SCIENTIFIC APTITUDE

In the Dictionary of education (Good, 1959), aptitude is defined as “a pronounced innate capacity for or ability in a given line of endeavor such as particular art, school subject or vocation”. In this definition, an aptitude refers to an individual’s inborn potentialities or capacities which are indicative of some special abilities. ‘Aptitude’ in Great Illustrated Dictionary [in Rao, 1996) is considered as “a natural talent, skill or ability, quickness in learning and understanding”. In the above two definitions, it has been emphasized on that an aptitude refers to the capacity of an individual to be skilled in some work receiving formal and informal training.

Aptitude is not a specific skill; rather it is the capacity to acquire that specific skill (Freeman, 1965). If an individual has no aptitude for a particular type of work, he/she will not be skilled or proficient in that task in spite of training given to him/her. Whereas, right aptitude of a person, in any specific field, indicates his/her ability of acquiring skills in that particular field, on the basis of which a prediction may be made regarding the amount of improvement of that person in that field, which further training might effect (Rao, 1996).

Majority of the psychologists agree on the point that aptitude is innate, yet environmental factors on aptitude has also been recognized (Rao, 1996). As a matter of fact, aptitude is influenced by both biological and cultural factors of an individual.

“Scientific aptitude is a complex of interacting hereditary and environmental determinants producing predisposition or ability in science. Through these abilities, it is possible to predict future accomplishment of a person in science” defined by Rao, 1969. Researcher has also explained that scientific aptitude depends upon a variety of factors. Presence of certain study skills and persistence in learning science, motivation, satisfaction derived from learning science subjects, socio-economic factors and cultural background are some of the important determinants of scientific aptitude.

Muchinsky, 2004 has identified the following primary mental abilities in relation to aptitude in any specific field. These are –

(a) General intelligence – general learning ability

(b) Verbal ability – vocabulary

(c) Numerical ability – mathematical reasoning in problem solving

(d) Spatial ability – ability to visualize and rotate objects in space involving figures.

(e) Memory – ability to recall or recognize after a brief exposure to words, symbols, numbers, and figures.

(f) Perceptual speed – ability to work quickly and accurately in scanning and perceiving similarities and differences in words, numbers, and pictures (mostly related with clerical aptitude).

(g) Psychomotor ability – ability to move hands and figures and co-ordinate their movement.