minimise

English translation: designed to require as little knowledge or trained skills as possible

13:41 Jul 4, 2008

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Management

English term or phrase: minimise

I'm not sure about the meaning of "minimise" in the following paragraph. It comes from the instructions to ability tests given out to employees:

Ability tests are measures of maximum performance. They measure the underlying ability of a person to learn more and their potential for solving problems. They are designed to ***minimise*** any knowledge and skill required to complete the test. They measure a universal construct that can apply to many different jobs and situations. There should be little or no learning or practice effect with an ability test.

So far, I've translated it to mean "They are designed to require the minimum amount of knowledge..." but I'm still not sure.
Thanks in advance!

Nesrin KudoZ activity Questions: 149 (none open) (7 closed without grading) Answers: 1889 United Kingdom
Local time: 06:38

Selected answer:designed to require as little knowledge or trained skills as possible

Explanation:
The aim of the test is to test a person's abilities, not knowledge or trained skills. A typical example of such a test is an IQ test from MENSA which is supposed to measure a person's abilities to solve unknown problems, i.e. not problems that require higher education within maths or another subject. Education, training, knowledge etc. should not help you to increase your score.

It's a good thing that you don't need to be well educated in order to take the test. The test should be made so that anyone can take it. In other words, the test should be designed to require as little knowledge or trained skills as possible.

Selected response from:

Egil Presttun
Norway
Local time: 07:38

Grading comment

Thank you very much, Egil and everyone!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

3 +2

designed to require as little knowledge or trained skills as possible

Egil Presttun

explicate - They are designed to *explicate* knowledge and skill level in the testing process.

Demi Ebrite

Discussion entries: 3

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

designed to require as little knowledge or trained skills as possible

Egil Presttun
Norway
Local time: 07:38
Native speaker of: Norwegian
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Thank you very much, Egil and everyone!

3 hrs confidence:

explicate - They are designed to *explicate* knowledge and skill level in the testing process.

Explanation:
Psychometric tests cover a very broad range of models for measurement of different things, i.e. skills, personality - it goes on and on. Here, they measure underlying abilities, and I believe the statement is meant to point out the fact that test preparation is unnecessary; the test will *explicate* the necessary knowledge and skills through the questions asked.

Sample rewrite:

Ability tests are measures of maximum performance. They measure the underlying ability of a person to learn more and their potential for problem solving. They are designed to *explicate* knowledge and skill level in the testing process. They measure a universal construct that can apply to many different jobs and situations. These tests require little or no test preparation.

Demi Ebrite
United States
Local time: 00:38
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 3

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