Advanced Psychology Services Cognitive Profile Assessments
CPA assessments help identify specific areas of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Recommended for all children age 6 to 15.
Cognitive Profile Assessment
Just as each person is born with a unique voice, fingerprint, and retinal pattern, we all also possess a unique combination of the core cognitive traits which determine our interests, occupations and, to a large degree, success at what we set out to do. Our unique cognitive profile, however, is not as apparent as our other traits and can only be determined through meticulous psychometric testing. Each person has certain strengths that might, in the course of life, become known, nurtured and developed into a talent or profession. On the other hand, a hidden weakness can lead to years of struggle, self-blame and lost opportunities. But what if we could discover these strengths and weaknesses early in life so that we could mitigate the weaknesses and nurture the strengths? The Cognitive Profile Assessment (CPA) was created with exactly this goal in mind. Due to brain plasticity, many of the core cognitive abilities can be strengthened and developed if training starts early in life.
Unlike other types of assessments, the intended audience of the CPA are the child's parents, rather than teachers and educational institutions. This assessment is for parents who want to know their child's specific set of abilities and screen for potential problems and deficits. The CPA is used to provide parents with valuable information about their child's unique cognitive traits, as well as giving them the tools for nurturing specific abilities. The purpose of this assessment is to provide information and guidance rather than a diagnostic tool. The CPA assesses a number of reasoning and information-processing skills that play a pivotal role in learning and educational success. For example, the core ability to form, store, and express verbal concepts is likely to affect a child's oral expression and comprehension, written expression and reading comprehension. Similarly, the core ability for inductive and quantitative reasoning will affect number sense, arithmetic, problem solving, analytical reasoning, science, understanding cause and effect, generalizing or making connections between new material and acquired knowledge.
how Cognitive Profile Assessment helps?
Cognitive Profile Assessment helps parents find answers to these questions:
- What are my child's gifts and talents?
- What are my child's potential learning challenges?
- What is my child's overall intellectual aptitude?
- Is my child at risk of having a learning disorder?
- What kind of educational setting would work best for my child?
- What kind of extra-curricular activities should I choose for my child?
- What occupations would best suit my child?
The CPA can be used with children ages 5-16. The assessment starts with a one-to-one interactive testing session that takes about 2 hours and is administered by a qualified psychometrist. The results are then scored, analyzed by a psychologist, and detailed in an explanatory report. This report summarizes assessment results and contains detailed information on the child's cognitive abilities and practical recommendations for developing areas of weakness. The report is discussed with the parents in a separate feedback session.
Sometimes, the results of Cognitive Profile Assessment might indicate a possibility of giftedness or a learning disorder, in which case we recommend additional testing for diagnostic purposes and for placement in specialized classes (e.g. gifted program). Please note that CPA is not a replacement for a full psychoeducational assessment and it is not intended to be used for diagnostic purposes (e.g. to establish diagnoses of a learning disability or ADHD).
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