What is PersonAbilities?

What do we do?

We are solving big problems. First of which - We need to put the right people in the right places.

Over 100 years ago the first modern personality test, the WDPS, was created. A few years later Henry Chauncey, founder of the Education Testing Service, came up with his idea of a census of abilities. He envisioned a world where every person could be utilized by their true abilities. Years later, we have hundreds of different personality assessments, academic tests, and psychological inventories, but we are still without a census of abilities. 

PersonAbilities is here to change that. Our purpose is to radically transform people’s lives, overcome economic inequity, and promote psychological diversity.

Who We Are 

We believe in all forms of diversity, not just demographic diversity. We believe that neurodiversity, diversity of thought, and diversity of belief is crucial in solving major societal problems. We are here to help you understand how you think and how you can see how others think.

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We are creating truly insightful personality assessments. We use data analytics, neuroscience, and fundamentally new frameworks to measure the entirety of what makes you unique.

Most personality tests that you have likely taken were developed in the very different world of the 20th century. The results weren’t nuanced, the testing algorithms were quite basic, and the testing methods for most tests haven’t changed much over time.

PersonAbilities is doing things differently.

Hundreds of millions of people are out of work, and even more have jobs that lack purpose and meaning. People often choose the wrong educational opportunities which can lead to the wrong career. We’re here to put you in the right place by discovering your life changing abilities. We are here to help you find your road. We are here so you can know how you can realize your greatest potential.

We believe in all forms of diversity, not just demographic diversity. We believe that neurodiversity, diversity of thought, and diversity of belief is crucial in solving major societal problems. We are here to help you understand how you think and how you can see how others think. Human relationships are at the core of everything that we do. We are here to bridge those gaps.

PersonAbilities is actively looking for partnerships to help students, professionals, and economically disadvantaged people find hope and success in their lives. We believe that everyone has incredibly valuable abilities in some way, shape, or form. We are here to give you a home that is joyfully meaningful for you. 

We know that our personality tests are radically different from anything else out there. This is intentional. We looked at hundreds of different tools from books and online. We tried to find something that captured both people’s innate abilities and the entirety of their personality. We weren’t satisfied with any of the tools we knew of so we made our own.

The Tests

We are currently developing products that will help you change your life for the better. Everything we produce is intended to change you. We fully expect you to have fun taking this and seeing your results, but this is meant to help you guide your own life.  

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Our personality tests take 10-15 minutes to take. They’ll give you more information than any other test you’ve taken in the past. Most people will find the results to be strikingly accurate – much more so than the ones you’ve taken before. We took the best features of all of the personality tests out there. We try our best to make our questions as nuanced as possible. You won’t see questions like ‘would you rather go to a library or a party’. They’ll make you stop and analyze how you truly think, fee, believe, and act in a variety of situations.

The Personality types that we use are only ‘heuristics’ – they are suggestions or ways of seeing different traits within a range of possibilities. Every single thing we measure is on a spectrum. Your results should be seen as a guide to help you discover some of your unique traits and abilities. They shouldn’t be seen as a definitive description of who you will always be. Everyone changes over time anyways. We test for four different things. Your Intelligence Type, Cultural Type, Temperament Type, and Neuro Type. We look at all four categories while most assessments struggle to capture one. Each of these four tests capture dozens of different aspects of how you are capable, unique, and important.   

We are currently developing products that will help you change your life for the better. Everything we produce is intended to change you. This ain’t no sorting hat, astrology reading, or social media joke. We fully expect you to have fun taking this and seeing your results, but this is meant to help you guide your own life.  

The Science

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The study of the brain and its functions goes back to ancient Egypt. For millennia people have theorized that different parts of our brains perform different roles. However, it was only until the end of the 19th century that the modern understanding of intelligence became widespread. Since Alfred Binet created the first statistically reliable IQ test in 1904 students, educators, and others have been heavily involved with measuring our intelligence. However, it was only until 1983 that the theory of multiple intelligences was proposed. IQ had already been clearly divided into non-verbal vs verbal and crystalized vs fluid intelligence but Dr. Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist, proposed that intelligence is multifaceted.

He and other pioneers in his field came up with different applied forms of intelligence that related to music, visual-spatial ability, verbal acumen, computing, hand-eye coordination, interpersonal skills, and intrapersonal capabilities. Scientist Daniel Goleman advanced his similar idea in 1995 with the book Emotional Intelligence. Despite some criticism from strong proponents of traditional IQ tests, emotional intelligence has entered our common lexicon. Other psychologists have also advanced other forms of intelligence related to the environment, humor, and even spirituality. Over the last several decades there have been hundreds of applied studies that have shown that intelligence is much more complex than we once thought.

Many are familiar with left-right brain theory otherwise known as the lateralization of the neocortex (the advanced thinking part of the brain). In the 1960’s Dr. Roger Sperry took the idea of different brain parts performing different intelligence functions from an untested theory to a proven reality. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1981.

Although we now know that the left-right brain dichotomy is somewhat simplistic, multiple neuropsychologists have been able to use MRI scans to pin point exactly where each type of brain functioning occurs in our neocortex. For example, we now have a much better understanding of what happens in the prefrontal cortex (decision making abilities), temporal lobe (listening abilities), and occipital lobe (visual-spatial abilities).

Numerous researchers including (but not limited to) Alvin I Goldman, Andreas Fink, Colin DeYoung, Dario Nardi, D R Belov, John P Kline, Martha A Alcock, Peter C Gram, and Susan Greenfield have shown in hundreds of studies that different regions of the neocortex perform different functions. Just like we have different muscle groups that perform different roles, different neural pathways perform different functions. Neuroendocrinologists like Helen Fisher have shown that different hormones and neurotransmitters have the ability to affect our neocortex in different ways.

PersonAbilities isn’t giving you an MRI scan. We are using assessments to measure what part of the brain you are using. What we are doing is using data analytics to make an extremely accurate estimation of what your MRI scan would look like without having to pay $500. Furthermore, we interpret what that means for you in an applied setting.

We use assessments to understand how you process, think, and make decisions. We use correlational analysis that will compare you to thousands of other people (soon to be millions) to know what regions of the brain you are using. It doesn’t take an hour to figure out if someone’s an Olympic gymnast, swimmer, weightlifter, or sprinter. We take the same approach with intelligence because our brain is ultimately a muscle. Our genetics and environment give us clear and distinct differences that cannot be easily overcome.

We encourage others to focus on their personal abilities that will become the strongest. PersonAbilities’ intelligence typing system measures 8 brain functions that govern executive control, the ability to systemize logic, abstract thinking skills, creativity, strategic thinking, visual-spatial acumen, normative functioning, and communication abilities. These brain functions are located in clearly defined regions of the neocortex. The Intelligence Test is not based on psychological theories. This test is based on modern neuroscience and data analytics. We have compared our Intelligence Test results to actual MRI scans and they have always been a perfect match.

PersonAbilities is confidently committed to cutting-edge research to make our services more empirically valid than other creators of personality systems.