Assessment of Aptitude

1. Assessment of Aptitude Group 4: Monica Soto-Teran, Angela Barraza, Anne-Laure Bourgois

2. Definitions • Aptitude: • an innate or acquired ability to be good at something • one’s “potential” capabilities • Do not confuse with ability which refers to the “present day” capabilities • Aptitude test: • Also referred as prognostic test

3. Origin • Originally designed to augment intelligence tests • Intelligence tests tended to emphasize general capacity • Led to construction of aptitude tests that targeted more concrete or practical abilities • Designed for career counseling and placement of industrial/ military personnel

4. Purpose of Aptitude Test • Measures an individual’s capacity or potential for performing a given skill or task • Used to predict behavior: what the person is capable of doing in the future

5. What does it measure? A. acquired knowledge (from instruction) B. innate ability in order to determine one’s potential • Some aptitude tests are batteries that cover a number of aptitudes and others focus on a specialized area

6. Importance of Predictive Validity • Measures must have evidence of predictive validity because they attempt to determine how someone will do in the future on the basis of test results • Because of the “future” orientation, it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY that the score on the test predicts scores on some criterion measure.

7. Multiple-Aptitude Test Batteries .

8. Multiple-Aptitude Test Batteries • Subtests assess several aptitudes at one time • Been used in business, industry, and military • Not a single score, subtest scores for each aptitude tested • Permit intra-individual score comparisons - highs and lows of an individual

9. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery • Most widely used aptitude test battery • Developed in 1968 by the U.S. Department of Defense • Norm-referenced • Measures aptitudes for general academic areas and career areas • Composed of: • Test • Career exploration “Find your interest” – based on Holland’s theory of choice

10. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery

11. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery

12. Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery • To use it in your school: http://www.asvabprogram.com/downloads/asvab_counselor_manual.pdf

13. Differential Aptitude Tests for Personnel and Career Assessment – DAT for PCA • Measure the individual’s ability to succeed in different areas • Used for educational/ career counseling and employee selection • The DAT provides scores for 8 subcategories: • Verbal reasoning, numerical ability, abstract reasoning, clerical speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling and language usage

14. Multiple-Aptitude Test Batteries • General Aptitude Test Battery - GATB • One of the oldest still used today • Used for employment in government and private organizations • 12 separate subtests • Pencil paper format • Career Ability Placement Survey – CAPS • Designed to measure vocationally relevant abilities • 8 separate subtests • Computerized

15. Specialized Aptitude Tests .

16. Specialized Aptitude Tests Measure a single aptitude

17. Specialized Aptitude Tests Most commonly tested aptitudes: • Mechanical • Clerical • Musical • Artistic • Psychomotor

18. Clerical Ability • Measures skills needed for office and clerical work • Related activities: calculation, checking, coding, filing, keyboarding, numerical ability, verbal reasoning • Examples of instruments: • General Clerical Test-Revised (GCT-R) • Minnesota Clerical Test (MCT) • Clerical Abilities Battery (CAB)

19. Mechanical Ability • Related activities: familiarity with everyday physical objects, tools, devices, home repairs, and spatial reasoning • Examples of instruments: • Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test (BMCT) • Mechanical Aptitude Test (MAT 3-C) • Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude (WTMA)

20. Sample items

21. Artistic Ability • Ability to draw, paint or appreciate art • Difficult to determine (personal and cultural subjectivity) • Most tests are old and no longer commercially available • Examples of instruments: • Meier Art Judgment Test: measure ability to discern between better and worse artistic works.

22. Musical Ability • Assess skills such as capacity to discriminate pitch, loudness, tempo, timbre, rhythm • Poor validity and reliability • Examples of instruments: • Seashore Measures of Musical Talents

23. Psychomotor Ability • Refers to the ability to perform body motor movements with precision, coordination or strength. • Examples: arm-hand steadiness, finger dexterity, manual dexterity, static strength, visual motor skills • Example of instrument: • Bennett hand tool dexterity test • Purdue Pegboard Test • BruininksOseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency

24. Bennett Hand Tool Dexterity Test

25. Purdue Pegboard Test

26. Admission Tests

27. Admission Tests • A form of aptitude test sometimes referred to as entrance exam or academic ability tests • Designed to predict performance in a particular educational program • Many times will assess some combination of verbal, quantitative, writing, and analytical reasoning skills or discipline specific knowledge

28. Concerns about Admission Tests • Average test scores do not tend to differ by race or ethnic group, but to tend to under predict the performance of women in college settings (Kuncel & Hezlett, 2007). • Potential bias against certain groups, including racial, ethnic and gender groups

29. Scholastic Achievement Test - SAT • Formally known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the Scholastic Achievement Test, the SAT is published by the College Board. http://sat.collegeboard.org/about-tests/sat • Taken usually by college bound high school students • https://satonlinecourse.collegeboard.com/SR/digital_assets/assessment/pdf/F4D31AB0-66B4-CE32-00F7-F5405701F413-F.pdf

30. SAT: Two types • Reasoning Test • Assesses critical thinking skills broken into three sections: • Mathematics, critical reading, and writing Time frame: 3 hours 45 minutes, incl. a 25 min. experimental section. Multiple choice, student produced responses (grid-ins, and a student produced essay) • Subject Test • designed to test measure knowledge in specific subject areas • subject test used for admission and course placement or to advise students

31. SAT: Scores • SAT Score Range: 200 to 800 with a mean of 500 and a SD of 100

32. ACT • A comprehensive system for collecting and reporting information about students planning to enter college/ university

33. ACT: Four Components • Tests of Educational Development: • Multiple choice test designed to assess general educational development and ability to complete college level work • Course /Grade Information Section: • 30 self reported high school grades in the areas of English, Math, Natural Sciences, Social Studies, Language and the Arts • Student Profile Section: • Student information to include educational plans/goals, interest, needs, demographic background, factors influencing college choices • UNIACT Interest Inventory • 72 item survey that provides six scores that parallel John Holland’s 6 interest and occupational types

34. Graduate Record Examination- GRE • Two areas Assessed:  • General Test: Measure Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Critical thinking, and Analytical Writing Skills • Subject Test: 8 Specific Fields of Study (Biochemistry Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, English Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology  • Paper Format and Computer Based Format (adaptive)

35. Miller Analogies Test - MAT • 50 item, group administered test with 100 multiple choice analogy items Content for the analogies comes from:  • Literature • Social Sciences • Chemistry • Physics • Mathematics • General Information

36. Other Widely Used Admissions Test: •  LSAT - (Law School Admissions Test) • MCAT - (Medical College Admissions Test) • GMAT - (Graduate Management Admissions Test)

37. Readiness Tests

38. Readiness Tests • Known as a form of aptitude test used to predict success when a child enters school • Specific to young children • Similar to admissions test in that they measure current knowledge and skills with the intent to forecast future academic performance.

39. Readiness Tests • Readiness Test may measure the following Domains: • Physical- to focus on impairments in sensory, motor skills, illness or medical conditions • Social/ Emotional- to assess age appropriate social skills, psychological well-being, self-perceptions and interpersonal skills • Learning- attention, curiosity and enthusiasm for learning • Language- verbal/ non-verbal communication, and early literacy skills • Cognition/ General Knowledge- problem solving, abstract reasoning, early math skills and overall fundamentals of knowledge ..\..\..\sample_mathtest1.pdf