Open AccessDEVELOPMENT OF FUNCTIONAL COGNITIVE SCALE FOR CHILDREN AGED 7-12 YEARS: A NEGLECTED DOMAIN IN PAKISTAN
Author(s) -
Ayesha Jabeen,
AUTHOR_ID,
Zahid Mahmood,
AUTHOR_ID
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pakistan journal of social research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2710-3137
pISSN - 2710-3129
DOI - 10.52567/pjsr.v3i3.260
Subject(s) - exploratory factor analysis , psychology , cognition , confirmatory factor analysis , wechsler adult intelligence scale , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , scale (ratio) , test (biology) , psychometrics , structural equation modeling , statistics , paleontology , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , biology , neuroscience
Several tools have been developed in the west on cognitive and other developmental skills in children. However, in Pakistan, outdated versions of western measures are used to assess the abilities of children. The current study aimed to develop and assess the Functional Cognitive Scale (FCS) for children of age 7-12 years on basis of local norms. A sample of 377 children with mean age = 9.60, SD=1.61 was selected through multistage sampling technique from different public schools of the city of Lahore, Pakistan. FCS was constructed by extracting items from open-ended interviews with parents, teachers, reviewing the literature and curriculum, consulting the experts, and carrying out series of pilot testing. Factor Analysis using maximum likelihood and oblique rotation extracted two sub-factors namely simple cognitive skills and complex cognitive skills. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit model with a similar factor structure as retained by exploratory factor analysis. FCS was found to have 20-items with sound psychometric properties α= .86, split-half .89, test-retest reliability=.82 with good convergent validity with Wechsler memory subscales. Results are discussed in terms of the need of developing the scale for measuring the functional cognitive abilities of children in their cultural context. Keywords: Cognitive Skills, psychometric study, local norms, school, 7-12 years