This study, related to the standardization of a non-verbal test for early childhood children, attended to provide a scientific instrument for assessing the level of mental development of average children in early childhood and of language deficient ha...
This study, related to the standardization of a non-verbal test for early childhood children, attended to provide a scientific instrument for assessing the level of mental development of average children in early childhood and of language deficient handicapped children of many types for early identification, early diagnosis, and remedial education with appropriate teaching for development of children. Such diagnostic tools have not been available in Korea previously and as a result of the practice in the Speech and Hearing Center of Ewha Womans University for 3 to 4 years from the year of the Handicapped by U.N., 1981, the standardization of the Non-verbal Test was considered to be reliable and valid, performed to average children, and the base study of the standardization was made after 2 to 3 years study.
This Test, divised in Paris, France by Mme. Borel-Maisonny, aimed to give an early identification and an early diagnosis of the level of mental development for children from 18 months to 66 months old.
This Test consists of the Main Test and the Compensating Test, the Main Test has 4 subtests divided into eight stages according to difficulty of each subtest area, and three Compensating Test has 4 subtests divided into 5 to 7 stages according to difficulty of each subtest area.
This study was performed from July, 1984 to October, 1985 and the subjects were 892 children (420 average children and 472 handicapped children). The average children were attending nursery schools and kindergartens in Seoul and the handicapped subjects were children of mentally retarded, hearing impaired, learning disabled, language and/or pronunciation disordered, cerebral palsied, and stuttering and/or emotionally disturbed diagnosed and educated at the Speech and Hearing Center of Ewha Womans University.
Item Validity means of Each Test area and Intercorrelation coefficient are used as statistical methods for Data and Results.
The results of study were as follows;
First, the average children reached 6 months to 1 year higher levels of mental development than appropriate to their chronological children in the Main Test. So it is necessary to recheck the results after heightening difficulty. Second, the average children reached about 6 months higher levels of mental development than appropriate to their chronological children, in the Matching Eggs, one of subtests of the Compensating Test, and reached about 6 months to 1 year lower levels in three remaining subtests of the Compensating Test. So it is necessary to heighten the difficulty of Matching Eggs and to lower the difficulty of three remaining subtests of the Compensating Test.
Third, there is independence between four areas of the Main Test and four areas of the Compensating Tests.
Fourth, Matching Plastics and Making Stairs consisted one area of the Main Test made a highest contribution and Inserting a Cork, Finding Missing Parts of Pictures, and Drawing a Human Figure consisted one area of the Main Test made a lowest contribution. Matching Plastics with Different Thicknesses of the Compensating Test made a highest contribution and Matching Eggs of the Compensating Test made a lowest contribution.
Fifth, all types of handicapped children reached lower levels of mental development appropriate to their chronological children.
Sixth, especially cerebral palsied children didn't perform well in almost all test area. Therefore this test is inadequate for the children of motor disfunctioning or neurological disfunctioning.
This test will be more valid and reliable after a second standardization study is carried out to remedy the limitations revealed by the results of this study.