In Module 2 we shared research data that shows that cognitive ability is one of the best predictors of general job performance. But just how important is it? Here are the results of some studies:
General Cognitive Ability (GCA) is the most important determinant of job and training performance. Hunter & Hunter (1984) analysed over 400 studies for supervisor ratings of overall job performance. The results are as follows:
⦁ A 57 % correlation between GCA and job performance for high-complexity jobs (about 17% of U.S. jobs)
⦁ A 51% correlation for medium-complexity jobs (63% of U.S. jobs)
⦁ A 38% correlation for low-complexity jobs
“Cognitive ability is the most important cause of job performance and the relationship between ability and performance is stable over time” Frank L. Schmidt
98% Hiring Managers found Aptitude tests extremely useful in assigning job roles in their teams and told us that this improved the team’s performance as a whole. (Mocha)Research done by one of South Africa’s leading psychometric test developers. Dr Terry Taylor, showed that cognitive ability measured on a test developed by him called Apil- B, has significant correlations with dimensions such as:
⦁ technical knowledge,
⦁ future thinking,
⦁ judgement,
⦁ decisiveness,
⦁ achievement drive,
⦁ work performance,
⦁ versatility and adaptability,
⦁ capacity to learn new procedures and concepts,
⦁ capacity to see the big picture,
⦁ planning and organising,
⦁ initiative,
⦁ self - development and self - management.
It should be clear from the above that assessing cognitive ability is a must when recruiting. But what is cognitive ability and why is it so relevant to job performance?
Irrespective of the job level – except for purely manual jobs – employees need to engage in diverse cognitive processes that enable them to deal with the problem-solving demands of their jobs. These problem-solving demands range in level, difficulty, and complexity
⦁ from an operator having to work out how much of an ingredient needs to be added to a batch of say confectionary mix,
⦁ to a team leader having to calculate the scrap and waste produced on a shift,
⦁ to a Production Manager having to calculate line efficiencies,
⦁ to an HR Manager having to formulate a talent retention strategy,
⦁ to a general manager having to formulate a 2 to 3-year plan that will maximise efficiencies at a plant,
⦁ to a marketing manager having to develop a marketing plan that will optimize advertising spend,
⦁ to a divisional manager having to decide on where operations need to be bolstered and where they need to be trimmed,
⦁ to a CEO having to formulate a long-term strategic plan for his organisation.
In every job activity thinking is required and thinking involves utilising diverse cognitive processes. Employees’ ability to successfully apply these processes to the job at hand will to a large extent determine their success in delivering the job outputs of that role.
Note that we are not talking about skills, work experience, knowledge, or technical competencies. We are referring to inner cognitive process hardwired to a lesser or greater degree within each person’s brain.
Illustration
Zodwa is an engineering team leader. He is moved into the position of maintenance manager. He has new job challenges that are similar but not the same as those in his previous job. He adapts what he learned in the engineering team leader role, to the new challenges in the maintenance manager role. In this case the cognitive process he used was Transferring Learnings from the old job to the new job.
In the new job, he encounters problems that he has never encountered before. They are completely novel to him. To solve these problems, he must use “raw brain power” to come up with solutions. The cognitive process he will need here is called Fluid Problem Solving.
In the maintenance manager role, he encounters a problem which is at first unclear. To solve it he will need to engage in a variety of cognitive processes. He may need to do some research (Learning). He will need to gather data and understand the facts relating to the problem (Analysing). He may need to engage in what – if thinking. If I do this what will happen? If I do that what will happen? (Hypothesising) He may need to pull together all of the information he has gathered (Synthesising), devise potential solutions (Conceptualising), pull them together into a plan of action (Drawing Conclusions) and then decide on a course of action even when he cannot be absolutely certain about the outcome (Judgement).
The extent to which he can do this successfully is of course partly determined by his knowledge and skills base (Competencies), but if his Cognitive Capability is insufficient, he will
⦁ Not be able to utilise his Competencies effectively to deal with the problem
⦁ Be unable to address those aspects of the problem for which his Competencies have not prepared him.
Think of Cognitive Ability as the HARDWARE on a computer:
⦁ RAM, Processor, Hard Drive
Think of Skills and Knowledge (competencies) as the SOFTWARE that is installed on a computer.
You cannot install complex, high level programs onto computers that have limited hardware specifications. What happens when a computer cannot effectively cope with the software that has been loaded onto it? The computer slows down, hangs, or bombs out. It simply does not have the resources needed to fulfil the processing demands made by the software.
In the same way, people, like Zodwa will “fail” when their hardware – hardwired cognitive ability – cannot cope with the problem-solving demands that their jobs place on them. Software on a computer is static/dormant and does not do anything, until it is taken up into the computer’s processor. Only then, when it is processed, does it produce useful information. It is the same with people. Our skills and knowledge lie dormant until we apply cognitive process to them. Only then do they “come alive” and contribute to dealing with a job challenge.
Cognitive assessments therefore give us an indication as to the extent of a person’s cognitive processing abilities and how well they are matched to the problem-solving requirements of a job.
There are two broad forms of cognitive ability – fluid and crystallised
Fluid Ability
Fluid Intelligence has been defined as "the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships." Fluid intelligence involves being able to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. Abstract reasoning involves being able to think in ideas and concepts. For instance, devising a marketing or HR plan involves thinking up, manipulating and sequencing ideas and concepts such as target market, marketing mix, talent pipeline, recruitment strategy.
The most critical aspect of Fluid Ability is that it enables a person to problem solve independent of learning, previously existing knowledge, experience, and education. When you encounter an entirely new problem that cannot be solved with your existing knowledge, you must rely on fluid intelligence to solve it. You have nothing else to use, because the problem is new, and this precludes you from tapping into a knowledge or experience base with which to solve it.
https://www.verywellmind.com/fluid-intelligence-vs-crystallized-intelligence-2795004
According to Schneider & McGrew (2013, p. 772):
Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve unfamiliar problems using logical reasoning. It requires the effortful control of attention to understand what the problem is and to work toward a logically sound answer. People with high fluid intelligence can figure out solutions to problems with little instruction. Once they have found a good solution to a problem, they are able to see how it might apply to other similar problems. People with low fluid intelligence typically need hands-on, structured instruction to solve unfamiliar problems. Once they have mastered a certain skill or solution to a problem, they may have trouble seeing how it might apply in other situations. That is, their newfound knowledge does not generalize easily to other situations.
https://assessingpsyche.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/fluid-and-crystallized-intelligence-in-the-classroom-and-on-the-job/
The more senior and the more complex jobs become, the more important fluid ability becomes. This stands to reason because as jobs become more complex, the more the incumbent must deal with curved balls, abstract problems, and new challenges that his experience bank has not prepared him to deal with.
Compare for instance an operator on a production line. Most problem solving is standard – apply the standard operating procedures and you will be fine.
A team leader however has some standard problems to deal with but also non – standard ones. It may not always be clear why a line is producing more scrap than before. He needs to “figure it out”. While experience will help, this time round the scrap problem may be different to the last time something like this happened.
A middle manager has even more non – standard events occurring and so on up the management chain. The primary tool for dealing with non – standard problems is fluid intellectual ability,
As a rule of thumb therefore the following applies:
⦁ The more senior a role, the more a person will need to tap into his fluid cognitive capability and the less his fund of past experience and skills, on their own, will equip him to perform the task at hand
⦁ The more junior a role, the more a person can “get away” with limited fluid ability, provided of course that he has a suitable fund of relevant experience and skills to draw on. Well-practised solutions usually cover most of the demands people need to cope with at lower levels.
Crystallized Intelligence
According to Kendra Cherry:
Crystallized intelligence involves knowledge that comes from prior learning and past experiences….Crystallized intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in experiences..… The more learning and experience you have, the more you build up your crystallized intelligence.
https://www.verywellmind.com/fluid-intelligence-vs-crystallized-intelligence-2795004
According to Schneider & McGrew (2013, pp. 772–773):
Crystallized intelligence is acquired knowledge. When people solve important problems for the first time, they typically remember how they did it. The second time the problem is encountered, the solution is retrieved from memory rather than recreated anew using fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence, broadly speaking, consists of one’s understanding of the richness and complexity of one’s native language and the general knowledge that members of one’s culture consider important. …A person with a rich vocabulary can communicate more clearly and precisely than a person with an impoverished vocabulary. A person with a nuanced understanding of language can understand and communicate complex and subtle ideas better than a person with only a rudimentary grasp of language. Each bit of knowledge can be considered a tool for solving new problems. Each fact learned enriches the interconnected network of associations in a person’s memory.
The Differences and Interrelationship Between Fluid and Crystallised Cognitive Ability
Both types of intelligence are important in work and everyday life. For example, when solving say a production problem such as improving the planned maintenance system a manager may need to rely on fluid intelligence to come up with a strategy to improve the maintenance plan while also employing crystallized intelligence to recall the specific information about machine capabilities and breakdowns, production schedules and targets, maintenance staff and capacities, budget available and so on which need to be taken into account.
Fluid intelligence along with its counterpart, crystallized intelligence, are both factors of what Cattell (the father of IQ) referred to as general intelligence. While fluid intelligence involves our current ability to reason and deal with complex information around us (more like the CPU and RAM of a computer), crystallized intelligence involves learning, knowledge, and skills that are acquired over a lifetime (more like that information stored on the hard drive of a computer).
Crystallized intelligence is not a form of fluid intelligence that has become "crystallized." Instead, the two facets of general intelligence are considered separate and distinct, but fluid and crystallized intelligence are intertwined. Crystallized intelligence is formed through the utilization of fluid intelligence when information is learned. By using fluid intelligence to reason and think about problems, the information can then be transferred to long-term memory so that it can become part of crystallized intelligence.
In the tables that follow, we will highlight the differences in how people function when they have:
⦁ Low vs high fluid ability
⦁ Low vs high crystallised ability
