Predictive Index Test 2026: Behavioral and PI

The Predictive Index (PI) is a US talent-assessment company. Employers send applicants one or both of its two tests. The PI Behavioral Assessment is an untimed adjective checklist: two questions, each followed by a list of words, and it takes about six minutes on average. The PI Cognitive Assessment is a timed ability test with 50 multiple-choice questions in 12 minutes, covering verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning. This guide explains both tests, how employers read the results, where sources disagree, and gives you original cognitive practice questions with worked answers.

Key facts

What the Predictive Index is used for

PI sells "talent optimization" software. For hiring, a manager first completes a job assessment that describes what the role needs. That produces two targets: a behavioral job target (which pattern of drives suits the role) and a cognitive target (how much the role demands in terms of learning speed and complexity). Your results are then compared with those targets.

According to PI's support pages, a candidate at or above the cognitive target gets the top match score of 10, and scoring above target is not penalized. Below target, the match score drops on a sliding scale whose steps PI does not publish. For behavior, the software shows a match against the job target and generates an interview guide built around your pattern.

The practical point: there is no universal pass mark. A score comfortably above target for one role can sit below target for another.

The PI Behavioral Assessment

What it looks like

PI describes two questions, each followed by a list of adjectives:

1. Self-Concept. You select the adjectives that you feel describe the way others expect you to act.
2. Self. You select the adjectives that you feel really describe you.

It is free choice, not forced choice: you tick every word that fits. Prep sites report the same 86 adjectives in both lists. There is no clock; PI gives an average of six minutes and says computer, tablet or phone all work.

PI uses a count it calls the M score: the number of adjectives you selected. PI says the assessment "only functions properly with a minimum M score of 6", and that very high counts (above 80) are also uninterpretable. So tick at least a handful of words in each list, and do not tick nearly everything.

The four factors (plus one)

PI scores five factors. The first four are the primary drives:

The scores are within-person: they show how your drives compare with each other, not how you compare with other people. The highest and lowest factors matter most. A wide spread between them means clearly expressed drives; scores near the middle are called "situational" and suggest more flexible behavior.

Reference profiles

Your pattern is matched to the nearest of 17 reference profiles (PI used 47 "patterns" in the past). Profile names such as "Specialist" are what people mean by "Predictive Index types". PI itself advises looking at the factor differences rather than the label alone.

How to approach it honestly

There are no right answers and no pass mark; the employer compares your pattern with a role profile.

• Know the format. In the first list, think about what others expect from you at work or study; in the second, describe yourself as you are.
• Be consistent and honest. Pick words you could back up with an example, because the interview guide will ask about your pattern.
• Expect it once. PI recommends assessing a person no more than once a year, so the result may follow you into the role.

The PI Cognitive Assessment

Format

PI describes 50 multiple-choice questions in 12 minutes, which is about 14.4 seconds per item. The questions come from three categories: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and abstract reasoning. Your score is the number you answer correctly. PI says the number of questions you attempt is not part of the score. Raw scores are converted to a scaled score from 100 to 450, and employers are told to use the scaled score. The test used to be known as the PLI (PI Learning Indicator), a name you still see on older prep pages.

PI states that the clock is deliberate: without it the items would be much easier. Few people finish. Prep sites report an average of about 20 correct out of 50 (described as a scaled score of 250) and say fewer than 1% answer all 50 correctly. PI's own support page does not publish an average, so treat those numbers as third-party estimates.

Navigation, calculator and setup: where sources disagree

Official sample questions

PI publishes timed sample questions in "the same content domains and style" as the real pool. Afterwards you see which items you got right and the correct answers, but no score, and PI warns against using the set to predict your score.

Question types with original examples

The items below are original and follow the item styles that PI and prep sites describe. Aim for roughly 15 seconds each, then check the worked answers.

Numerical reasoning

Practice 1 (number series). What comes next? 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ? (a) 95 (b) 126 (c) 127 (d) 131

Answer: (c) 127. Each term is double the previous one plus 1: 63 × 2 + 1 = 127. A quick check: the gaps (4, 8, 16, 32) double, so the next gap is 64.

Practice 2 (alternating series). What comes next? 96, 48, 52, 26, 30, ? (a) 15 (b) 26 (c) 34 (d) 60

Answer: (a) 15. Two operations alternate: halve, add 4, halve, add 4. After 30 comes a halving step: 30 ÷ 2 = 15.

Practice 3 (word problem). A printer produces 45 pages per minute. How many minutes does it need for 1,260 pages? (a) 24 (b) 26 (c) 28 (d) 32

Answer: (c) 28. 1,260 ÷ 45 = 28. Shortcut without a calculator: 45 × 28 = 45 × 30 − 45 × 2 = 1,350 − 90 = 1,260.

Practice 4 (largest value). Which is the largest? (a) 0.38 (b) 3/8 (c) 37% (d) 0.4 × 0.9 (e) 7/20

Answer: (a) 0.38. Convert everything to decimals: 3/8 = 0.375, 37% = 0.37, 0.4 × 0.9 = 0.36, 7/20 = 0.35. The trap is 3/8, which is very close.

Practice 5 (unit price). Three notebooks cost $4.50. How much do 14 notebooks cost? (a) $18.00 (b) $19.50 (c) $21.00 (d) $22.50

Answer: (c) $21.00. One notebook costs 4.50 ÷ 3 = $1.50, and 14 × 1.50 = $21.00. Option (d) is 15 notebooks, the off-by-one trap.

Verbal reasoning

Practice 6 (analogy). GLOVE is to HAND as SOCK is to: (a) shoe (b) foot (c) leg (d) wool

Answer: (b) foot. The relationship is "is worn on". A shoe is worn with a sock, not by it, and wool is a material.

Practice 7 (antonym). Which word is most nearly the opposite of SCARCE? (a) rare (b) abundant (c) costly (d) hidden

Answer: (b) abundant. "Rare" is a synonym, which is the usual trap in antonym items: read the instruction word ("opposite" or "similar") every time.

Practice 8 (formal logic). No interns have budget authority. Some project leads are interns. The conclusion "Some project leads do not have budget authority" is: (a) true (b) false (c) uncertain

Answer: (a) true. The project leads who are interns cannot have budget authority, and the second statement says at least one such lead exists.

Practice 9 (formal logic). Every invoice from supplier K is checked twice. Invoice 214 was checked only once. The conclusion "Invoice 214 is not from supplier K" is: (a) true (b) false (c) uncertain

Answer: (a) true. If 214 were from K, it would have been checked twice. It was not, so it cannot be from K (modus tollens).

Practice 10 (five words, odd one out). Which word does not belong? OAK, MAPLE, BIRCH, TULIP, PINE

Answer: TULIP. The other four are trees; a tulip is a flower. Do not be distracted by "pine" also being a verb: odd-one-out items work on the most obvious shared category.

Abstract reasoning

Abstract items are shown as images. They are described in words here.

Practice 11 (visual series). Each frame shows three shapes in a row. Frame 1: circle, square, triangle. Frame 2: triangle, circle, square. Frame 3: square, triangle, circle. What is frame 4? (a) circle, square, triangle (b) triangle, square, circle (c) square, circle, triangle (d) circle, triangle, square

Answer: (a). Each step, the last shape jumps to the front (equivalently, every shape moves one place to the right and wraps around). From square, triangle, circle the circle moves to the front: circle, square, triangle, which is frame 1 again.

Practice 12 (common features). A: a square holding 2 black and 2 white dots. B: a circle holding 3 black and 3 white dots. C: a triangle holding 1 black and 1 white dot. D: a hexagon holding 4 black and 3 white dots. Which figure does not share the rule? (a) A (b) B (c) C (d) D

Answer: (d) D. In the others the black and white dots are equal in number. The outer shapes are all different, which is the distractor: they carry no rule.

Practice 13 (visual analogy). A large black circle with a small white square inside becomes a large white square with a small black circle inside. By the same rule, a large black triangle with a small white circle inside becomes: (a) a large white triangle with a small black circle inside (b) a large white circle with a small black triangle inside (c) a large black circle with a small white triangle inside (d) a small black triangle with no outer shape

Answer: (b). Two changes happen at once: the inner and outer shapes swap places, and both colors invert. Option (a) inverts the colors only, and (c) swaps the shapes only.

Traps and how to avoid them

• Spending 40 seconds on one item. At about 14 seconds per question, one stubborn item costs you two or three easy ones. If you cannot see the method within 10–15 seconds, guess and move on. PI scores only correct answers; prep sites report no penalty for wrong ones.
• Opposite versus similar. Antonym and synonym items look alike. The synonym is placed among the answers of antonym items on purpose.
• "Some" in logic items. "Some A are B" never lets you conclude anything about a particular A. Watch for "uncertain" as an option.
• Near-tie values. Comparison items put two values within a few thousandths of each other (0.375 and 0.38 in Practice 4). Convert everything to the same form before you choose.
• Two rules at once. Visual analogies often combine a position change with a color or rotation change. Check every attribute: shape, size, color, position, count.
• Hunting for a "right" Behavioral profile. There is none, and the interview guide is built from your pattern, so answer as you are.

How to prepare

Five days before (about 3 hours in total, cognitive test only).

1. Day 1 (30 minutes): do PI's official sample questions once under the clock. Note which category cost you the most time.
2. Days 2–3 (40 minutes each): drill the three numerical sub-types without a calculator: mental percentages (10%, 5%, 1%), fractions to decimals (1/8, 3/8, 7/20), number series with alternating operations, and short rate problems.
3. Day 4 (40 minutes): verbal and abstract: analogies (name the relationship first), antonyms, true / false / uncertain logic, visual series and odd-one-out.
4. Day 5 (30 minutes): two timed mixed sets of 50 items in 12 minutes. Practice the skip-and-return rhythm: one fast pass, then the skipped items.

Pace target. About 4 items per minute; bank seconds on series so you have time for word problems and logic.

Setup. A laptop or desktop, a quiet room, a stable connection, scratch paper (unless the start screen says otherwise) and no other windows open: PI states that the screen blurs when you leave the test. Do it in one sitting, because an abandoned attempt uses one of your three tries.

Accommodations. If you have a documented need, ask the employer before you start. PI offers 18- and 24-minute versions, scored on the same scale. PI says a medical professional, not PI or the employer, normally decides which accommodation is needed, and the rules vary by country.

The Behavioral Assessment needs no drilling. Read the two instructions carefully, set aside 10 quiet minutes and answer honestly.

Sources

• The Predictive Index, "Introduction to the PI Behavioral Assessment" (two questions, factors, M score, 17 reference profiles, six minutes)
• The Predictive Index, "Administering Multiple Behavioral Assessments" (retest once a year at most, stability)
• The Predictive Index, "Introduction to the PI Cognitive Assessment" (scoring, 100–450 scale, LOFT, extended time, cognitive targets, accommodations)
• The Predictive Index help center, "What is the PI Cognitive Assessment?" (50 items, 12 minutes, three attempts, subscores, 64 languages)
• The Predictive Index, PI Cognitive Assessment product page (three categories, 18/24-minute versions, anti-cheating measures)
• The Predictive Index, "The PI Cognitive Assessment Sample Questions"
• The Predictive Index, press release on assessments in over 70 languages (2016)
• Psychometric Success, "PI Cognitive Assessment" (third party: sub-types, 10 screens of 5, Back/Next, no calculator, average 20/50, senior 28+)
• JobTestPrep, "PI Cognitive Assessment" (third party: sub-types, former PLI name)
• iPrep, "PI Cognitive and Behavioral Practice Test" (third party: calculator rules set by the employer)

Scritto da

Adrian, Specialista

MSc Psicologia, 7 anni di test fatti.

Ultimo aggiornamento: Oct 1, 2026