Measuring special abilities can be limited in its application due to unstructured settings like unstructured interviews eliciting thematic life narratives. These kinds of interviews although useful in examining and measuring abilities, can be confining due to the range of topics "considered and abiguities inherent when interpreting this information; (b) structured interviews and self-report instruments elicit details concerning patients' conscious understanding of themselves and overtly experienced sypmtomatology" (Shum, O'Gorman & Myors, 2006, p. 149). Interviews like these help the psychiatrist/psychologist hone in on any unique or special abilities, even vocational abilities. Personality inventories or self report inventories, along with work and personal values measures like, the importance of family, help determine what kind of interests/abilities the person may be good in or be passionate about. As it concerns possible issues in regards to vocational ability or interest testing, certain things may be lacking such as suitable range of options to explore as well as interests pursued. People are as a whole, diverse, and present with a unique collection of interests and hobbies. A test can only cover so much and some things may be left out. Additionally, these forms of measure are not in-depth and may miss several things of key interest in terms of evaluation.
Although it may take longer than mutiple ability battery, single tests measuring each ability separately can relay specific information and provide a clearer assessment. This is because single tests provide more depth of measure in regards to certain skills. Testing for mutiple abilities at once can be good for initial assessment and then to get a better measure of specific abilities, the single tests can then be brought in. For the most part however, in order to get the best evaluation and information of a person's abilities, the single tests offer possibility for more information for further analysis. Interest is in essence, what a person is passionate about or believes in, their values can be incoorperated into interests. Abilities are skills a person is naturally born with or learns through experience.
It would be silly to assume simply because a person is highly interested in something, that they are also skilled in that interest. Skill takes hard work even if someone has a natural inclination, to learn and master. Same thing applies to vice versa. Just because someone is good at something does not mean they have a passion for it. They could have just learned a skill simply because it is useful not because he/she enjoys doing it. Certain precautions must be taken into account such as history and overall personal goals. These goals will provide an indicator as to where the person will take their interests and apply their skills.
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Examples of self report inventories are: The MMPI-2, The 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, and the California Personality Inventory. An ability that interests me is writing. In ordr to evaluate if someone is a good writer, one must begin by anaylzing if the person wants to write for a living or likes to write for a living. A series of questions related to educational background will show if the individual had any English background like a BA in English. Then I would see if he/she attended any writing workshops to improve his/her writing and see if he/she has published any poems, articles, stories, books. Also I would ask if he/she won any awards in writing. If he/she has then this shows that he/she is not only passionate about writing, but is also skilled in writing as well.
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