What is a Visual Memory Reasoning test?

A Visual Memory Reasoning test is one of the best predictors of a candidate's ability to remember and process relevant visual information using stored memory. The test typically correlates with the planning of details, architectural design, graphical planning, researching interviewing, investigating, navigating, taking notes and Q&A sessions.

We've been supporting New Zealand businesses for over 21 years to boost their recruitment practices. Our advanced aptitude testing platform, FinxS, only available through the HR Profiling Network, empowers recruitment managers to make more reliable hiring decisions, predict job performance, and understand the working style of candidates.

Organisations with successful hiring processes place emphasis on recruiting applicants with the most suitable ability and behavioural traits for a role. These organisations understand that robust psychometric tests help select top talent, increase employee retention and avoid high turnover.

When administered correctly, reasoning tests can significantly boost the probability of selecting the right candidate for a job.

Common uses of a visual memory test

Recruiters commonly use the Visual Memory test during the pre-employment process to predict the job performance of candidates and quickly narrow down the talent pool. Managers also use the Visual Reasoning test to assess an employee's current capability and identify development opportunities. The test typically correlates with job performance in professions such as policing and defence, mechanical engineering, artistry and design.

Make Secure Hiring Decisions

Robust reasoning tests help select top talent, increase employee retention and reduce turnover.

Benefits of a Visual Memory Test

Assess Speed vs Quality

Use the reasoning test results to understand what a candidate's test score may mean concerning their job performance and dig deeper into the results to analyse the candidates' speed vs quality of answers. Furthermore, create a benchmark and determine how the candidate scores in comparison to others within the organisation.

Benchmark Performance

Create a benchmark to add a valuable comparison tool when hiring. Identify the characteristics of your top performers to quantify their attributes and create a baseline for confident hiring decisions. Compare results at an organisational, country, and global level to provide additional meaning to the results.

Easily Administer Online

There is no need to organise an assessment centre or distribute a paper test. Simply send candidates a link and a unique access code. Once the candidate completes the reasoning test, you will receive a report direct from the cloud-based system straight to your nominated inbox within minutes of the candidate completing the test.

Predict job performance with a visual memory test

Does your job role involve tasks requiring extensive working memory? Candidate's with a strong affinity for visual reasoning can quickly commit visual information to memory and pay attention to essential details. They are great at general learning and problem solving. Research consistently reveals cognitive ability as the highest and most reliable predictor of job performance across all professions, with a 0.51 correlation to success in the position. Cognitive ability is predictive of a wide variety of occupations as it predicts a candidates ability to quickly acquire new information and apply this to problem solving, both of which are critical to success in the workplace.

What does a visual memory test measure?

FinxS Visual Memory test provides insight and understanding of candidates' working speed and accuracy to mentally store and process multiple visual objects. The assessment focuses on a person's ability to utilise temporary memory storage to process activities, pictures or words that they have viewed.

Someone who demonstrates a strong visual working memory might ask questions such as "Which image should I focus on?" or "What is the difference between what I know and the new information?"

Visual Memory assessments provide reliable insights into a candidate's abilities, including their ability to:

Reduce distraction by maintaining focus on relevant visual information
Recall, compare and recognise the stored visual information to serve a task
Keep track of multiple instructions at the same time

Strong abilities in this area is vital for success in professions such as medicine, architecture and design.

What to expect during a visual memory test?

The Visual Memory Reasoning section of the test consists of 21 questions. Candidates have ten seconds to memorise a set of four graphical images. Candidates will then see one more picture and need to decide if it is one of the four images they initially saw.

Candidates are presented with a practice question before they take the test, so they understand how to answer the question and what to expect during the visual memory test. Candidate's who spend too long memorising only one image or who do not bother to find distinguishing factors, may receive a low score.

How to prepare for a visual memory test?

The more information candidates can hold in their working memory, the more information they have to work with, allowing them to make more reliable and accurate decisions. Candidates who are not confident in the ability of their working memory can prepare by memorising short snippets of information in a limited time frame. Research from Japanese psychologists found that completing a memorisation activity for just 10 minutes a day increased working memory. Remember, tests are designed so that only a few people can complete them within the time frame. Working quickly, but without sacrificing accuracy is essential to obtain a high score.

Predict job performance with Visual Memory Tests

Buy Assessments

Visual memory test questions

Candidates complete the visual memory reasoning test under timed conditions. They have only 13 minutes to memorise and recall 21 sets of four images. Candidates should expect to spend approximately 20 seconds on each set of images. The questions become more difficult as the test progresses.

Visual memory test answers

You will receive a report automatically from our cloud-based platform within minutes of the candidate completing the questionnaire. The report details the candidate's answers and provides an analysis of the implication of the score on the candidate's job performance. The report contains an overall rating, the number of all correct answers, the number of questions the candidate completed and the time spent answering. The breakdown of scores allows for analysis of the candidate's speed and accuracy. Recruiters can also compare the score to a benchmark population to examine the candidate's ability to others within the organisation.

Next steps

Cognitive ability is an influential contributor to organisational success. A candidate's cognitive ability impacts the capacity to acquire job knowledge and therefore affects job performance. Employees with exceptional reasoning skills tend to adjust better to new tasks with their ability to learn and apply new information.

By assessing whether candidates have strong cognitive skills to be successful beyond their current roles, your organisation will have a skilled workforce ready for the challenges of the future. Most importantly, the results of the report can contribute to creating a development plan for an employees future growth within the organisation.

A Reasoning Assessment should only be used as part of an overall picture when hiring a new candidate. When used to complement a wider hiring strategy, reasoning tests can help recruiters make informed talent decisions.

Discover our Range of Reasoning Assessments