CHC Broad and Narrow Abilities

Fluid Intelligence (Gf): Refers to mental operations that a person uses when presented with a
relatively novel task that cannot be performed automatically. It includes concept formation, problem
solving, reorganizing and transforming.
RG
I
RQ
RP
RE

General Sequential Reasoning; The ability to start with stated rules, premises, or conditions,
and to engage in one or more steps to solve a novel problem (also called deduction)
Induction; The ability to discover the underlying rule, concept, etc. that govern a problem.
Quantitative Reasoning; The ability to inductively and deductively reason with concepts
involving math relations and properties.
Piagetian Reasoning; Seriation, conservation, classification, and other cognitive abilities as
defined by Piages developmental theory.
Speed of Reasoning; The Speed in performing reasoning tasks.

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc): Refers to breadth and dept of a persons general fund of knowledge.
These knowledge stores are acquired through formal school experiences and general life experience.
These stores are primarily language based and include both declarative and procedural knowledge. A
rather unique aspect of Gc not seen in other broad abilities is that it appears to be both a store of
acquired knowledge (e.g., lexical knowledge, general information, information about culture) as well as
a collection of processing abilities (e.g., oral production and fluency, listening ability).
LD

Language Development; General development or understanding of words, sentences, and

paragraphs in spoken language.
VL Lexical Knowledge; The extent of vocabulary in terms of correct word meanings.
LS Listening Ability; The ability to listen and comprehend oral communications.
KO General (verbal) Information; The range of general knowledge.
K2 Information about Culture; Range of cultural knowledge (e.g., music, art)
K1 General Science Information; Range of scientific knowledge (e.g., biology, physics,
engineering, mechanics, electronics).
A5 Geography Achievement; Range of geographic knowledge
CM Communication Ability; The ability to speak in real life situations in an adult-like manner.
OP Oral Production and Fluency; More specific or narrow communication skills than reflected
in CA.
MY Grammatical Sensitivity; Knowledge or awareness of the grammatical features of language.
KL Foreign Language Proficiency; Similar to Language Development (LD) but for a foreign
language
LA Foreign Language Aptitude; Rate and ease of learning a new language
Short-Term Memory (Gsm): Refers to the ability to apprehend and hold information in immediate
awareness and then use it within a few seconds.
MS Memory Span; The ability to attend to, and immediately recall elements in the correct order.
WM Working Memory; The ability to temporarily store and perform operations on information
that requires divided attention and the management of limited capacity of short term memory.
L1 Learning Ability; The ability to understand new information and demonstrate acquisition of
that information.
Visual Processing (Gv): Refers to the ability to think with visual patterns and stimuli. Includes the
ability to rotate, reverse, and manipulate spatial configurations, and spatial orientation.

Nampa School District #131

SR

Spatial Relations; The ability to perceive and manipulate visual patterns with respect to
objects in space.
MV Visual Memory; The ability to store visual information and recall it later.
CS Closure Speed; The ability to quickly combine disconnected visual information into a
meaningful whole.
CF Flexibility of Closure; The ability to identify a visual pattern embedded within a complex
visual array.
SS Spatial Scanning; The ability to survey a pattern and identify a path through that pattern.
PI
Serial Perceptual Integration; Ability to understand and identify a pictorial or visual pattern
when parts of the pattern are presented rapidly in serially or successive order
LE Length Estimation; Ability to accurately estimate or compare visual lengths and distances
without using measurement instruments
IL
Perceptual Illusions; Ability to resist being affected by perceptual illusions involving
geometric figures
PN Perceptual Alterations; Consistency in the rate of alternating between different visual
perceptions
Vz Visualization; The ability to mentally manipulate objects or patterns.
Im Imagery; Ability to vividly mentally manipulate abstract spatial forms (not clearly defined by
existing research).
Auditory Processing (Ga): Refers to the ability to notice, compare, discriminate, and distinguish
distinct and separate sounds.
PC:A Phonetic Coding-Analysis; The ability to segment larger units of speech into smaller units
PC:S Phonetic Coding-Synthesis; The ability to blend smaller units of speech in to larger units.
US Speech Sound Discrimination; The ability to detect differences in speech sounds under
conditions of little distraction or distortion.
UR Resistance to Auditory Stimulus Distortion; The ability to understand speech that has been
distorted.
UM Memory for Sound Patterns; Ability to retain on a short-term basis auditory events such as
tones, tonal patterns, and voices.
U3 General Sound Discrimination; Ability to discriminate tones, tone patterns, or musical
materials with regard to pitch, intensity, duration, and rhythm.
UK Temporal Tracking; Ability to track auditory temporal events so as to be able to count,
rearrange or anticipate them.
U1/9 Musical Discrimination and Judgment; Ability to discriminate and judge tonal patterns in
music with respect to melodic, harmonic, and expressive aspects (e.g., phrasing, tempo,
intensity variations).
U8 Maintaining and Judging Rhythm; Ability to recognize and maintain a musical or equal time
beat.
U6 Sound-Intensity/Duration Discrimination; Ability to discriminate sound intensities and to be
sensitive to the temporal/rhythmic aspects of tonal patterns.
U5 Sound-Frequency Discrimination; Ability to discriminate frequency attributes (pitch and
timbre) of tones.
UA, UT, UU Hearing and Speech Threshold factors; Ability to hear pitch and varying sounds
over a range of audible frequencies.
UP Absolute Pitch; Ability to perfectly name or identify the pitch of tones.
UL Sound Localization; The ability to localize heard sounds in space.
Long-term Storage and Retrieval (Glr): Refers to the ability of storing new or previously acquired
information and then fluently retrieving that information.

Nampa School District #131

MA Associative Memory; The ability to recall one part of a previously learned but
unrelated pair of items when the other part is presented.
MM Meaningful Memory; The ability to recall items with a meaningful relation or the items
comprise a meaningful story or connected discourse.
M6 Free Recall Memory; Ability to recall as many unrelated items as possible, in any order, after
a large collection of items is presented.
FA Associational Fluency; Ability to rapidly produce words or phrases associated in meaning
(semantically associated) with a given word or concept.
FE Expressional Fluency; Ability to rapidly think of and organize words or phrases into
meaningful complex ideas under highly general or more specific cueing conditions.
FI
Ideational Fluency; The ability to produce a series of related ideas, words, etc.
NA Naming Facility; Ability to rapidly produce names for concepts when presented with a
pictorial or verbal cue (RAN).
FW Word Fluency; Ability to rapidly produce words that have specific phonemic, structural, or
orthographic characteristics (independent of word meaning).
FF Figural Fluency; The ability to draw examples when given a starting example or description.
FX Figural Flexibility; Ability to quickly change set in order to generate new and different
solutions to figural problems.
SP Sensitivity to Problems; Ability to identify and state practical problems in a given situation
and/or rapidly think of and state various solutions to, and/or consequences of, such problems.
FO Originality/Creativity; Ability to rapidly produce original, clever, or uncommon verbal or
ideational responses to specified tasks.
L1 Learning Abilities; Ability to apprehend newly presented information and to demonstrate
subsequent acquisition of such information.
Processing Speed (Gs): Refers to the ability to fluently and automatically perform cognitive tasks
(mental quickness). Reflect the ability to work quickly over a longer period of time (typically
measured in intervals of 2 to 3 minutes).
P
R9
N
R4

Perceptual Speed; Ability to rapidly search for and compare known visual symbols or
patterns presented side-by side or separated in a visual field.
Rate of Test Taking; Ability to rapidly perform tests that are relatively easy or that require
very simple decisions.
Number Facility; Ability to rapidly and accurately manipulate and deal with numbers, from
elementary skills to advanced skills.
Semantic Processing Speed; Ability to rapidly make decisions that require some encoding
and mental manipulation of stimulus content.

Decision Speed/Reaction Time (Gt): Refers to an individuals quickness in reacting and making
decisions. Reflects the immediacy with which an individual can react to stimuli or a task (typically
measured in seconds or fractions of seconds).
R1
R2
R7

Simple Reaction Time; Reaction time to the presentation of a single visual or auditory
stimulus.
Choice Reaction Time; Reaction time to one of two or more alternative stimuli, depending on
which alternative is signaled.
Mental Comparison Speed; Reaction time in which the stimuli must be compared for a
particular attribute.

Nampa School District #131

Nampa School District #131