Page 378 - DEDU504_EDUCATIONAL_MEASUREMENT_AND_EVALUATION_ENGLISH

Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Notes (4) Aptitude exists in the present but it indicates the future capacities.
(5) There is close relation among aptitude interest, inclination and satisfaction.
(6) Aptitudes of different people are different and they are more or less in degree.
(7) Aptitude is the chief cause of individual differences.
(8) Generally, an aptitude is stationary, very few changes can be effected in it.
32.2.3 Measurement
Aptitude tests have been used to measure aptitudes of a person. In the words of Freeman :
An aptitude test is one designed to measure a person’s potential ability in an activity of a
specialised kind and within a restricted range. —Freeman
We have defined aptitude as hereditary abilities, capacities and potentialities. So the aptitude tests
too should be defined in this form :
An aptitude test is such a test which measures a person’s or a group of persons hereditary abilities,
capacities or potentialities, and on its basis guides for creation of environment, teaching and
training work in the future.

32.2.4 Types of Aptitude Test
The aptitude tests can be divided into three types keeping in view their nature
1. General Aptitude Test : These tests are used to measure general abilities; such as general
intelligence, mental, ability, general creativity, learning ability, etc.
Success of a person in a specific field can be predicted on the basis of these tests. And if specific
training and teaching is arranged in such field, abilities and potentialities of a person can be
developed as predicted.
Besides, these tests have their own limitations. These tests only tell whether a person is intelligent
or not, creative or not, quick learner or not; but they do not tell in which direction the intelligence
of the person works faster, or in which field his creativity is inclined — in the field of art,
science, literature or any other field.
2. Differential Aptitude Test : In these tests, there is a series of sub-tests within a test to measure
some specific abilities. These are also called ‘batterv-tvpe’tests. These tests are used to measure
specific abilities.
Every sub-test which is included in these tests measure specific aptitude in some measure.
Differentiation in the abilities of a person can be made on the basis of obtained scores in these
tests. The differential aptitude tests measure different aspects of a general ability to express
different aptitudes on the basis of obtained scores. On this basis, a specific ability of a student
can be estimated and his skill can be enhanced by teaching and training. For example, take
mental ability test of Thirston. It has seven sub-tests and each of these measures different
aspects of mental ability. These are — spatial ability, perceptual ability, numerical ability,
verbal ability, word fluency ability, memory ability and reasoning ability. On the basis of
marks obtained in these sub-tests, it can be said about a student whether his power of reasoning
is more than his verbal ability or not. In the same way, comparative analysis of other abilities
can be made. Some of the examples of differential aptitude tests are — differential aptitude test
(DAT), general aptitude test battery (GATB), aptitude survey (AS), aptitude classification test
(ACT), and clerk aptitude test (CAT).
These tests have their own limitations. Every person has several aptitudes. It is not possible to
measure them all by anyone test. An ability can have various differentials. It is not possible to
know them by these tests. Administration of these tests takes time. As such, the students may
be bored up while giving tests and it can influence the obtained scores.

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