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 (cognitive capability is referred to as General Mental Ability or GMA in these studies):
1. Psychology Professors, Hunter & Hunter (1984) analysed over 400 studies for supervisor ratings of overall job performance. Their study found the following:
A 57 % correlation between General Cognitive Ability 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
2. This study done by Hunter and Hunter was subjected to rigorous scrutiny by another study done by Salgado and Moscoso. Salgado and Moscoso came away with the following findings:
This meta-analytic re-examination of the validity studies ... showed that GMA (General Mental or Cognitive Ability) is a consistent and valid predictor of five specific occupational criteria, including, supervisory ratings of overall job performance, production records, work samples tests, instructor ratings, and grades... In summary, we can conclude that the GMA is an excellent predictor of occupational performance criteria and that the best estimate of the operational validity of GMA is 0.50, 0.44, and 0.32 for high, medium, and low complexity jobs in the case of the job proficiency criterion and 0.62, 0.58, and 0.55 for the high, medium, and low complexity jobs in the case of the training success criterion. (Meta-Analysis of the Validity of General Mental Ability for Five Performance Criteria: Hunter and Hunter (1984) Revisited Salgado and Moscoso 2019)
In other words GMA correlated very strongly with both job performance and training success.
3. Frank L. Schmidt, Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations in the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa found that:
“Cognitive ability is the most important cause of job performance and the relationship between ability and performance is stable over time”
4. 98% OF 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)
The following table, based on a study done by a company called Mocha, illustrates how cognitive ability impacts on job performance and other critical measures.
