Glossary / Lexicon

In the psychology context, a skill refers to the ability to perform tasks effectively through knowledge, practice, and aptitude. Skills can be cognitive, pertaining to the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses; physical, involving motor activities and coordination; or social, involving the ability to interact effectively with others. Psychological studies of skill encompass how skills are learned, mastered, and maintained over time, as well as how individuals differ in their ability to develop certain skills.

Key Aspects of Skill:

• Acquisition and Learning: The process through which individuals gain new skills, often involving a combination of instruction, observation, and practice. Theories of learning, such as behaviorism and cognitive psychology, provide frameworks for understanding how skills are developed.
• Performance and Expertise: The level of proficiency an individual achieves in a particular skill area. Psychological research investigates the factors that contribute to high levels of skill performance and expertise, including practice, motivation, and innate talent.
• Cognitive Skills: These include problem-solving, decision-making, memory, and attention. Cognitive skills are crucial for learning, working, and navigating daily life.
• Motor Skills: Skills involving the coordination of muscle movements to perform tasks. Motor skills are divided into fine motor skills, involving small movements (e.g., writing, typing), and gross motor skills, involving larger movements (e.g., walking, jumping).
• Social and Emotional Skills: Abilities that facilitate interpersonal interactions, such as communication, empathy, and emotion regulation. These skills are vital for forming and maintaining relationships and for effective functioning in social settings.

Application Areas:

• Education: Understanding skill development informs teaching methods and curriculum design to enhance learning outcomes for students of all ages.
• Clinical Psychology and Rehabilitation: Skill training is a component of therapy for individuals recovering from injuries or managing psychological disorders, aiming to improve cognitive, motor, or social functioning.
• Occupational Psychology: Investigates skill requirements for different jobs and how skill development can enhance job performance and career progression.
• Sports Psychology: Focuses on developing physical and mental skills to enhance athletic performance.

Well-Known Examples:

• Procedural vs. Declarative Knowledge: Distinction between knowing how to perform a task (procedural knowledge) and knowing facts or concepts (declarative knowledge).
• Deliberate Practice: A concept introduced by Anders Ericsson, suggesting that achieving expertise requires focused and structured practice that targets specific areas of improvement.

Challenges and Risks:

• Skill Decay: Skills can deteriorate over time if they are not used regularly, a phenomenon known as skill decay or skill loss.
• Individual Differences: There are significant individual differences in the ability to acquire and excel in certain skills, influenced by factors such as genetics, prior knowledge, and environmental support.

Weblinks

• fashion-glossary.com: 'Skill' in the fashion-glossary.com
• maritime-glossary.com: 'Skill' in the maritime-glossary.com

Articles with 'Skill' in the title

• Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Learning Skills: The Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Learning Skills (ABIL) is a tool used to assess adaptive behavior skills in children with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Clinical skills: Clinical skills refer to the attitudes and techniques used by professional counselors. They include the eight (8) attitudes of the helper, foundational skills, information gathering skills, and commonly used skills
• Cognitive-relaxation coping skills training (CRCS): Cognitive-relaxation coping skills training: Cognitive-relaxation coping skills training (CRCS) : Cognitive-relaxation coping skills training (CRCS) refers to an intervention program designed to reduce anger, which involves teaching . . .
• Combinatorial skills: Combinatorial skills refer to the ability to perform mathematical operations, which includes addition, subtraction, and multiplication. These skills are acquired during the stage of concrete operational thought
• Communication skills: Communication skills refer to a psychological skill ll used to help improve group cohesion and individual interactions in a sport setting (eg. athlete-athlete, athlete-coach, coach-parent)
• Core areas of knowledge and skills: Core areas of knowledge and skills refer to the eight (8) areas, identified by the authors, which professional counselors should master. Core areas of knowledge and skills include: ethical, professional, and cross-cultural issues - helper . . .
• Critical Thinking Skills: Critical Thinking Skills describes thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal directed. The use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome
• Fine motor skills: Fine motor skills: Fine motor skills is defined as motor skills associated with grasping, holding, and manipulating objects. They are skills employing the small muscles used in manipulation, such as those in the fingers
• Life skills: Life skills refer to advice or therapy to develop what is called life skills, such as managing money, job interview skills, time-keeping, cooking, cleaning, moving house etc- see also: "Life skills" is in the UNSPSC Code "60105200"
• Life skills training: Life skills training refers to a program that teaches stress reduction, self-protection, decision making, self-control, and social skills.
• Life-skills-training approach: Life-skills-training approach refers to a smoking prevention program characterized by the belief that training in self-esteem and coping skills will boost self-image to the point that smoking becomes unnecessary or inconsistent with . . .
• Problem-focused skills: Problem-focused skills refers to one of three (3) types of commonly used skills in which the clinician either offers alternatives, provides information, or gives advice
• Problem-solving skills training (PSST): Problem-solving skills training (PSST) : problem-solving skills training (PSST) refers to
• Social skills: Social skills refer to thoughts, actions, and emotional regulatory activities that enable children to achieve personal or social goals while maintaining harmony with their social partners
• Testwise skills: Testwise skills are the test taker's ability to identify flaws in test questions that give away the correct answers- used during tests to outwit poor item writers
• Visual-memory Skills: Visual-memory Skills: Visual-memory Skills refer to the ability to recall information presented visually.
• Word attack skills: Word attack skills refers to the ability to analyze unfamiliar words visually and phonetically- Other definition: Word attack skills refer to the ability to analyze unfamiliar words visually and phonetically

Summary:

Skill in psychology encompasses the abilities and competencies individuals develop to perform tasks effectively. The acquisition and application of skills are central to cognitive development, education, personal achievement, and professional success. Understanding the mechanisms of skill learning and performance enables targeted interventions to support skill development across various domains of human activity.

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