# Assessing complex problem-solving skills in under 20 minutes ## Preambel This study was accepted for publication in *Psychological Test Adaptation and Development* (PTAD). The reference is: > Krieger, F.\*, Stadler\*, M., Bühner, M., Fischer, F., & Greiff, S. > (in press). Assessing complex problem-solving skills > in under 20 minutes. *Psychological Test Adaptation and Development*. (* shared first authorship) ## Study abstract Assessing complex problem-solving skills (CPS) is of great interest to many researchers. However, existing assessment instruments require long testing times making them difficult to include in many studies and experiments. In this paper, we propose a specific composition of microworlds based on the MicroDYN approach, which allows for a valid estimation of CPS in a substantially reduced amount of time (< 20 minutes). Based on the reanalysis of a sample of N = 234 university students that worked on eleven microworlds of increasing difficulty, we demonstrate that multiple sets of five microworlds show excellent factorial validity and relate to both conventional measures of intelligence and school grades as well as the full set. We hope that this will allow other researchers to include CPS into their study designs even when testing time is limited. ## Using the short scale We provide our proposed short scale for research purposes (see also Discussion of our article on implications and purposes of the use of the short scale). The **items** were build with CBA Item Builder (Rölke, 2012, see also [link](https://tba.dipf.de/en/infrastructure/software-development/cba-itembuilder?set_language=en)). If you want to change items, please consult the [senior author](mailto:samuel.greiff@uni.lu) of this study first and then the [Item Builder Support](mailto:ib-support@dipf.de). The **test** of the short version, containing five items, is provided via the Execution Envorinment (EE). The EE can be downloaded from this OSF repository. **Usage**: A guide on how to use it, is provided [here](https://osf.io/5grmj/wiki/How%20to%20use%20the%20short%20scale/). Please note that the version is for *local use* only on *Windows* machines. **Analyses**: A tool (MIT license) for extracting the data is provided [here](https://github.com/florian-krieger/CBA_xml-parser) along with a guide. ## Reference Rölke, H. (2012). *The ItemBuilder: A graphical authoring system for complex item development. E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education* (pp.344–353). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.