Fact and Fiction in Cognitive Ability Testing for Admissions and Hiring Decisions
Abstract
Standardized measures of intelligence, ability, or achievement are all measures of acquired knowledge and skill and have consistent relationships with multiple facets of success in life, including academic and job performance. Five persistent beliefs about ability tests have developed, including: (a) that there is no relationship with important outcomes like creativity or leadership, (b) that there is predictive bias, (c) that there is a lack of predictive independence from socioeconomic status, (d) that there are thresholds beyond which scores cease to matter, and (e) that other characteristics, like personality, matter as well. We present the evidence and conclude that of these five beliefs, only the importance of personality is a fact; the other four are fiction.
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Standardized tests and high school GPA show substantial validity for predicting first-year college GPA and degree completion.
“These predictors show substantial validity for predicting various relevant outcomes, including first-year college GPA and degree completion (Berry & Sackett, 2009;Kuncel & Hezlett, 2010).”
From An Omitted Variables Approach to Disentangling Differential Prediction in College Admissions (2026) · cites this paper as Kuncel & Hezlett, 2010
Cites
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BARRICK, M. R., & MOUNT, M. K. (1991) · Personnel Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1991.tb00688.x · Cited by 8,689 · see citing works
A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance.
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“In turn, employees who learn more during training do a better job of applying what they learn on the job and, ultimately, perform their jobs better (Colquitt et al., 2000).”
BackgroundConnelly, B. S., & Ones, D. S. (2010) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0021212 · Cited by 1,059 · see citing works
Berry, C. M., & Sackett, P. R. (2009) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02368.x · Cited by 68 · see citing works
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How Much Does Education Improve Intelligence? A Meta-Analysis
Ritchie, S. J., & Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2018) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797618774253 · Cited by 680 · see citing works
Rindermann, H., Becker, D., & Coyle, T. R. (2020) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2019.101406 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Using machine learning to model trace behavioral data from a game‐based assessment
Auer, E. M., Mersy, G., Marin, S., Blaik, J., & Landers, R. N. (2022) · International Journal of Selection and Assessment · doi:10.1111/ijsa.12363 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
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An Omitted Variables Approach to Disentangling Differential Prediction in College Admissions
Demeke, S., Sackett, P. R., Kuncel, N. R., & Lee, S. D. (2026) · Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice · doi:10.1111/emip.70048
Self-citation
- Authors
- Kuncel, N. R., & Hezlett, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Personnel Decisions Research Institutes
- Corresponding author
- Kuncel, Nathan R.
- ORCID
- Kuncel, Nathan R.
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-12
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 339-345
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- OpenAlex
- W2097881207
- Cited by
- 200
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 7.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical Education and Admissions
- Keywords
- ability tests, intelligence testing, admission decisions, hiring decisions, predictive validity, predictive bias, socioeconomic status, creativity, leadership, personality, score thresholds
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