What is the Wonderlic Personnel Test?
Finding a truly unbiased and accurate measurement of a person’s intelligence has always been an elusive, and in many ways controversial, goal of many test developers. During the 1930s, a pioneer in the intelligence testing field named Eldon Wonderlic developed a very short test which purportedly provided potential employers and educators with a general idea of an applicant’s general intelligence level. This test became known as the Wonderlic personnel test (WPT).
Finding a truly unbiased and accurate measurement of a person’s intelligence has always been an elusive, and in many ways controversial, goal of many test developers. During the 1930s, a pioneer in the intelligence testing field named Eldon Wonderlic developed a very short test which purportedly provided potential employers and educators with a general idea of an applicant’s general intelligence level. This test became known as the Wonderlic personnel test (WPT). The purpose of the Wonderlic personnel test is not necessarily to assign an actual Intelligence Quotient or IQ number to test takers. Instead, the test provides some idea of an applicant’s intellectual strengths and weaknesses relative to the requirements of a specific job or assignment. Positions which demand stronger mathematical skills, for example, may require a higher than average Wonderlic personnel test result.