Here is your Comprehensive Essay on Aptitude

The set of abilities essential for acquiring knowledge and skills specific to an area of performance is called aptitude. Precisely, it denotes the set of abilities required to perform a specialized activity.

For example, when we say aptitude for engineering and aptitude for art, the set of abilities involved in Learning performing in engineering is different from that of art. The same is true for medicine will tell us more about these sets of abilities.

Components of Aptitude:

(1) Intellectual processes:

Intellectual processes are a major component of aptitude. It refers to multiple cognitive processes related to thinking such as memory processes, restructuring symbols and ideas, perception of relations and patterns between ideas, spatial comprehension or orientation, reasoning, problem solving, judgement, etc.

These cognitive processes are important for recognition of information and for innovation, invention or discovery while performing a task.

(2) Sensory components:

Sensory component refers to the abilities related to sensory process such as vision and audition. Vision implies the ability for visual sensitivity (link. Colour sensitivity, etc.).

Audition means the ability to hear tones at different pitch levels (link pitch discrimination, loudness discrimination, etc.).

(3) Psychomotor component:

Psychomotor component refers to the kind of abilities involved in the gross body movements or its parts-trunk^ limbs, hands, etc. The kinds of abilities involved are strength, impulsion, speed, precision and flexibility. Strength means strength of body parts-leg, trunk and hand (e.g. hand grip).

Impulsion refers to the rate of initiation of a movement and can be identified using reaction time to light or sound (e.g. time taken to start at the signal in an athletic event). Speed means the rate of movement (e.g. hand or finger or leg speed while performing an act).

Precision implies steadiness in performing an act or movements (e.g. putting pins through tiny holes rapidly). Flexi laity refers to the looseness of the joints (e.g. touch toes with fingers without bending knees).

It is important to note that when we speak of aptitude, say mechanical aptitude, this is a combination of separate abilities related to cognitive process, sensory and psychomotor for performing mechanical activities such as writing with a pen.

The same is true for mathematical, music, graphic art or athletic aptitude. Here you may ask why we discuss psychomotor component under cognitive domain. We need to discuss this psychomotor component when we deal with specific activities may be required for acquiring knowledge and skill for performing routine tasks.

For instance, let us take the example of a pilot. While navigating an aircraft the pilot has to perform several complex operations with speed and precision involving specific abilities related to cognitive, sensory and psychomotor components.

Intelligence v/s Aptitude:

Aptitude is differing from intelligence. While intelligence refers to a set of mental abilities and skills, the term aptitude refers to the set of those abilities which directs individual performance in certain specific areas, such as teaching aptitude, mechanical aptitude, etc.

You may like to know the difference between aptitude and academic achievement Though both are important for determining future learning, academic achievement reflects the effects of learning of a specific subject or a set of Subjects during a given period of time.

Aptitude reflects the cumulative influence of a combination of a set of abilities and a multiplicity of experiences (including learning subjects) in daily life. For example, a student of your class may BT very intelligent but that student may not have an aptitude for public speaking or dancing for that matter, Individual Differ in Aptitude.

Individuals in Differ Aptitude:

An individual may have a mechanical aptitude. Another individual may have an aptitude for mathematics or yet another may have an aptitude for logic. Such differences are due to the differences in the combination of abilities which are related to the cognitive process and the sensory and psychomotor components for instance, mechanical aptitude is connected with ability for spatial relations, ability to acquire information on mechanical matters and ability to comprehend mechanical differences in aptitude using aptitude tests.

Aptitude tests for areas such as mechanical skills, science, language, music and graphic art can be used to identify the aptitude of students in each area of performance. The aptitude test, in fact, provides a measure of the candidates promise or teaches ability in a field of study, say law.

In other words, the test would tell whether the candidate possesses the required aptitude or readiness to profit from studies in the concerned field of study. Instructional Strategy for Handling Individual Differences The suggested approach for handling individual differences is adaptive instructional system.

In this approach at least two alternative instructional treatments are needed to ensure academic success, which is the most appropriate instructional treatment for the student depends upon his or her existing level of aptitude (learning readiness). Students with high aptitude may choose unstructured instructional strategy.

With minimum guidance from teacher, they may be encouraged to learn through the discovery oriented approach. You may use the inductive process but instructional treatment is [essentially learner-centered.

In contrast, highly structured instructional treatment for low aptitude learners is designed in small units through sequential steps and feedback. Frequent

Summary and review with simplified illustration, analogy and precise explanation of concepts and principle to be learned will facilitate progressive learning. Periodic achievement and aptitude assessments and comparison of these scores with the aptitude scores obtained at the start of instruction would tell degree to which each learner in the specific treatment group has achieved.

However, for those are unable to profit from either of the alternative treatments presented above, compensatory aptitude training is suggested. This consists of directed reading skills, study habits, self-learning skills, note taking and related activities.

The main aim of compensatory aptitude training is to develop readiness for entry into structured treatment. Periodic monitoring should be formulated to identify the students who reach the required level for try into alternative treatment.