The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests
Ability is a very general term which can be applied to many different types of specific ability. There are, in fact, over 50 different human abilities, although these fall within the following four main categories: 1. Cognitive reasoning ^ verbal, numerical, abstract, perceptual, spatial, mechanical. A very broad and general definition of the word ‘cognition’ is: knowing, perceiving and thinking. It is studied by psychologists because it reveals the extent of a person’s ability to think. 2. Psychomotor ^ eye and hand coordination. 3. Sensory ^ hearing, touch, sense, smell, sight. 4. Physical ^ stamina and strength. There are nine different types of aptitude, which may be summarised as follows: 1. General learning ^ learn and understand, reason and make judgements, e.g. how well we achieve at school. 2. Verbal aptitude ^ general lexical skills; understanding words and using them effectively. 3. Numerical aptitude ^ general mathematical skills; working with numbers quickly and accurately. 4. Spatial aptitude ^ understanding geometric forms; the understanding and identification of patterns and their meaning, e.g. understanding how to construct a flat-pack piece of furniture from a set of instructions. 5. Form perception ^ studying and perceiving details in objects and=or graphic material. Making visual comparisons between shapes, e.g. inspecting an object under a microscope in a laboratory; quality inspection of goods in a factory. 6. Clerical perception ^ reading, analysing and obtaining details from written data or tabulated material, e.g. proof reading, analysing reports. 7. Motor coordination ^ eye and hand coordination. Making rapid movement response quickly and accurately, e.g. actually being 26