Thinking Profile Test

With 75 questions and an estimated completion time of 14 minutes, the Thinking Profile Test explores how you approach creative, visual-imaginative, symbolic, and object-based thinking. Your results outline a personal pattern of cognitive preferences, offering a practical starting point for self-reflection on learning, problem-solving, and everyday tasks.

Questions: 7514 minutes

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

CreativityC

Creativity measures the tendency to use original, unconventional approaches and generate unique solutions or products.

example score6/15

6/15Moderateexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 9Moderate

10 – 15High

A score of 6 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a generally conventional style with some readiness to try novel ideas when the situation supports it.

Visual-Imaginative ThinkingVIT

Measures how effectively a person can manipulate mental images from memory or imagination to support creative problem-solving.

example score6/15

6/15Averageexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 9Average

10 – 15High

A score of 6 falls in the Average range, suggesting a functional ability to work with mental images that may be applied in creative tasks with some effort.

Symbolic ThinkingST

Measures how readily a person reasons using abstract signs and concepts rather than relying on concrete objects or images.

example score2/15

2/15Lowexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 9Moderate

10 – 15High

A score of 2 indicates low sign-based thinking, suggesting the person may rely more on concrete or visual information than on abstract concepts and verbal reasoning in similar tasks.

Symbolic ThinkingST

Measures how effectively a person transforms information using symbols, numbers, and formal rules of inference to produce formula-like or program-like solutions.

example score7/15

7/15Moderateexample score

0 – 5Low

6 – 9Moderate

10 – 15High

A score of 7 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting an average ability to work with symbols and formal rules when solving problems.

Object-Based ThinkingOBT

Measures the tendency to process information through real objects and hands-on, step-by-step actions to produce practical outcomes.

example score10/15

10/15Higherexample score

0 – 6Lower

7 – 9Moderate

10 – 15Higher

A score of 10 indicates a higher level of concrete thinking, suggesting a preference for practical, sequential problem-solving with tangible materials or actions.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

HR and Talent Teams

41%OF USERS

Use it to map candidates’ and employees’ thinking styles for role fit, training needs, and development planning.

Psychologists and Coaches

34%OF USERS

Take it to quickly build a clear profile of strengths across different thinking modes and guide targeted improvement.

Teachers and School Counselors

25%OF USERS

Use the school-friendly version to understand how a student processes information and choose better learning approaches.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

CreativityC

You?

Average8.2

Typical rangeTypical6.1 – 10.4

Possible0 – 15

Figurative ThinkingFT

You?

Average8.9

Typical rangeTypical7.1 – 10.8

Possible0 – 15

Sign-based ThinkingST

You?

Average9.9

Typical rangeTypical7.4 – 12.5

Possible0 – 15

Symbolic ThinkingST

You?

Average7.8

Typical rangeTypical5.5 – 10.2

Possible0 – 15

Concrete ThinkingCT

You?

Average8.8

Typical rangeTypical6.6 – 11

Possible0 – 15

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Each person tends to have a predominant thinking style. This questionnaire will help identify your thinking style. If you agree with a statement, respond “Yes”; otherwise, respond “No.”

- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- No

These are 3 of the 75 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Thinking Profile Test - Description and methodology of the test

creativity

thinking style

People who want to understand how they naturally approach ideas, images, rules, and practical construction can use the Thinking Profile Test as a structured self-reflection exercise. As a cognitive profile test, it links these preferences to learning, problem-solving, and creative work. It describes a pattern of tendencies rather than ranking intelligence, giving you language for comparing different ways of processing information.

What This Assessment Explores

The profile describes five approaches to information: original production, mental imagery, abstract concepts, formal symbols, and practical action. A higher band means that tendency is more prominent in your responses; it does not rank intelligence. This thinking style assessment helps compare preferences across tasks.

The two symbolic entries are separated by their stated focus:

Creativity (0-15) - Low 0-5, Moderate 6-9, High 10-15 - reflects original action and unconventional solutions.
Visual-Imaginative Thinking (0-15) - Low 0-5, Average 6-9, High 10-15 - reflects mental images used in creative work.
Symbolic Thinking (concepts and inferences; 0-15) - Low 0-5, Moderate 6-9, High 10-15 - reflects abstract operations without physical objects.
Symbolic Thinking (symbols and rules; 0-15) - Low 0-5, Moderate 6-9, High 10-15 - reflects numbers, formulas, and rule-based transformations.
Object-Based Thinking (0-15) - Lower 0-6, Moderate 7-9, Higher 10-15 - reflects sequential work with real objects toward a product.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Items are brief first-person statements answered Yes or No. They cover preferences for art, exact subjects, programming, diagrams, language, routes, making, and manipulating objects, linking choices with cognitive tendencies. Responses in this online thinking questionnaire are summarized into dimension scores and shown as bands, so the result is read as a pattern rather than a single ability score. The displayed ranges do not show how many points each answer contributes.

Richard J. Davidson and Robert J. Sternberg are listed as the registered authors. The documented basis is the five-dimensional structure defined by the scales, separating creative production, imagery, conceptual operations, formal symbols, and object-based action. No instrument manual or published validation study is reported for this exact online form, so the dimensions are descriptive categories of its scoring system.

Interpret the result as a snapshot of self-reported preferences. Current interests, confidence, experience, and impression management can shape Yes/No answers, while self-awareness may vary by situation. With no stated population norms, reliability estimates, or clinical cutoffs, its bands are descriptive categories rather than standardized thresholds.

Author: Richard J. Davidson, Robert J. Sternberg

Literature:

Slyamkhan, M., Ganeeva, A., & Dorel, L. (2022). Interrelation of levels of mathematical literacy in conditions of distance learning. World Journal on Educational Technology: Current Issues, 14(3), 757-767. 10.18844/wjet.v14i3.7212
Bruner, J. (1977). Psychology of Cognition: Beyond Immediate Information. Moscow: Progress.
Lutskevich, V. V. (2013). Specificity of the Relationship Between Types of Thinking and Subjective Characteristics of Understanding. Experimental Psychology, 6(3), 53-61.

Updated: 2025-10-02