1. in general, refers to the judgment of the quality, worth, importance, or value of something or someone. 2. may be used as a psychological assessment. 3. in animal behavior, an evaluation of an individual based on its communication signals. A potential rival might use the degree of vigor and complexity of a male's song or the intensity of its plumage color to make a stronger probability of displacing that male. Similarly, a female might evaluate the relative quality of different potential mates in mate selection, and perform an assessment in that manner. Assessment may be a major function of most animal communication,
ASSESSMENT: "An assessment was used to determine whether or not the individual was fit to stand trial."
