Abilities vs. IQ

The difference between abilities and IQ is that abilities or aptitudes are natural talents for doing or learning certain kinds of tasks easily and quickly. Are you good at generating ideas, or analyzing numerical information? Can you think three-dimensionally or organize information quickly? Those are examples of abilities and every occupation uses different combinations of abilities.

Like an IQ test, an ability battery measures your performance across a range of capabilities except that an ability battery covers a broader area and looks at a wider range of experiences. IQ tests tend to measure recent learning and are closely tied to particular school subjects. Your abilities or aptitudes have little to do with knowledge, education, culture or interests. They have to do with heredity. Being right-handed or left-handed is an example of an inherited characteristic. The Highlands Ability Battery measures your inherent ability characteristics using nineteen work samples to identify your natural abilities and ability patterns.