Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT): Modern multi-factor school test

About the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)

Robert L. Thorndike was the son of Edward L. Thorndike (the early-20th-century pioneer of educational psychology who co-authored the National Intelligence Tests in 1920 and the CAVD scale in 1925). The younger Thorndike carried the family tradition forward at Columbia Teachers College and Iowa Testing Programs, where he collaborated with Elizabeth Hagen to develop the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) in 1968.

The CogAT covers three broad cognitive batteries: Verbal (sentence completion, verbal analogies, verbal classification), Quantitative (number series, number puzzles, number analogies), and Nonverbal (figure analogies, figure classification, figure analysis). Total testing time is about 2 hours across the three batteries. Scores are reported as standard age scores (SAS), normalized so that 100 is the mean for the subject's grade level.

The CogAT went through revisions in 1978, 1986, 1993, 2001 (CogAT 6), and 2011 (CogAT 7, current). It is widely used for gifted program identification - the multi-factor profile (Verbal vs Quantitative vs Nonverbal) allows schools to identify children with specific cognitive strengths rather than relying on a single overall score. The CogAT is one of the three dominant US school cognitive tests today, alongside the Otis-Lennon (OLSAT) and Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT).

The 3 subtests

Sample Items (Illustrative)

Items are typically presented in a multiple-choice format, with one correct answer among several options. Scoring is based on the number of correct responses.

These are illustrative samples, not actual items from the protected test.

Source

All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:

Robert L. Thorndike & Elizabeth Hagen (1968). Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT).

CogAT items and current editions remain under Riverside Insights copyright. We document the test's history and significance.