Verbal Ability / Reasoning tests assess a test taker’s ability to solve verbal problems. Tests may use brief information, such as analogies where test takers have to identify they relationships between pairs of words, or more extended information that test takers need to understand before answering questions. Questions may range from simple information retrieval to more complex skills such as understanding a person’s perspective or making inferences. Tests of Verbal Ability / Reasoning will assess a test taker’s ability to reason with and solve verbal problems but will also provide an indication of their general reasoning ability.
Verbal reasoning tests are one of the most commonly used methods for assessing a candidate’s suitability for a role because of their ability to provide employers with information about the extent to which candidates can:
- Analyse, draw logical conclusions and identify key issues from business-related reading materials such as reports, manuals and reference documents.
- Write clear, concise and relevant executive summaries, reports and other documents
- Express business matters and issues clearly and articulately to managers, customers and other stakeholders.
Candidates for the same role are asked the same questions and tests are scored objectively.
There are different types of verbal reasoning tests:
Verbal Critical Reasoning
These tests require candidates to apply logic and reason to determine if a given statement is ‘true, false or cannot tell’ based on information provided.
Reading Comprehension
These tests require candidates to read and digest written information and then answer a related series of questions accurately.
Tests may be presented in different multiple-choice formats:
- Explicit multiple choice – where the answer to questions will be explicitly stated in the text.
- Implicit multiple choice – where the answers to questions can be inferred from information provided in the text.
- Meta multiple choice - where the answers to questions are not found in information given in the text and require the candidate to think more broadly.
Verbal tests may also include tests to assess understanding of language and levels of literacy, for example grammar and spelling, vocabulary (range and the ability to identify how ideas are related) and word analogy (the relationship between a pair of words).
Verbal reasoning tests are usually used as part of an overall recruitment strategy involving other psychometric tests such as numerical reasoning and personality questionnaires.