 1 of 6
Something's wrong between you and someone else. What do you actually do?
Your answers stay in your browser. Nothing is saved unless you choose to save it.