Child Assessment Cognitive

1
Child Assessment Cognitive Language Development

• The options are in 2 major categories
•  
• Parent report (e.g. PARCA)
• Researcher administered (e.g. BAS, Bracken WPPSI)

CHILD DEVELOPMENT TED MELHUISH JAY BELSKY
SURE START EVALUATION
2
Parent report measures have 2 major disadvantages

•  
• Predictive validity not as good as researcher
  administered assessments
• Biases related to parental education (and
  possibly ethnicity) resulting in differential
  validity

3
Researcher Administered Assessment Alternatives

• British Ability Scales (BAS) Verbal, Nonverbal
  and General Cognitive
• Bracken Basic Concepts Scale (BBCS) Verbal
  reception and Nonverbal
• WPPSI Verbal Nonverbal and General Cognitive
• BPVS (EPVT) Verbal reception
• This is a selection from the range of instruments
  available

4
NESS Currently Uses

• British Ability Scales
•  
• 4 subtests
• Block Building Visuo-Motor
• Picture Similarities Visual Concepts
• Naming Vocabulary Verbal Production
• Verbal Comprehension Verbal Reception
• These 4 subtests can be combined to give
• Verbal Score
• NonVerbal Score
• Total Score General Cognitive Ability

5
Which Assessment to Use?

• Once you decide on researcher administration
  several assessments are available and all have
  good reliability and validity.
•  
• Choice depends on
• Cost
• Ease of training
• Which are the most important constructs to
• measure (i.e. subtests)