There is literally no other assessment tool like this one.

We are disrupting and optimising recruitment with Lectica’s groundbreaking scoring technology, making it possible to affordably measure real-world problem solving and decision-making skills at scale.

What is a Lectical assessment?

 

Most assessments of mental skills are archaic multiple-choice tests of general intelligence, aptitude, or specific knowledge. None of these assessments directly measure the skills most needed in the workplace, such as the ability to work effectively with others or find solutions to thorny real-world workplace problems. Instead, they measure what’s easily measured—right and wrong answers to fact-based problems.

For decades, the assessment community has been attempting—and failing—to build scalable assessments that directly measure relevant real-world mental skills.

Lectical Assessments were designed, not only to fill this void, but also to support optimal learning. They are scalable assessments of real-world skills that support the development of real-world mental ability.

Lectical Assessments are powered by a unique technology that's built around a robust, evidence-based learning model and a set of award-winning methods for documenting how people build concepts and skills over time. These methods, developed by Dr. Theo Dawson, are grounded in over 100 years of cognitive-developmental research.

Lectical Assessments stand out because:

  • They are direct measures of real-world skills. In other words, a Lectical Assessment that measures Leadership decision-making asks people to describe how they would approach a realistic leadership dilemma and explain why they would take that approach.

  • They are designed to support learning. The reports associated with Lectical Assessments are rich sources of information and activities that foster optimal learning.

  • The primary score on a Lectical Assessment—its Lectical Score—is a measure of the complexity of thinking demonstrated in assessment responses. The complexity of responses can be compared to the complexity of situations, problems, roles, or curricula.

  • The Lectical Score is determined by a sophisticated automated system based on 26 years of dedicated research. Automated scoring makes Lectical Assessments fully scalable.

Why do we focus on mental ability?

Research repeatedly shows that the best predictor of recruitment success is mental ability. This is true even though the tests traditionally used to measure mental ability are archaic multiple-choice tests with items that have little to do with the mental skills required in the workplace.

Conventional mental ability assessments predict up to 40% of the variance in recruitment success.

Lectica assessments measure real world mental ability and thinking and reasoning skills, a significant breakthrough in effectively assessing, selecting and developing talent to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

 

Source : Schmidt, Oh, & Schaffer, 2016

We measure five key indicators of mental ability.

  • Lectical Level.

    A Lectical Level is a point on the Lectical Scale. The Lectical Scale is a life-span developmental scale that represents levels of hierarchical complexity. Individuals who receive higher Lectical Scores can generally handle greater complexity than individuals who receive lower Lectical Scores.

  • Role Complexity.

    Role Complexity is a range on the Lectical Scale. It represents the complexity range of challenges that are likely to be presented by a given role. Role Complexity is determined by examining detailed information about an organization and a particular role within that organization.

  • Precise Role Fit.

    Precise Role Fit is the relationship between a person’s Lectical Score and the complexity of a given role (Role Complexity). High Precise Role Fit is desirable because it is associated with increased well-being, engagement, effectiveness, and productivity.

  • Clarity.

    Clarity involves the degree to which an individual’s arguments are coherent and persuasive, how well they are framed, and how well ideas are connected. Individuals who make clear arguments make better decisions and grow more rapidly.

  • VUCA & CAOS skills.

    These are the skills required for thinking and deciding in contested, volatile, uncertain, complex, or ambiguous contexts and include things like perspective taking, conflict resolution, contextual thinking, and decision making.

Traditional vs. Lectical assessments.

  • We focus on level of skill.

    Lectical Assessments are performance assessments. They are made up of open-ended, written response items without "correct" answers. We're interested in how people understand, approach, and work through messy real-world issues that lack clear right or wrong answers.

  • They focus on correctness.

    Multiple choice items with right and wrong answers are still the most common item type in conventional assessments. They primarily focus on factual knowledge, proper procedures, or abstract problems with little connection to the real world.

  • We have a developmental scale.

    Lectical Assessments are calibrated to a well-validated, theory-based, domain-general scale called the Lectical® Scale. Lectical scores are a measure of the complexity level of skills and ideas.

  • They have psychometrics.

    Building knowledge about learning is not a major goal for most assessment developers. Building and storing items—thousands of them—is. Traditional test developers need to continuously create items because the items must be tested before they can be used, then are rotated and eventually retired to prevent cheating.

  • We have the Lectical Dictionary™.

    We build test items, but it's just a tiny part of what we do. Our major focus is on learning about learning. We’re building the Lectical Dictionary, which houses the growing body of knowledge we need to make and score richly diagnostic assessments and populate test-taker reports with formative feedback and targeted learning activities.

  • They have item banks.

    Building knowledge about learning is not a major goal for most assessment developers. Building and storing items—thousands of them—is. Traditional test developers need to continuously create items because the items must be rotated and eventually retired to prevent cheating. The cost of item development increases as item types become more complex in response to demands for more open-ended, open response questions.

  • We make cheating pointless.

    It’s pretty much impossible to cheat effectively on a Lectical Assessment. There are no right answers, plagiarism is easy to detect, the electronic scoring system is good at detecting anomalies that indicate cheating, and job applicants have no way of knowing what Lectical Score will earn them a high Fit score.

  • They try to prevent cheating.

    Items with correct answers make it easy to cheat effectively. Because getting a high score is the goal, cheating is a s simple as getting the right answer. Smart phones, watches, and other devices make it easy to copy and share test items or get help with difficult items. Proctoring systems can’t detect all forms of cheating.