Knowledge, in vocational psychology dictionary

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Dictionary of Vocational Psychology

Knowledge

Knowledge, also referred to as crystallized ability, is one of the broad ability areas identified in factorial studies of intelligence. It is also probably the single most important of the broad ability factors for overall adult vocational success.

Skills and knowledge are not necessarily the same thing. Skills are behaviors whose successful performance depends on a number of psychological attributes. Such attributes may and usually do include some type of knowledge, and may depend nearly exclusively on types of knowledge. However, skills may also depend in part on non-knowledge factors of ability. For example, skill in singing opera depends in large part on knowledge of the technical aspects of singing, or music theory, of the Opera libretto, and so on, but it also (presumably) depends on the broad ability auditory processing.

Where other broad ability factors (generally classed as "fluid" abilities) reach their peak in terms of absolute power in the third decade of life, knowledge continues to accrue throughout adulthood. If a younger worker seeks to maximize his or her competitive ability compared to older workers, he will typically seek to capitalize on fluid abilities. But if an older worker seeks to remain competitive against younger workers, she will emphasize the importance of knowledge. Success of adult workers past the age of 30 is to a large degree related to the individual's success in building their base of work-relevant knowledge and applying it in effective ways.

Knowledge is composed of a variety of narrow factors, the sheer number of which is open to debate. The relevant domains are probably best understood among young school-age children, where the processes underling knowledge acquisition for core academic tasks such as reading and math are increasingly well documented. The study of knowledge acquisition among adolescents and adults, and the relevance of such knowledge for career development, is less comprehensively known. Nevertheless, we have made fairly good starts in some areas, e.g., chess, music, medicine, and some areas of science. The study of expertise across specific areas of adult performance has identified many pools of knowledge relevant to career development.

Much has been made of the degree to which knowledge and skills relevant to one occupation can transfer to be useful in the performance of work in another occupation. Such transfer is important in smooth adjustment of a worker to the demands of a new job or occupation, particularly if a rapid master of the demands of the new work is important.

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