The Aptitude Handbook A Guide to the AIMS Program Copyright © 2014 by Aptitude Inventory Measurement Service No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission. Aptitude Inventory Measurement Service 12160 Abrams Road Suite 314 Dallas, Texas 75243 (972) 234-8378 This work provides information for individuals who have taken the AIMS testing program. It is not addressed to the expert or the specialist in psychometrics. Although we have relied on the work of experts in the field, we have presented the information in layman’s terms to facilitate usage of the test results and to serve as a practical guide for examinees (clients who have taken the AIMS measurements). The research and interpretation discussed within the text apply only to the AIMS battery of measures or worksamples; they should not be applied to any other tests or by organizations with similar names or purposes. Irvin C. Shambaugh John W. Gaston Brenda M.H. Smith Deborah S. Tatum Mindy V. Poe Alicia M. Schulze Brad Seal Mary Cheek Contents Introduction Part One: The Aptitudes and Other Factors 1. Frame of Reference 2. Visualization: Structural or Abstract? 3. Divergent Thinking 4. Convergent Thinking 5. Perceptual Speed 6. Dexterities 7. Verbal and Numerical Memory 8. Aural Aptitudes 9. Design and Artistic Aptitudes 10. Dominance, Laterality, and Handedness 11. Other Factors Part Two: The Aptitude Profiles 12. The Abstract Generalist 13. The Creative Generalist 14. The Generalist Problem-Solver 15. The Structural Generalist 16. The Specialist 17. The Specialist Problem-Solver 18. The Creative Specialist 19. The Structural Problem-Solver Part Three: Vocabulary 20. The Importance of Vocabulary 21. Vocabulary Assessment and Improvement Part Four: Special Topics 22. Planning Your College Career 23. What Do I Do Next? 24. Career Evaluation Chart Afterword References and Works Consulted Part Five: Additional Information AIMS College Preparatory Reading Catalogue AIMS Guide to Career Information Are You Management Material? Choosing a College Major Making the Most of Your College Visit Summary of Aptitude Characteristics A Guide for Students and Parents Introduction The Nature of Aptitudes The word “aptitude” in this book refers to a natural capacity or a predisposition to perform a certain task faster and more accurately than the average person. The aptitudes are measured by tests called worksamples - standardized, distinct examples of the purported capacity to be measured. A score on an aptitude test measures a person’s capacity for a certain activity or behavior; it does not measure how extensively he has used that potential. For example, there are many people who possess high music or aural aptitudes who have never sung nor played a musical instrument. They have latent musical ability, but they have never had the interest or the opportunity to train it. Aptitudes may or may not correspond to an individual’s training, experience, knowledge, or even interest. There is some evidence that these mental traits called “aptitudes” are inherited in much the same way that physical traits are inherited. Perceptual Speed, for example, is a clerical aptitude showing the same pattern of inheritance as dominant, physical traits carried on the sex or X chromosome. A son inherits his Perceptual Speed from his mother, while both parents contribute to the genotype of their daughter. Three quarters of the females exhibit this aptitude, but only half the males possess it. Aptitudes appear to be very stable over time. One’s high aptitudes at age 17 will be high at age 27, 37, and beyond. The low aptitudes remain low. One young woman invested her money and her time to repeat the entire battery of tests, despite our caveat that the aptitude test scores should not be sig- nificantly different from the ones obtained three years earlier. She replied that she wanted to see if they came out the same. This second set of aptitude test scores showed virtually no change. Her knowledge level and interest scores had changed, but the aptitudes had remained the same. This case suggested unusual accuracy in testing. If an examinee is younger than age 14, the tests might not be capable of determining his aptitude scores with unchanging precision. At our current stage of research, we find that the aptitudes appear to reach a statistical plateau after one undergoes puberty. They remain there until a decline sets in with later age. An unmotivated youngster, cajoled by his parents into taking the aptitude tests, may not perform to the best of his ability on the AIMS worksamples; therefore, his scores may not reflect his real capabilities. Inaccurate test results can also occur when the examinee is ill or when he is experiencing abnormal stress, such as stress associated with a recent divorce or a personal loss. Experience over the past twenty years has shown that the AIMS tests may not be useful in measuring the abilities of individuals who take certain psychoactive medications such as Dilantin and Ritalin; individuals who have abused drugs such as alcohol, LSD, heroin, and cocaine; or frequent users of marijuana. In fact, the test scores for chronic users of marijuana seem accurate enough. The problem is that their motivation may be so impaired that they are incapable of following through on the resulting recommendations. This diagnosis agrees with the published findings of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. They describe an a motivational syndrome that includes a loss of ambition, inability to carry out long-term plans, difficulty in concentrating, and a decline in school or work performance.1 It is important that the examinee want to take the testing and that his physical and emotional health be good. Aptitude scores are no indication of motivation in a particular direction. Some people have ideal aptitudes for a career but no desire to pursue it. If their lack of motivation stems from ignorance about what the occupation is really like, the AIMS staff encourages them to discover the details through reading and through face-to-face interviews with people who are engaged in the profession or career. Sometimes people are very interested in careers that use their low aptitudes. If they are willing to devote more time and effort than the average person to this pursuit, they often can compensate for the lack of natural ability. Longer hours and more concentrated effort can build the knowledge and experience that substitute for low aptitudes. High aptitudes demand usage. Working hard to compensate for low aptitudes is not as critical as the problem of ignoring high aptitudes. Our experience has been that people who find lasting satisfaction in their careers use their strong abilities somewhere. People who have no outlet for their high aptitudes become very bored and dissatisfied with their jobs. They feel that something is missing. Because of the need to use strong abilities, the person with very few aptitudes is less likely to encounter long-term dissatisfaction in his occupational activities. A man who lacks high aptitudes for his job or career must, perhaps, work harder and longer hours than would the man who has high talent for the job; nevertheless, this man does not have the nagging emptiness of the person who works with unused aptitudes. The person with many natural abilities must be more selective about his career choice so that he does find appropriate outlets. This selectivity will help him avoid a lifestyle in which his hobbies are much more enjoyable than his work, and it will help steer him away from counterproductive activities that may use his aptitudes but may pull him way from career success and meaningful contri- bution to society. Interpreting Aptitude Test Results There are two common fallacies in interpreting aptitude test results. One is to treat each test score as a separate entity unrelated to any other factor. An example of this error is an examinee’s conclusion that he should be a banker or an accountant because he scores high in Perceptual Speed, a pencil-and-paper aptitude that is one characteristic of professionals in banking and accounting. This kind of assumption is wrong. Though accountants typically score in the top 12 percent on Perceptual Speed, a high score on a measure called Abstract Visualization is truly the better predictor of success. High Perceptual Speed predicts a greater probability of entering the field of accounting, but Abstract Visualization is a better predictor of lasting success in it. In this book you will find passages describing typical people in various occupations as scoring high on a particular worksample, such as physicians scoring high on the Diagnostic Thinking worksample or salespeople scoring high on the Ideaphoria worksample. Use this information to gain an understanding of the functions best performed by those scoring high on a particular aptitude. Reading the description of an aptitude may aid you in learning about the types of activities it can help you to perform. It will not indicate which specific occupations are best for you. Only by looking at your total profile of aptitude scores can you understand which occupations would be most satisfying. The second fallacy is thinking that each occupation is a monolithic, stereotyped situation, such as thinking that every doctor scores the same, or that all attorneys have precisely the same profile of abilities. Research has revealed that all individuals with the same job title are not performing exactly the same work. Every electrical engineer is not working on the same type of problem and is not working within the same job environment. Even positions such as attorney or physician are very flexible in the way they allow an individual to approach the problems he faces. For example, in a study of sales agents all working for the same company, there were three distinct profiles of abilities that would lead to successful performance.