Abilities Are Forms of Developing Expertise

Abstract

The goal of this article is to provide a link between the literatures on human abilities and on expertise. The main argument of this article is that human abilities are forms of developing expertise. In a sense, then, tests of abilities are no different from conventional tests of achievement, teacher-made tests administered in school, or assessments of job performance. Although tests of abilities are used as predictors of these other kinds of performance, the temporal priority of their administration should not be confused with some kind of psychological priority. Abilities, as they are measured by these tests, are as much forms of developing expertise as are any other forms of developing expertise measured in whatever way. There is no qualitative distinction among the various kinds of measures. The article presents a model that implies a shift away from educational practice grounded in traditional ability-achievement relationships and toward practice grounded in the development of knowledge-based expertise in all children.