Moving Intelligence Measurement Online: Adaptation and Validation of the Polish Version of the Pathfinder General Cognitive Ability Test

Abstract

Online measurement is on the rise in every subdiscipline of the major social sciences, such as psychology, sociology or educational studies. This trend may stem from the numerous advantages offered by this mode of data collection, including the facts that it is cost-efficient and enables the collection of large and diversified samples quickly. However, online studies have their own requirements, and one of them is having measurement tools available that have been adapted for online assessment in terms of their design, length, and attractiveness and are as valid and reliable as their traditional counterparts. These new needs in intelligence research were recently addressed by the creation of Pathfinder, a novel online, gamified, psychometrically sound general cognitive ability (g-score) measure. In this article, we aimed to offer further validation for and proof of concept of Pathfinder by presenting the results of its first language adaptation. The results of our adaptation showed that the Polish version of Pathfinder is a reliable and valid measurement tool suited for several research conditions. They therefore supported the applicability of Pathfinder for different linguistic and cultural contexts.