A. What is Aptitude ?

*Read the information carefully and in case of any difficulty, contact your teacher or the facilitator.

Aptitude is a natural tendency, special ability, or capacity or cluster of abilities. Aptitude is an inborn tendency but the environment also plays a significant role in the development of aptitude. This natural tendency determines a person’s readiness to learn or acquire a skill or their suitability to pursue a particular career or vocation. Aptitude is one specific ability or a combination of specific abilities such as verbal reasoning, numerical aptitude, abstract reasoning, etc. which helps to make educational and vocational choices. It helps the person to decipher the career option that is best suited to their capabilities. Knowledge of aptitude helps a person to make best choices about career-related decisions. Students with the help of this aptitude test can look forward to career guidance and counselling.

Since aptitude is a special ability required to study or do a job, it indicates the probability of performing well in a particular course of study or occupation/vocation and also indicates the extent to which the person would derive benefit by training in a particular vocational area. Different occupations need different sets of abilities. For example, to be a successful architect one requires a set of abilities such as keen sense of observation, a sense of visual memory, ability to sketch free hand, etc. A student having these sets of abilities is at an advantage and is likely to perform well in this occupation.

An individual's performance of a task depends on intrinsic factors such as personality characteristics, motivation, ability, etc., and on extrinsic factors such as cultural exposures, environment stimulation, family environment, quality of education, etc. For example, a person, who has the ability to be an engineer, may not be able to explore this occupation and may not get appropriate training in the same field due to lack of support from the school and home environment. As a result, despite having the aptitude the person may not get a supportive environment or proper training in that area.

B. How Information about Aptitude is Useful for Students

Self-awareness of one's aptitude is essential. It facilitates students to get motivated and take appropriate steps in strengthening their specific abilities. When the result of the aptitude test of a student is seen vis-a-vis the achievement records in a discipline, it may help the student to seek curricular guidance. The aptitude test result also encourages students to explore career pathways and occupations. This helps to broaden their horizon about the world of work and also encourages students to open up to new avenues of occupation/vocations (which they and their family may not be aware about).

Aptitude test results help students to revalidate their choices and thus make suitable decisions to continue or change their educational choice. A relook at their occupational aspirations or goals in relation to their specific aptitudes helps to review the efforts being made by them to achieve such goals.

Aptitude test results may help students to:

• Understand and make subject choices in relation to the identified special abilities.
• Explore career pathways related specifically to areas in which they have high aptitudes.
• Reaffirm their aptitude and explore if they want to continue with their chosen course of study or seek alternatives.
• Relook at their occupational aspirations/goals in line with their specific aptitude and review their efforts to achieve desired academic and occupational goals

C. Seeking Guidance and Counselling on the basis of Aptitude Test

Information about aptitude is useful for students in seeking academic and/or career guidance. It is to be used keeping in view the students' needs and their stage of education. The information about a student's strengths and limitations would also help parents, teachers and the school administrators to extend support to the student while making such decisions.

1. Language Aptitude (LA)

Language aptitude is concerned with a person's ability to use and understand written language. This sub-test, assesses how well a student understands English words and their synonyms, spells words correctly and identifies the correct meaning of the given proverbs or idioms. This aptitude is prominently useful for success in educational and vocational related performances. Language aptitude is more relevant for courses and occupations and vocations involving more of reading and writing, such as, teaching, journalism and media studies, advertising, law, library science, stenography, business development, etc.

2. Abstract Reasoning (AR)

Abstract reasoning refers to a person's ability for logical and analytical thinking. This sub-test is non-verbal and it assesses how well students can reason and logically relate geometric shapes or designs. In this sub-test, a set of figures are given in a certain sequence and students are required to infer the next figure in the series.

Abstract reasoning is important for courses and occupations and vocations concerned with mathematics, computer programming, architecture, law, medicine, economics, mechanics, forensic science, etc.

3. Verbal Reasoning (VR)

Verbal reasoning is the ability to understand and reason using concepts expressed in words. It evaluates a student's ability to think constructively with words. In this sub-test, verbal reasoning is assessed by the ability to understand concepts and relationships that are underlying a word pair and then finding the missing word in a pair with similar concepts and relationships.

Verbal reasoning has been found to be relevant for courses and occupations like psychology, speech therapy, auctioneering, advertising, linguistics, business, law, education, public relations, marketing, journalism, etc.

4. Mechanical Reasoning (MR)

Mechanical reasoning refers to a person's ability to understand and apply mechanical concepts and principles to solve problems. In this sub-test, mechanical reasoning is assessed by items covering the areas of acceleration, pressure, energy transformation, work and power, levers, pulleys, screws, springs, tools, etc.

Mechanical reasoning ability has been found to be important for success in courses and occupations or vocations concerned with machinery, electrical, civil and automobile engineering, carpentry, electrician, machine operator, physics, chemistry, etc.

5. Numerical Reasoning (NA)

Numerical aptitude refers to understanding numerical relationships and applying the same to the issue or problem. It is related to a student's ability to do mathematical operations quickly and accurately. This sub-test assesses how well a student is able to solve problems covering four primary arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. At the same time, it also covers areas like ratio, percentage, square and square root, cube and cube root, number sequence, factorization, linear equation, work and speed, etc. Numerical aptitude is relevant for success in courses and occupations related to all types of engineering, architecture, oceanography, geology, meteorology, biosciences, health sciences and of course statistics and natural sciences.

6. Spatial Aptitude (SA)

Spatial aptitude is related to the capacity to mentally manipulate actual materials through imagining. A student in this ability test is required to quickly judge how an object would look like when constructed in a given way. In this sub- test, spatial aptitude is assessed through items in which the need is to determine quickly how the figure will look like when seen through a mirror and how a figure will look like when folded in a particular way. Spatial aptitude is needed in all such courses and occupations or vocations that require an individual to visualise objects in three-dimensions, such as, in manufacturing industry, drafting, designing (fashion, interior, toys and games, jewellery, urban planning, landscape designing, etc.), architecture, astronomy, chemistry, visual arts, animation, multimedia art, etc.

7. Perceptual Aptitude (PA)

Perceptual aptitude refers to a person's ability to quickly, accurately and meaningfully compare visual information, i.e., letters, numbers, objects, pictures or patterns. In this sub-test, perceptual aptitude assesses how the students rapidly compare the paired groups of letters or numbers and identify the similarity or differences. This sub-test helps the students to meet the classroom and day-to-day standards of neatness, speed and precision in their work. Perceptual aptitude is relevant for occupations or vocations concerned with banking, accountants, computer programmers, police detectives, data entry, assembly work, record keeping, dispatching, filing, etc.