An aircraft moves about three axes through its center of gravity:
Longitudinal (nose to tail): roll, controlled by the ailerons.
Lateral (wingtip to wingtip): pitch, controlled by the elevator (or a stabilator).
Vertical: yaw, controlled by the rudder.
Turn the control wheel left and the left aileron goes up, the right one down, and the aircraft rolls left. Push right rudder and the rudder moves right. Secondary controls include flaps, spoilers, slats and trim. A trim tab moves the opposite way to the way it moves its surface: to hold the elevator down (nose down), the tab moves up.
Rigging
Rigging sets the aircraft's geometry and its controls' travel: wing dihedral and incidence, control surface neutral positions and travel (measured with a protractor or rigging board, to the limits in the TCDS or manual), and cable tension.
Cable tension is measured with a tensiometer and read against a chart that corrects for temperature: the aluminum airframe grows more with heat than the steel cables, so tension rises on a hot day. Turnbuckles adjust the tension: after adjusting, no more than three threads may show outside the barrel at either end, and the turnbuckle is safetied with wire or clips.
After any repair or paint, a control surface may need rebalancing to the manufacturer's limits; an unbalanced surface can flutter, a fast shaking that can tear it off.
After any work on the controls, check they move freely, the full distance, and in the right direction. Controls rigged backwards have caused fatal accidents.
Practice
The ailerons control movement about which axis?
More info
Quick reference
Longitudinal / lateral / vertical
Roll / pitch / yaw axes.
Ailerons / elevator / rudder
Primary controls for roll / pitch / yaw.
Trim tab
Moves opposite to the way it moves its surface.
Tensiometer
Measures cable tension; read with a temperature chart.
Turnbuckle
Adjusts tension; no more than three threads showing, then safetied.