Cognitive Preference Survey

[kelstarrising]

One of the most useful assessment we've added to our toolbox is the "Cognitive Preference Survey" by OpenBook Learning. Some of you may have heard the In Conversation David did with the founder of OpenBook, Frank Sopper.

About Cognitive Preference:

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to get things right away, while others don't?

Why some people can talk endlessly while others have little to say?

Why some people are more voracious readers and some can't pick up a book?

Knowing the science behind all this can help you, not only understand yourself better, but others as well, as you navigate through the waters of life, education and work.

Through the OpenBook Cognitive Effectiveness Surveys, our clients get a window into their neuropreferences among the various processing systems our brains use to handle every day tasks and complex problems. The survey throws back the curtain on preferences and behaviors that have been misinterpreted as aptitudes, disabilities, and character flaws.

It's a survey we offer to all of our Workflow Coaching clients before we do a coaching session, so that we and they can have greater insights into how their brain processes information. All of the staff here at DAC also take this survey so that we know the styles of other staff. In GTD terms, I've found it super helpful to understand how I work and adjust more to my natural preferences.

The survey is now available online as a stand-alone survey you can take and I wanted to let GTD Connect members know about it. Learn more/take the survey. The survey is really affordable--just $48.88--and Frank gave us a coupon code for Connect members to take the survey for only $45, through July 31, 2012. Enter coupon code: ml5rwx

If you take it, please report back on any insights you gained. Would love to hear about your experience with this.

Kelly

 

[Barb]

Time?

Kelly, about how long does it take to complete the survey? It sounds very helpful but I wouldn't want to start something I don't have the time to finish.

 

[John Forrister]

Kelly, about how long does it take to complete the survey? It sounds very helpful but I wouldn't want to start something I don't have the time to finish.

Barb, I just wrote to Frank to ask what he says about how long it takes. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from him.

 

[Flyer]

Payment problems

Thank you for this! I really want to take the survey, the Frank Sopper interview is one of my absolute In Conversation favorites! However there´s no way I can get the payment through, I just get an error message to check the card details and invoicing address, have tried with several cards and they shouldn´t be the problem. Everything OK with the code?

 

[kelstarrising]

Sorry Flyer--I alerted OpenBook to this and am waiting for a reply.

One other person outside the US had payment problems, so I suspect it's something with payments from outside the US.

Kelly

 

[Barb]

Thanks, John

Barb, I just wrote to Frank to ask what he says about how long it takes. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from him.

Meanwhile, if anyone takes it please post the approx. time it takes...just for planning purposes, you know.

 

[enyonam]

Sorry Flyer--I alerted OpenBook to this and am waiting for a reply.

One other person outside the US had payment problems, so I suspect it's something with payments from outside the US.

Kelly

Very interesting and I'll be happy to give this a go once the non-US payment snaffu is sorted out.

 

[kelstarrising]

Frank Sopper said:

If they have problems, tell us what happened at info@openbooklearning.com and we’ll take care of it. Anyone can also contact me directly: fsopper@openbooklearning.com.

 

[DenaDahilig]

took it, loved it, bought the T-shirt

OK, that was all true except that last bit.

I took the survey about three months ago and I got so much out of it that the rest of my family decided to take it as well. I don't think it took any of us more than 15 minutes. I probably finished in half of that. The questions are very straight forward and there's no point in over-thinking any particular question... just go with your strongest initial thought and you're good to go.

The survey is inexpensive but the follow-up with Frank (not so inexpensive) was extremely valuable and I recommend it. I don't know if that's still available, but, again, it was very worthwhile. If you only do the survey without the follow-up, you will still receive an extensive written report... well worth the money.

I think it's important that people go into the survey without knowing too many details about the questions so that your answers are fresh, so please don't ask me about specifics. That said, if anyone who has taken the survey would like to be part of a thread to discuss it, I'd be happy to be a part of it.

Dena

 

[Flyer]

Took the survey!

Frank answered very quickly, the problem was about the payment system checking my address details so it probably has to do with the international purchase.

Barb: it didn´t take me much longer than 5 minutes, 10 at the most to answer the questions. I did it very quickly though, guided by my first intuitive answer in order to not get lost by trying to analyze things too much, when I do I know my answer to ANY question turns into "well, it depends... "

Reading and interpreting the results is a different story, it will take time, in my case easily well over an hour to get even the first idea of what all of this means and probably the rest of my life to find out how to put it in practice.

I must say that I found many comments in the report that describe me perfectly. And I laughed noticing that at first sight the report seemed like "too much text" to me - I turned out to be a quite low reader. Had it been an AUDIO report, I would be excited and busy listening to it right now.

I really recommend listening to Frank's In Conversation interview before the survey, for me it was an eye opener, or should I say "EAR opener" because it made me realize that I´m a strong auditive learner and that has helped enormously in understanding and remembering any new information. Just that has been worth the money I pay for my Connect membership - and of course it is just one of the insights I have found here. Now I´m very excited about getting more information on my learning styles from this survey.

It´s getting late here so it´s time to move a bit before getting to sleep, I know now why moving is so important to me. Looking forward to hearing about how others like the survey!

 

[TesTeq]

Reading...

Why some people are more voracious readers and some can't pick up a book?

And I laughed noticing that at first sight the report seemed like "too much text" to me - I turned out to be a quite low reader. Had it been an AUDIO report, I would be excited and busy listening to it right now.

Yes, it can be a problem for people that hate to read to struggle to read a long report to find that they hate to read...

 

[Flyer]

The funny thing is that I never thought - still don´t - that I´d hate to read. It´s just easier for me to understand and remember things that I hear. I love to read for pleasure, but reading something I really need to remember doesn´t seem to be my thing.

It´s great that Connect includes so many different types of material, audio, visual, text... something for everybody. I found GTD through Connect and only ordered the book later. If I had just picked it up at a bookstore I think I might have read it but would never have implemented it. Hearing about it made it click.

I guess I´m being repetitive and I feel like I can´t express in writing the kind of AHA moment it was back then to realize how much easier things are when I just know I like listening.

 

[John Forrister]

. . . the kind of AHA moment it was back then to realize how much easier things are when I just know I like listening.

Flyer, I really get the AHA from what you wrote. I have also heard similar AHAs from people whose brains are more activated when they're moving, how big a difference it makes to stand up in a meeting. The conference table is a business icon, but some of those people at the table would be smarter if they stood up and paced a little.

 

[Barb]

Depends?

Flyer, I really get the AHA from what you wrote. I have also heard similar AHAs from people whose brains are more activated when they're moving, how big a difference it makes to stand up in a meeting. The conference table is a business icon, but some of those people at the table would be smarter if they stood up and paced a little.

I have never been a good "sitter", particularly during long meetings. So I pace, if I can get away with it. I once got in big trouble for doing it.

Now that I own the place, so to speak, I pace and pace and PACE! I do it when I'm on the phone, particularly. Sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it and find myself almost out of headset range before I realize it!

I really love that you provide a phone audio option for your webinars...because I'm all over my backyard while the webinar is going on. Then the speaker will say something I want to write down and I have to scurry over to the patio and pick up my notebook to write it down!

 

[John Forrister]

Barb, I just wrote to Frank to ask what he says about how long it takes. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from him.

Some of you have already posted that taking the Cognitive Preference Survey is quick. Here's Frank from Open Book Learning confirming that: "We say a maximum of 15 minutes. We encourage people to take it reflexively and not overthink it."

 

[larea]

I took the test and really enjoyed reading the report. So here's what I got:

Associative Thinking vs Sequential: 73% Associative
Listener Preference: 20% (send me an email please!)
Mover Preference: 55%
Observer Preference: 75%
Reader Preference: 57% (I think I answered something wrong and this is really 97%. If there is a cereal box I'm going to read it. I could ace an exam while driving of the last 20 road signs. Etc etc)
Talker Preference: 62% (sorry!)

I thought this was really interesting and worth the entry price.

 

[John Forrister]

. . . . If there is a cereal box I'm going to read it. . . .

Me too! I have high preferences for reading and listening. Sometimes they even compete. Have you ever seen wallpaper that's meant to look like pages from a newspaper, usually an old newspaper? OK, my idea of stress would be that newspapered room, with four other people. The four people are in two groups of two, in opposite corners. I'm in the middle. The two pairs are both having fascinating conversations about subjects that interest me. My listening would ping-pong between the two conversations, while my reading would be hooked on the wallpaper.

Knowing my cognitive preferences has helped me to reduce stress, even when the situation isn't as extreme and absurd as the one I described.

 

[Barb]

Wallpaper

Me too! I have high preferences for reading and listening. Sometimes they even compete. Have you ever seen wallpaper that's meant to look like pages from a newspaper, usually an old newspaper? OK, my idea of stress would be that newspapered room, with four other people. The four people are in two groups of two, in opposite corners. I'm in the middle. The two pairs are both having fascinating conversations about subjects that interest me. My listening would ping-pong between the two conversations, while my reading would be hooked on the wallpaper.

Knowing my cognitive preferences has helped me to reduce stress, even when the situation isn't as extreme and absurd as the one I described.

John, it's so funny that you mention wallpaper. One of our bathrooms once had what appeared to be cursive words written on it, possibly related to architecture. Whenever I was in there (ahem), I'd spend my time trying to decipher what the words said, ceiling to floor. Much of it I couldn't figure out and it drove me so crazy eventually I pulled it off and textured the walls.

 

[Oogiem]

SOme surprises for me

I took the test but am just getting around to reading/interpreting results.

I came out 58% associative 42% sequential
This made sense to me as I much prefer to explore ideas before getting down to the how to do them.

80% listener
This surprised me a lot. OTOH I cannot work if there is any noise at all. Neither can my husband. We can go for several hours with nothing but key clicks and the hum of computer fans. I can identify about 1/3 of the sheep by their baa's and can pinpoint where animals are by the sounds. I cannot drive and talk much at the same time and even music has to be carefully selected or I can't drive.

62% Mover
This also was quite surprising. I would have guessed that I am not a mover as I sure don't like to pace in a meeting or anything overt. However, I tend to fidget a lot and for example whenever I watch TV I am always spinning, I knit at the pub and I enjoy creating things that require movement (weaving, quilting, spinning, knitting etc).

40% Observer
Not too surprising although I would have expected me to be much further along the low observer space than I was. I much prefer text and often can't read body language well at all.

78% Reader
No surprise there at all. Except I almost expected it to be even higher. ;-) I love to read and enjoy it/ I've found that recently I am much calmer and sleep better if I've spent at least 15-20 minutes reading on my kindle before I go to bed. Reading on the computer or the iPad is not as calming (emissive display vs reflective) and paper is midway between the two.

41% Talker
Not too surprising to me, I do a lot of speeches (farm tours and so on) but I have to work hard at it and I OFTEN think of exactly what I should have said hours or days after the event.

 

[jireland]

Low Reader Suggestions

Hi everyone,

I have a fairly low (39) Reader score, which I'll admit was a relief to hear. I LOVE to read, and can easily read a book cover-to-cover on a cross-country flight. What Frank has shared is that "low readers" don't get the neurological boost from decoding; that the boost comes purely from the content (I love larea's reference to reading the cereal box) . The book that Frank often recommends is Pierre Bayard's book: "How To Talk About Books You Haven't Read". Really fascinating stuff!

Take good care,
Julie