Ability

Ability is a term which means the preconditions, the potential and the disposition required for a certain kind of activity or for a particular skill. Abilities are developed by learning based on talent.

Abilities can be divided into:

• General - these can be sometimes identified with intelligence and its components (variously conceived in different models of intelligence)
• Special - these abilities may be devided into the following categories:
  • Psychomotoric - physical; the ability to perform physical activities
  • Cognitive - learning; the ability to think, make decisions, solve problems
  • Social - interpersonal; the ability to get along with people, communicate, empathize, etc.
  • Self-organizing - the ability to organize an activity, work, life, etc.

Abilities are part of competency as preconditions of a more specific nature.

Use of abilities in practice: HR managers work with abilities when analyzing individual jobs and defining their appropriate job specification.

Note: In current practice, the concepts of “ability” and “skills” are often used interchangeably.