What is the difference between aptitude and ability tests




















Abstract Reasoning : The ability to understand ideas that are presented without using words or numbers. Tests of abstract reasoning present problems in terms of size, shape, position, or quantity using pictures, shapes, patterns, or some other nonverbal, non-numerical form.

Scales measuring spatial aptitude measure one aspect of this ability. Comprehension : The ability to use deductive reasoning and, to a lesser extent, inductive reasoning to derive solutions for socially relevant problems and issues. Other scales measuring aspects of this aptitude are titled Absurdities and Similarities. In a sense motor skills represent the output function of human ability. Understanding and problem solving occur unobserved inside the human brain, but the product of that mental activity is expressed either in words or through some physical activity.

Many motor skills tests require people to use their cognitive skills prior to making some physical response. For example, tests of clerical speed and accuracy i. Other examples include block design i. The following three tests provide purer assessments of motor skills. The tasks they require people to perform are simple and do not require cognitive skill to understand.

Motor Coordination : The ability to coordinate the eyes and the hands or fingers in quick, precise, accurate movements. Tests of motor coordination present people with a page of small boxes and require them to make a mark in as many boxes as possible within a brief designated time.

Finger Dexterity : The ability to make small, rapid, and accurate movements with the fingers such as in typing and to move small objects quickly and accurately such as in assembling two or more objects. Tests of finger dexterity require people to assemble simple objects such as putting a washer on a rivet and to disassemble objects such as taking washers off of rivets and returning the washers and rivets to their storage location.

Manual Dexterity : The ability to make coordinated movements with the hands quickly and skillfully. Tests of manual dexterity require people to place objects in designated positions or to turn objects from one position to a designated position.

Composite scores are scores obtained by combining the scores obtained on two or more tests. Often, test scores are interpreted both in terms of their meaning as a stand-alone score and as part of a composite. The concept of intelligence is probably the best-known composite. Many intelligence tests yield three composite scores: a verbal intelligence, a performance intelligence, and an overall or full-scale intelligence score. Another way to conceptualize intelligence is in terms of the mental processes that form the basis of cognitive behavior.

This perspective suggests that intellectual behavior involves understanding, organizing, thinking, and remembering. Important composite scores obtained from tests of cognitive ability that reflect this view of intelligence are verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, processing speed, and working memory.

Verbal Intelligence : Obtained by combining scores on measures of verbal, numerical, and spatial aptitude. This composite is heavily influenced by verbal skills. Performance Intelligence : Obtained by combining scores on measures that require both abstract reasoning and the manipulation of objects such as blocks, beads, pictures, or puzzle pieces. This composite provides a measure of abstract reasoning ability that relies less heavily on the use of words and verbal skills. The ability to understand nonverbal material figures more prominently in this composite.

Intelligence : Obtained by combining scores on verbal intelligence and performance intelligence. It is obtained by combining scores on measures that assess vocabulary, general information, and the ability to work with ambiguous information to solve problems when presented in verbal form.

It is obtained by combining scores on measures that require the individual to work with pictures, blocks, or matrices. Processing Speed : This composite provides information about the speed with which the person can work with abstract symbols. It is obtained by combining scores on tests that assess the ability to work with abstract symbols that do not have any readily accessible verbal meaning. It is obtained by combining scores on tests that require the individual to remember patterns formed by pictures of beads, numbers, and letters.

The development of the psychological test is one of the most important and enduring contributions of psychology to civilization. Indeed, noted psychologists Rene V. Dawis and David Lubinski regard psychological tests as serving the same function for psychologists that the microscope and telescope serve for microbiologists and astronomers.

Tests provide psychologists with the ability to see phenomena that would otherwise be invisible. Many of the enriching benefits psychology has contributed to modern day society would not have been possible without the use of psychological tests.

Before we go onto discuss what exactly personality is, it might be useful to just consider what personality is not. Personality is not the same thing as motivation which is goal directed behaviour designed to satisfy needs, interests and aspirations. Motivation is related to personality in that while personality may represent the way we behave, motivation represents the why. Exactly how the underlying motives of behaviour are conceptualised depends very much on the school of thought to which one belongs, for instance a humanist might see the motivation behind behaviour as coming from a desire to achieve ones full potential whereas a psychoanalyst might look for unconscious motivations to do with unfulfilled sexual needs.

Personality is not the same thing as culture which is the values, attitudes and beliefs we share with others about the nature of the world.

Personality is not the same thing as ability usually held to be synonymous with intelligence which is the ability to identify, understand and absorb the different components of a problem. Then to identify the way they are related to each other and the logical consequence of these relationships to work out the next step. We can define personality as - those relatively stable and enduring aspects of an individual which distinguishes them from other people, making them unique, but which at the same time permit a comparison between individuals.

It is more useful to view personality not as something we have but rather as having to do with how we relate to the world, this is something which is rendered explicit in Goodstein and Lanyon's definition of personality as being - the enduring characteristics of the person that are significant for interpersonal behaviour.

These approaches to personality are theoretically very different and such a diversity of different theories exist because personality is a hypothetical construct which can never be directly observed but only inferred from behaviour. Jump to Navigation. Home Contact News Find a job Find an internship.

Search form Search. What is Psychometric Testing? Aptitude testing There is no widely accepted definition of the difference between ability and aptitude. Personality profiling Personality is a term which is commonly used in everyday language but which has been given a particular technical meaning by psychologists.

The home environment and school environment should unearth these potentials within the individual. Because if it is not brought and trained, it lies dormant and unused. Aptitudes have to be trained and honed by training to become an ability.

This is where scientific tools like Psychometric testing can be of immense value. It is an unbiased evaluation method wherein it can not only identify the various aptitudes within an individual but it can also accurately measure the levels of each aptitude present.

But a word of caution is that it is a scientific process and there is a prescribed methodology for administering the test. You cannot do it chatting over a cup of coffee or in a noisy place where there are other distractions. Primarily check if the individual administering the test is a trained professional and secondly the test should be a standardised test.

Aptitude tests are generally time bound. The logic being that if you are really good at something you should be able to do it naturally and quicker than a person whose aptitude in that area is lower. And the analysis and interpretation of the test results should be done by a trained psychometrist. Else it can do more harm than good. A good psychometric test can measure an individuals aptitudes in different areas and the levels it is available in each area. It is very important that a persons aptitude is in alignment with the requirements of his career.

Because this is one of the factors which very strongly determine a persons ability to perform on a job. On the other hand if I have the required aptitude then even with a little training I can perform excellently. Every set of jobs requires a set of different aptitudes. For example, to be an lawyer you need to be good at analytical thinking Reasoning Aptitude , Good with language because you have to argue the case in court using language and prepare legal documents this requires Verbal Apttiude , and also most important you need to able to think differently, look at the situation from a totally different angle which nobody else has thought about and break open the case this is indicated by a high Spatial Aptitude.

So every job requires one or more aptitudes in different levels. As we discuss each career in our further issues the different aptitudes will be discussed in detail according to the requirements of the job.

So to conclude it is very important to assess what are the aptitudes an individual is good at and align it with the right career. Only interest in a particular job is not enough, one should have the required aptitude also.

We have looked at Interest and Aptitude, are these two factors enough. Certainly not, there is another equally important factor which can contribute to a persons success or failure in the chosen career. We will look at that now All rights reserved Contact us. Articles Pradhan urges students to focus on holistic growth.. Study Abroad Higher education in UK!

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