The Ball Foundation was excited to acquire the entire Comprehensive Ability Battery® (CAB™) from The Institute of Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT). Future plans include computerizing several CAB tests.
The Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB; Hakstian & Cattell, 1975) consists of a total of 20 relatively short ability tests (i.e., each test with working time of about 5-7 minutes). The CAB was a product of Cattell’s work in establishing the Horn-Cattell theory of fluid and crystallized abilities (Cattell, R. B., 1963; Horn, J. L., & Cattell, R.B., 1966). The Horn-Cattell model is considered to be a leading integrated theory to describe and organize human cognitive abilities.
Development of the CAB began in 1971, and over a four-year period the initial item content, test reliability, and validity of the battery (including replication of the factor structure) was established. Each test in the CAB is intended to measure one ability factor, and each factor has been identified as related to occupational requirements in industrial settings, and for use in career and vocational counseling [Manual for the Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB). Hakstian, R.A., & Cattell, R.B. (1982). Institute for Personality and Ability Testing].
For over 30 years the Foundation has included the administration of 7 CAB tests in conjunction with administration of the Ball Aptitude Battery® (BAB™). These tests have been administered to provide additional aptitude measurement of dimensions represented in the Ball Aptitude Battery, specifically measures of memory (Rote Memory, Meaningful Memory), measures of a spatial-related work context (Mechanical Knowledge, Aesthetic Judgment, Representational Drawing), and measures in the verbal-creative domains (Verbal Fluency, Originality).
Given the rich history of the CAB, The Ball Foundation was excited to acquire the entire CAB from The Institute of Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT) in 2010. Future plans include computerizing several CAB tests. The Foundation is interested in discussing how the CAB tests may be part of a mutually beneficial co-development effort.
13 CAB tests not mentioned above: Auditory Ability, Clerical Speed and Accuracy, Hidden Shapes, Memory Span, Numerical Ability, Organizing Ideas, Perceptual Completion, Production of Ideas, Reasoning, Spatial Ability, Spelling, Tracking, and Verbal Ability.