The Purdue Pegboard is a dexterity test to aid in the selection of employees for industrial jobs such as assembly, packing, operation of certain machines, and other manual jobs. It measures dexterity for two types of activity: one involving gross movements of hands, fingers, and arms, and the other involving primarily what might be called "fingertip" dexterity.

Five separate scores can be obtained with the Purdue Pegboard: (1) right hand; (2) left hand; (3) both hands; (4) right plus left plus both hands (R+L+B); and (5) assembly.

The Purdue Pegboard was standardized after extensive experimentation in numerous plants involving the testing of several thousand employees in a wide variety of industrial jobs. Dexterity tests, in both pegboard and other forms, have been in use for some time. The pegboard is equipped with pins, collars, and washers, which are located in four cups at the top of the board.

It can be administered to individuals or groups. It is timed as follows: right hand, 30 seconds; left hand, 30 seconds; both hands, 30 seconds; assembly, 1 minute. The entire testing period is about 10 minutes. It is hand scored.

Because of the non-verbal nature of the test, it can also be used by non-English language groups.