ESDC Competency Dictionary - Abilities
Cognitive
Cognitive
Abilities that influence the acquisition and application of knowledge in problem solving.
- Agility
- Ability to think and understand quickly, especially when faced with unexpected obstacles.
- Categorization Flexibility
- Ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning
- Ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Fluency of Ideas
- Ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, coherence and creativity).
- Form Perception
- Ability to perceive pertinent details in objects and in pictorial and graphic material, to make visual comparisons and distinctions, and to see slight differences in shapes and shadings of figures and widths and lengths of lines.
- General Learning Ability
- Ability to "catch on" or understand instructions and underlying principles; to reason and make judgements.
- Inductive Reasoning
- Ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering
- Ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures and mathematical operations).
- Memorization
- Ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Multiple Tasks Flexibility
- Ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Numerical Ability
- Ability to carry out arithmetical processes (such as additions, subtractions, multiplications or divisions) accurately
- Pattern Identification Flexibility
- Ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Pattern Identification Speed
- Ability to quickly combine and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Perceptual Speed
- Ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Problem Sensitivity
- Ability to be able to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing its presence.
- Selective Attention
- Ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Spatial Orientation
- Ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Spatial Perception/
Visualization - Ability to think visually about geometric forms and comprehend the two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional objects, and to recognize the relationships resulting from the movement of objects in space. May be used in such tasks as blueprint reading and in solving geometry problems. Frequently described as the ability to "visualize" objects of two or three dimensions. The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Verbal Ability
- Ability to understand the meaning and precise use of words as well as the ideas associated with them and use them effectively, to comprehend language, to understand relationships between words and understand the meaning of whole sentences and paragraphs, and to present information or ideas clearly.
- Written Comprehension
- Ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Written Expression
- Ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Physical
Physical
Abilities that influence strength, endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination.
- Dynamic Flexibility
- Ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Dynamic Strength
- Ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Explosive Strength
- Ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Extent Flexibility
- Ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Gross Body Coordination
- Ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Gross Body Equilibrium
- Ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Stamina
- Ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Static Strength
- Ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Trunk Strength
- Ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without 'giving out' or fatiguing.
Psychomotor
Psychomotor
Abilities that influence the capacity to manipulate and control objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Control Precision
- Ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Finger Dexterity
- Ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Manual Dexterity
- Ability to move the hands easily and skillfully, and to work with the hands in placing and turning motions.
- Motor Coordination
- Ability to coordinate eyes, hands and fingers accurately when required to respond with precise movements.
- Multi-limb Coordination
- Ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Rate Control
- Ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Reaction Time
- Ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Response Orientation
- Ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speed of Limb Movement
- Ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Upper Limb Coordination
- Ability to coordinate arm and hand movements and visual tracking of the task.
- Wrist-Finger Speed
- Ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Sensory
Sensory
Abilities that influence visual, auditory and speech perception.
- Auditory Attention
- Ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Depth Perception
- Ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Far Vision
- Ability to see details at a distance.
- Glare Tolerance
- Ability to see objects in the presence of glare or bright lighting.
- Hearing Sensitivity
- Ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Near Vision
- Ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Night Vision
- Ability to see under low light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision
- Ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Speech Clarity
- Ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition
- Ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Sound Localization
- Ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Visual Colour Discrimination
- Ability to match or detect differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.