Inspection time (IT) has been intensively investigated as an experimental correlate of IQ, but relatively few attempts have been made to analyse its cognitive content. Many writers have ignored the cautions expressed by the originators of IT and have treated it as the measure of a common. noncognitive or minimally cognitive, precursor to cognitive activity. An alternative concept of IT is offered which indexes the time taken for the processing required by specific experimental tasks. According to this view, correlations with cognitive ability measures are strongly influenced by the specific overlap ping content of the experimental task and the ability test. Rather than a fixed quantity that reflects the efficiency of the nervous system. IT can be seen as a suitable tool for analysing the cognitive content of different experimental tasks. This altemative view was tested in an experiment that varied the cognitive load of experimental tasks within an IT procedure, and that related verbal and nonverbal measures of IT to verbal and nonverbal ability measures. The results of the experiment supported the alternative view.