Open AccessLow reliability of sighted-normed verbal assessment scores when administered to children with visual impairments.
Author(s) -
Valerie S. Morash,
Amanda McKerracher
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
psychological assessment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.96
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1939-134X
pISSN - 1040-3590
DOI - 10.1037/pas0000341
Subject(s) - psychology , nonverbal communication , psycinfo , developmental psychology , test (biology) , test validity , vocabulary , intelligence quotient , psychometrics , verbal reasoning , reliability (semiconductor) , standardized test , psychological testing , clinical psychology , cognition , medline , psychiatry , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , political science , law , biology , mathematics education
The most common and advocated assessment approach when a child cannot access visual materials is to use the verbal subscales of a test the psychologist already has and is familiar with. However, previous research indicates that children with visual impairments experience atypical verbal development. This raises the question of whether verbal subscale scores retain their reliability and interpretation validity when given to children with visual impairments. To answer this question, we administered a vocabulary subscale from a common intelligence test along with several nonverbal subscales to 15 early-blind adolescents (onset of ≤2 years). Reliability of only the vocabulary test scores was insufficient for high-stakes testing. This finding points to the broader issue of difficulties in assessing populations of exceptional children who experience atypical development trajectories, possibly making their assessment with common tests inappropriate. (PsycINFO Database Record