ABSTRACT
This chapter consists of six sections. The first section briefly reviews the historical foundation of the concept of cognitive ability and early attempts to measure it. The second section reviews modern theories of the structure of cognitive ability and the emergence of the concept of general cognitive ability. Section three introduces the concepts of specific knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics. Section four discusses psychometric characteristics of tests including reliability, validity, and subgroup differences. The fifth section reviews the issues to be considered when deciding whether to choose from among commercially available tests or develop a test. Example questions to help in test construction are provided. The final section contains a general summary.
