Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude

Last updated

The Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude (WTMA) is among the most popular mechanical reasoning tests and is considered very reliable. [1] The WTMA is a 30 minute, sixty-question test used to measure mechanical aptitude. It is used for employment testing of job applicants and to help select vocational education students. The WTMA assesses broad physical and mechanical concepts as well as one's ability to operate, maintain, and repair machinery. It is designed to assist employers in selecting candidates for employment, vocational students, and academic research. Additionally, it was designed to reduce gender, racial, and academic bias. [1]

As in many standardized tests, the WTMA uses a multiple-choice format for its test questions. Each question contains a line drawing and a brief question together with three possible answers. Sample questions are available online. The questions on the Wiesen test, which are written at a sixth-grade reading level, do not require familiarity with objects encountered in specific events. Each question uses diagrams to illustrate mechanical principles. The questions found on the test are about the function, size, shape, appearance, and weight of common physical devices and tools. [1]

The WTMA is used to assess the following: [1]

According to some reviews, the WTMA is the newest of mechanical aptitude tests [2] and shows promise of being more fair to women than other such tests. [3]

Related Research Articles

Psychological testing refers to the administration of psychological tests. Psychological tests are administered or scored by trained evaluators. A person's responses are evaluated according to carefully prescribed guidelines. Scores are thought to reflect individual or group differences in the construct the test purports to measure. The science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.

An aptitude is a component of a competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. Outstanding aptitude can be considered "talent". Aptitude is inborn potential to perform certain kinds of activities, whether physical or mental, and whether developed or undeveloped. Aptitude is often contrasted with skills and abilities, which are developed through learning. The mass term ability refers to components of competence acquired through a combination of both aptitude and skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comprehensive school</span> Type of school

A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.

Personnel selection is the methodical process used to hire individuals. Although the term can apply to all aspects of the process the most common meaning focuses on the selection of workers. In this respect, selected prospects are separated from rejected applicants with the intention of choosing the person who will be the most successful and make the most valuable contributions to the organization. Its effect on the group is discerned when the selected accomplish their desired impact to the group, through achievement or tenure. The procedure of selection takes after strategy to gather data around a person so as to figure out whether that individual ought to be utilized. The strategies used must be in compliance with the various laws in respect to work force selection.

Cognitive tests are assessments of the cognitive capabilities of humans and other animals. Tests administered to humans include various forms of IQ tests; those administered to animals include the mirror test and the T maze test. Such testing is used in psychology and psychometrics, as well as other fields studying human and animal intelligence.

The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test is an assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations. The test was created in 1939 by Eldon F. Wonderlic. It consists of 50 multiple choice questions to be answered in 12 minutes. The score is calculated as the number of correct answers given in the allotted time, and a score of 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence.

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is an admissions test used in the selection process by a consortium of universities in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand for their medical and dental degree programmes. UCAT is needed, except very few universities, for admission into undergraduate medical degrees in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and UK. Launched in 2006 as the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT), it was renamed in 2019 following the launch of the test in Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Admiralty Interview Board</span>

The Admiralty Interview Board (AIB) is a key element of the officer selection process for the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve, and Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Career Clusters provide students with a context for studying traditional academics and learning the skills specific to a career, and provide U.S. schools with a structure for organizing or restructuring curriculum offerings and focusing class make-up by a common theme such as interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Career counseling</span> Counseling focused on career-related issues

Career counseling is a type of advice-giving and support provided by career counselors to their clients, to help the clients manage their journey through life, learning and work changes (career). This includes career exploration, making career choices, managing career changes, lifelong career development and dealing with other career-related issues. There is no agreed definition of the role of a career or employment counsellor worldwide, mainly due to conceptual, cultural and linguistic differences. However, the terminology of 'career counseling' typically denotes a professional intervention which is conducted either one-on-one or in a small group. Career counseling is related to other types of counseling. What unites all types of professional counseling is the role of practitioners, who combine giving advice on their topic of expertise with counseling techniques that support clients in making complex decisions and facing difficult situations.

In South Africa, matriculation is the final year of high school and the qualification received on graduating from high school, and the minimum university entrance requirements. The first formal examination was conducted in South Africa under the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1858. In general usage, the school-leaving exams, which are government-administered, are known as the "matric exams"; by extension, students in the final year of high school are known as "matriculants" or, more commonly, "matrics". Once the Matric year has been passed, students are said to have "matriculated". See List of secondary education systems by country § South Africa.

A situational judgement test (SJT), or situational stress test (SStT) or inventory (SSI) is a type of psychological test which presents the test-taker with realistic, hypothetical scenarios and ask them to identify the most appropriate response or to rank the responses in the order they feel is most effective. SJTs can be presented to test-takers through a variety of modalities, such as booklets, films, or audio recordings. SJTs represent a distinct psychometric approach from the common knowledge-based multiple choice item. They are often used in industrial-organizational psychology applications such as personnel selection. Situational judgement tests tend to determine behavioral tendencies, assessing how an individual will behave in a certain situation, and knowledge instruction, which evaluates the effectiveness of possible responses. Situational judgement tests could also reinforce the status quo with an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exam</span> Educational assessment

An examination or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics. A test may be administered verbally, on paper, on a computer, or in a predetermined area that requires a test taker to demonstrate or perform a set of skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical College Admission Test</span> Standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States and Canada

The Medical College Admission Test is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, written analysis and knowledge of scientific concepts and principles. Before 2007, the exam was a paper-and-pencil test; since 2007, all administrations of the exam have been computer-based.

According to Paul Muchinsky in his textbook Psychology Applied to Work, "mechanical aptitude tests require a person to recognize which mechanical principle is suggested by a test item." The underlying concepts measured by these items include sounds and heat conduction, velocity, gravity, and force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Center for Assessment in Higher Education</span>

Measurement is derived from the verb 'to measure' which means to assess something; in Arabic 'yaqees' 'measure' has the meaning of comparing something to something else. In this sense, measurement is a daily practice that manifests itself in all our assessment activities, whether we assess concrete things in terms of size and color, or abstract things such as human relations. The ultimate goal of 'measuring' something is to assess ourselves in comparison to everything else in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comprehensive school (England and Wales)</span> Term for a non-selective secondary school in England and Wales

A comprehensive school, or simply a comprehensive, typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11-16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. In England and Wales comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.

Walter Van Dyke Bingham (1880–1952) was an applied and industrial psychologist who made significant contributions to intelligence testing. A pioneer in applied psychology, Bingham got his start in experimental psychology, receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago under James R. Angell. Bingham went from Dartmouth in 1915 to organize the Division of Applied Psychology at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. When war came to the United States, Bingham was recruited by Robert Yerkes as a member of a small group that developed the Army Alpha and Beta tests. During World War I Bingham served as executive secretary of the committee on classification of personnel in the U.S. Army, and later in the war served as lieutenant colonel in the Personnel Branch of the Army General Staff. From 1940 to 1947 Bingham was chief psychologist of the Adjutant General's Office of the War Department, serving as consultant or advisor to the Surgeon General, the Army General Staff, and the Secretary of Defense. Walter Bingham's contribution on the army classification methods paved the development of the field of industrial psychology. Bingham carried out editorial responsibilities for several journals and was the author of over 200 articles and books. His "Aptitude and Aptitude Testing" (1937/1942) is a classic in the field.

Qiyas Tests belong to the ETEC

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Preparation for Wiesen's Test of Mechanical Aptitude (WTMA)". JobTestPrep. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  2. Hersen, Michel (2004). "Review of mechanical aptitude and spatial ability tests". Comprehensive Handbook of Psychological Assessment: Industrial and Organizational Assessment. 4.
  3. Enger, John; Plake, B. S.; Impara, J. C. (2001). "Review of the Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude". The Fourteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. The Buros Institute web. Lincoln, NE.