Frequently Asked Questions

The assessment is designed for children ages 4–18 and is organized into three age-appropriate tiers: Junior (4–7), Standard (8–12), and Advanced (13–18). Your child takes only the tier designed for their age group.

Every question is a visual puzzle — no reading required for the Junior tier, and minimal reading for Standard and Advanced. This makes it accessible for children with varying reading abilities and for English language learners.

Four cognitive domains drawn from the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model — the framework behind most modern intelligence research:

• Pattern Recognition — fluid reasoning (identifying rules in visual grids)
• Visual Puzzles — visual-spatial processing (rotation, reflection, assembly)
• Picture Logic — inductive reasoning (sequences, analogies, categorization)
• Number Sense — quantitative reasoning (dot patterns, balance scales, fractions)

Verbal/language reasoning is intentionally excluded to keep the assessment fair across reading levels and language backgrounds.

It depends on the tier: Junior (26 questions) typically takes 15–20 minutes, Standard (34 questions) takes 20–30 minutes, and Advanced (42 questions) takes 25–40 minutes.

The test saves progress after each question, so your child can take breaks and resume at any time.

Yes. The online assessment is completely free — take the test and receive your full results at no cost. We also offer an optional Practice Book PDF with all 102 questions, detailed answer explanations, and a comprehensive parent guide for those who want to go deeper.

The cognitive framework — four factors spanning fluid reasoning, visual-spatial processing, inductive reasoning, and quantitative reasoning — is drawn from the CHC theory that underpins the Stanford-Binet (SB5), WISC-V, and most modern intelligence assessments. The question formats are standard types used across cognitive assessment.

However, this assessment has not been normed, standardized, or validated through a formal psychometric study. Scores represent performance on these specific questions (expressed as percentages), not IQ scores relative to a population sample. It is an independent educational resource, not a clinical instrument.

For the Junior tier, you may need to explain the format of each question type the first time it appears — for example, "Which shape is the same, but turned?" or "How many dots come next?" After that, let your child work independently. Helping with specific answers defeats the purpose of the assessment.

If your child is stuck, encourage them to make their best guess and move on.

A child at a boundary age (a mature 7-year-old or a precocious 8-year-old) could try both tiers to see where they feel appropriately challenged. However, comparing scores across tiers isn't meaningful — the questions are calibrated to different developmental levels.

Every 6–12 months is ideal for tracking development. More frequently than that and practice effects may inflate scores — your child may remember specific questions rather than developing the underlying skill.

The test works on any modern device with a web browser — desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. For the best experience, we recommend a tablet or computer with a larger screen, since the visual puzzles are easier to examine in detail on a bigger display.

Progress saves automatically after each question. If you lose connection or close the browser, you can resume where you left off.

No — it's expected and informative. Most children show meaningful variation across cognitive factors. An uneven profile tells you something specific about how your child thinks: where their natural strengths lie and where targeted enrichment might be most beneficial. Perfectly flat profiles are actually less common than uneven ones.

No. Learning disabilities can only be diagnosed by qualified professionals using validated clinical instruments. If you have concerns about your child's cognitive development — particularly if difficulties affect daily functioning or academic performance — consult a licensed psychologist or your school's special education team.

This assessment can help you articulate specific areas of concern, but it cannot diagnose.

Each subtest score is the percentage of questions answered correctly within that subtest for your child's age tier. These percentages are grouped into five performance bands: Exceptional (90–100%), Above Average (75–89%), Average (50–74%), Below Average (25–49%), and Developing (0–24%).

No IQ mapping, no population norming, no bell curve. The scores mean exactly what they say: how your child performed on this set of questions.

The Children's Cognitive Abilities Assessment Practice Book contains the same 102 questions from the online test in a printable PDF format, plus:

• A comprehensive parent guide explaining the cognitive science behind each factor
• Detailed answer explanations for every question — what each puzzle tests, why the correct answer works, and why each distractor fails
• Age-appropriate expectations and interpretation guidance
• Development activities organized by cognitive factor (Premium edition)

Available in Single Age (one tier), Complete (all three tiers), and Premium (Complete plus development resources) editions.

Yes. The PDF contains the same 102 questions across the same four subtests and three age tiers. The value of the Practice Book is in the detailed explanations, the offline format for repeated practice, and the educational content that helps parents and educators understand what each question is really measuring.

Yes. The visual format makes it suitable for group administration. The online test works on any device, and the PDF can be printed for paper-based administration. The four-factor structure helps identify which types of cognitive challenges each student is ready for.

For gifted/talented screening, the assessment provides a supplemental data point alongside other measures — particularly useful for surfacing students whose verbal skills may not yet reflect their reasoning ability.

Yes. We are COPPA compliant and take children's privacy seriously. We collect only the minimum information needed to administer the test. We never share, sell, or use children's data for any purpose other than providing results.

No account is required for the free online test. You can start immediately. For PDF purchases, we require a parent or guardian's email address for COPPA compliance and to deliver the download link.

Test sessions are kept for 30 days to allow for result retrieval and test resumption. After 30 days, all personal information is automatically deleted. Anonymous statistical data may be retained for improving the assessment, but cannot be linked back to any individual child.