July 26th, 2024 by Janet Chen
Dr. Steven Chen is a certified Highlands Ability Battery consultant and has been an affiliate of The Highlands Company for 25 years – and has administered, interpreted and coached thousands of individuals.
The Highlands Ability Battery (HAB) is an assessment that measures natural abilities. The person taking the assessment performs exercises and their results are used to assess natural abilities. The results are based on performance, which is a more reliable measure of abilities than opinion or self-perception.
It takes approximately 3 hours to take the entire assessment which includes 19 parts. You don’t have to take the entire assessment all at once. You can break up the various sections and it is administered online.
Research indicates that natural abilities stabilize around age 14. If your natural ability is high in a particular area, it makes tasks or activities easy to complete, requiring less time, effort, and energy to perform. When you are in an environment where you use your natural abilities, you are happier and perform your best. Conversely, when you are in an environment that doesn’t utilize your natural abilities, you have more difficulty completing tasks and you may be more frustrated. As compared to Abilities which are your natural talents, skills can be learned over time, with repeated practice.
The HAB measures the following abilities:
Visual speed and accuracy
Ability to work with numbers and designs
Inductive reasoning
Analytical reasoning
Idea flow
Verbal aptitude
Structural visualization
Musical aptitude
Memory
Vocabulary (a learned skill) which is helpful in professions such as law or business
After you complete the assessment, you will receive a customized report that provide insight into how you think and where you will thrive.
Your natural abilities are categorized into three areas:
Personal Style
Driving Abilities
Specialized Abilities
These are abilities like design, observation, verbal, tonal, and rhythm memory.
If you would like more information about how the HAB can benefit you and your life, please contact Dr. Chen.