In secondary schools across the country, many students are now taking suitability aptitude tests to help them choose their career direction or college courses.
The Differential Aptitude tests, which students usually take during their Junior Certificate or Transition year, examine such areas as Verbal Reasoning (the ability to reason with words); Language Usage (a measure of how well one can distinguish correct and improper grammar, punctuation etc); Spelling; Numerical Reasoning or Ability (the ability to reason with numbers); Abstract Reasoning (a non-verbal, non-numerical measure of reasoning power); Space Relations (the ability to think in three dimensions or to picture mentally the shape, size and position of objects when shown only a picture or pattern); Perceptual Speed And Accuracy (speed and accuracy in perceiving and marking letter and number combinations); and Mechanical Reasoning (the comprehension of mechanical principles and the laws of every day physics).
A score is usually given also for 'Educational Aptitude', which is really a combination of the verbal and numerical reasoning scores, and measures general intelligence.
If students score very well in some areas, for example, in the verbal/language area, they may be encouraged to take several languages, or subjects like History.
A high score in Space Relations might suggest an aptitude for a visual subject like art or technical drawing, or for the visual components of geography (which involves ordnance survey or map interpretation), or Biology (where an ability to draw good diagrams is useful). High Mechanical Reasoning may suggest a strong practical inclination in a student; good Abstract Reasoning may also suggest visual ability, or some degree of mathematical or scientific aptitude
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Going to college: Aptitude tests
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