Uchida-Kraepelin Performance Test — Reveals Ability and Personality / Behavioral Characteristics, illustrated with two working curves.
Uchida-Kraepelin Test Insights

The Uchida-Kraepelin Test and Digital Trans­formation (DX)

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Using DX to work with human characteristics

The Uchida-Kraepelin Test is particularly well suited to working with people’s ability characteristics and personality/behavioral characteristics in digital transformation (DX).

What is DX?

Digital transformation refers to the idea that the spread of IT changes people’s lives for the better in every aspect. The concept is generally attributed to Professor Erik Stolterman of Umeå University in Sweden in 2004, and is commonly abbreviated as DX.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry describes DX in its DX Promotion Guidelines as follows (paraphrased):

Businesses respond to rapid changes in their environment by using data and digital technologies to transform products, services and business models around customer and societal needs, while also transforming operations, organizations, processes and corporate culture to establish competitive advantage.

The Uchida-Kraepelin Test and DX

Because the Uchida-Kraepelin Test is taken with paper and pencil, it may seem unrelated to digital technology.
Yet its distinctive method consists solely of an addition task, producing data such as work volume and errors for each minute. In this sense, it is digital by nature.
The graphs and text in the Judgment report simply visualize digital data so that people can read it easily.

Uchida-Kraepelin Test: digitize ability and behavioral characteristics; Big data
Uchida-Kraepelin Test: digitize ability and behavioral characteristics

Uchida-Kraepelin Test: digitize ability and behavioral characteristics
↓
Raw test results

Big data
↔ Compare with clinical data
↓ Develop and update Judgment models
Judgment results from different models

  • Job fit: hiring Judgment, placement and transfers
  • Safety management: accident prevention and licensing systems
  • Education and training: educational planning, further-study advice, social education and career support
  • Mental health: emotional well-being, health assessment and return-to-work support

The test mainly yields two types of data:

  1. Raw test data, including work volume and errors for each minute, and age
  2. Judgment result data obtained by passing raw data through a Judgment model

A Judgment model is a function derived by comparing raw test data with clinical data—such as typical work behavior, learning style, compatibility with particular duties, accidents and health. Models are continually updated to remain suited to purposes that change over time.

The CSV file supplied with the Uchida-Kraepelin cloud Judgment service contains the results generated by applying a particular model to raw data.

If an appropriate model already exists, its Judgment results can be used. If not, AI can analyze relationships between clinical data and raw data or existing Judgment results to help develop a new model.

Consider the Uchida-Kraepelin Test as a resource for your DX initiatives.

A DX proposal: using the test to help reduce road accidents

SDG 3, concerning health and well-being for all, includes target 3.6 on halving deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents. Its original deadline was 2020. Among the many possible road-safety approaches, let us consider an application of the Uchida-Kraepelin Test.

To assess its usefulness, we must examine whether ability and personality/behavioral characteristics correlate with accidents. The original article reports different distributions of these characteristics when comparing people who had caused a serious accident with people who had never caused one.

Using actual data and a provisional Judgment criterion intended to distinguish lower- and higher-risk tendencies, each population was divided into Groups A and B as shown below.

Accident group Accident-free group
Group A 38% 76%
Group B 62% 24%
Total 100% 100%

The groups cannot separate all accident-involved people from accident-free people. In this comparison, however, Group A has the lower accident-related tendency.

What would happen to the illustrative accident rate if Group B did not drive? The 2021 Japanese article uses an annual accident probability of about 1%. Applying that assumption to a population of 10,000 gives the following table.

Accident group Accident-free group
Group A 38 7524
Group B 62 2376
Total 100 (1%) 9900 (99%)

The original article calculates:
Group A: 38 ÷ 7524 ≈ 0.5%
Group B: 62 ÷ 2376 ≈ 2.6%
In this illustration, the Group B figure is more than five times the Group A figure. If Group B did not drive, the rate among the remaining drivers would be about 0.5% rather than the assumed 1%—approximately half. See the calculation note below for the correct within-group denominators.
However, withholding driving licenses from Group B would also exclude 2,376 people without an accident, making that approach unrealistic.
This is where information technology might help: the article proposes prioritizing Group B when encouraging a switch to Advanced Safety Vehicles (ASVs) or automated vehicles, with the aim of achieving a similar safety benefit.

The original article describes Japan as having relatively few traffic accidents internationally and suggests further potential in countries with less-developed licensing systems or traffic rules. These are the article’s proposals, not verified effects in every country.
Health and well-being for all.

Notes on the original example and calculations

This translation retains the tables and example from the Japanese article published on 9 July 2021. The 1% annual rate is an assumption used in that example, not a current national statistic. SDG target 3.6 had a 2020 deadline. The original formulas divide accidents by accident-free people; proportions within each complete group are 38/(38+7524) ≈ 0.50% and 62/(62+2376) ≈ 2.54%. The comparison is illustrative, not proof of causation, validated individual risk prediction, or a guaranteed reduction from the test, ASVs or automated driving. Applying a model in another population requires validation. Do not make hiring, licensing or other eligibility decisions on this test alone.

SDG 3.6 — United Nations


To arrange the Uchida-Kraepelin Test, a work-based aptitude and personality test that can be used in the same way in Japan and overseas, please contact your nearest distributor in your country or region.

Distributors in East Asia

  • South Korea
    • Korea Management Association
      • Main areas served: Seoul, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju, Jeju
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Management consulting
      • Languages supported: Korean
  • Mainland China
    • Shanghai Oracle Bay Enterprise Group, Co., Ltd.
      • Main areas served: Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yancheng, Nantong, Nanning, Ningbo, Bengbu, Xining, Yinchuan
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Human resource development
      • Languages supported: Chinese
    • NINGBO NAPU TRADE CO., LTD.
      • Main areas served: Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dongguan
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Manufacturing consulting, Fabless manufacturing
      • Languages supported: Chinese, Japanese
  • Hong Kong
    • N-ERVE TECHNOLOGY
      • Main areas served: Hong Kong
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Manufacturing consulting, Fabless manufacturing, Recruitment
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Chinese
  • Taiwan
    • Pasona Taiwan
      • Main areas served: Taipei, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: HR consulting, Human resource development, Recruitment
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Chinese

Distributors in Southeast Asia

  • Thailand
    • Krung Asia Insight
      • Main areas served: Bangkok, nationwide Thailand
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Thailand market entry consulting
      • Languages supported: Thai, Japanese
    • Waguri
      • Main areas served: Bangkok, Chon Buri, Rayong, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, Lamphun
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: HR consulting
      • Languages supported: Japanese
    • Pasona HR Consulting Recruitment (Thailand)
      • Main areas served: Bangkok
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, HR consulting
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Thai
    • TRAINING AND SEMINAR KOTSUKOTSU
      • Main areas served: Bangkok
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Human resource development, Recruitment
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Thai
  • Vietnam
    • Kosaido HR Vietnam
      • Main areas served: Hanoi (on-site visits available for Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and other locations)
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, Human resource development, Vietnam market entry consulting
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Vietnamese
    • Success Partner
      • Main areas served: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Organizational development
      • Languages supported: Vietnamese
  • Myanmar
    • J-SAT CONSULTING
      • Main areas served: Yangon, Mandalay
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, Myanmar market entry consulting, Japanese language education
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Burmese
  • Cambodia
    • Creative Diamond Links
      • Main areas served: Phnom Penh
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Khmer
  • Malaysia
    • Pasona HR MALAYSIA
      • Main areas served: Kuala Lumpur
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Malay, English
  • Laos
    • Lao-Japan Gateway
      • Main areas served: Vientiane
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Cybozu Kintone, Laos market entry consulting
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Lao
  • Indonesia
    • Bruggen Batavia Indonesia
      • Main areas served: Jakarta, Bekasi
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: HR consulting, Legal consulting, Visa consulting
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Indonesian, English
    • Japan Asia Consultants
      • Main areas served: Jakarta, Bekasi
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Indonesia market entry and company incorporation, Accounting and bookkeeping, Tax services, Labor affairs, Legal services, Visa services
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Indonesian, English
  • Philippines
    • One World Human Resources Development
      • Main areas served: Manila, Quezon
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Japanese language education, Human resource development
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Tagalog, English
  • Singapore
    • Pasona Singapore
      • Main areas served: Singapore
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment, HR consulting
      • Languages supported: English

Distributors in South Asia

  • India
    • Pasona India
      • Main areas served: Delhi, Gurugram, Chennai, Bengaluru
      • Other services available alongside the Uchida-Kraepelin Test: Recruitment
      • Languages supported: Japanese, Hindi, English

If you cannot find a nearby distributor or would like to arrange testing in multiple regions, please contact us using the contact form.