Thinking Profile Test

Understand how you take in and process information across key thinking styles in about 14 minutes. Get clear, visual results from 75 items to spot strengths, creativity, and growth areas for school or work.

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Questions: 7514 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

22,770 views

1,395 completions

1,161 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

6/15

Creativity (C)

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

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 5: Low | 6 – 9: Moderate | 10 – 15: High

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.

example score

6/15

Visual-Imaginative Thinking (VIT)

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

Low

Average

High

0 – 5: Low | 6 – 9: Average | 10 – 15: High

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.

example score

2/15

Symbolic Thinking (ST)

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

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 5: Low | 6 – 9: Moderate | 10 – 15: High

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.

example score

7/15

Symbolic Thinking (ST)

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

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 5: Low | 6 – 9: Moderate | 10 – 15: High

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

example score

10/15

Object-Based Thinking (OBT)

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

Lower

Moderate

Higher

0 – 6: Lower | 7 – 9: Moderate | 10 – 15: Higher

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.

Creativity (C)

Average

8.2

Normal range

6.1 — 10.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Figurative Thinking (FT)

Average

8.9

Normal range

7.1 — 10.8

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Sign-based Thinking (ST)

Average

9.9

Normal range

7.4 — 12.5

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Symbolic Thinking (ST)

Average

7.8

Normal range

5.5 — 10.2

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Concrete Thinking (CT)

Average

8.8

Normal range

6.6 — 11

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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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.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Thinking Profile Test - Symptoms and Signs

creativity

thinking style

This measure is designed to characterize individual differences in cognitive processing and preferred modes of reasoning. Thinking Profile is a brief, structured set of tasks intended to sample performance across multiple representational formats relevant to everyday learning and problem solving.

The instrument contains 75 items and typically requires about 14 minutes to complete. Items emphasize problem solving with concrete content, visual imagery, and use of symbols and signs, with a focus on describing relative strengths across thinking approaches.

Thinking Profile may be used in educational, vocational, or clinical-adjunct contexts to inform discussion of learning strategies and skill development. Bibliographic attribution is commonly given to Robert J. Sternberg and Richard J. Davidson.

Author: Richard J. Davidson, Robert J. Sternberg

Literature: Kahneman, D. Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2011.