Background: Research about the psychometric properties of the Behavioural Appraisal Scales (BAS) in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is limited. This study evaluates invariance in factor structure, item bias and convergent validity of the BAS. Methods: Data on the BAS from two studies (n = 25; n = 52) were…

Basic motor competencies (in German: Motorische Basiskompetenzen; MOBAK) are performance dispositions empowering children to participate in the movement culture. For the diagnosis of basic motor competencies, a test instrument consisting of 15 test items for assessing third graders' basic motor competencies was developed (MOBAK-LUX-3) and…

This study describes the importance of creativity in the identification of gifted elementary-aged children and presents the process of validating a scale for rating the creativity of the students through the teachers' responses. The results show the instrument's unifactorial structure, satisfactory levels of internal consistency, as well as…

Examines the structure of human abilities from a hierarchial viewpoint. Findings provided a description of the abilities that children may use in responding to the tasks included in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and provided a framework to generate clinical hypotheses about any child's performance. (LLL)

As a measure of musical aptitude, a new 90-item Pitch Discrimination Test was developed, and its internal structure was examined. Each of the three sections of the test measures an individual's aptitude for pitch discrimination in a different frequency range using square-wave tones generated by a personal computer. A total of 1,303 examinees,…

Investigated joint factor structure of Differential Abilities Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised for 115 children. Compared theoretically supportable models (Spearman's General factor; Wechsler's Verbal, Performance, and Freedom from Distractibility factors; Elliott's verbal, nonverbal, spatial, and diagnostic perspective)…

Studies on visual, musical, and speech perception abilities were used to construct auditory ability tests. Correlation and factorial analyses indicated separate capacities for auditory verbal comprehension, auditory immediate memory, temporal tracking, auditory cognition of relationships, discrimination among sound patterns, speech perception…

The purpose of this study was to replicate the study conducted by Potter, Sagraves, and McDonald to determine whether their recommended analysis could separate criterion variables into similar factors that were stable from year to year and from school to school. The replication samples consisted of all students attending Louisiana State University…

Twenty primary abilities were measured using the Comprehensive Ability Battery. Factor analysis produced six oblique second-stratum factors. Four were identified as capacities in Cattell's triadic theory of ability structure. Correlations among factors yielded three oblique third-stratum factors. Implications for a hierarchical conceptualization…

The evidence of this study suggests that it is useful to think of creativity and intelligence as the outgrowths of distinct (although overlapping) sets of influences, even when this is not well indicated by discriminant-convergent validation analyses carried out with respect to tests (in contrast to factors). (Authors)

The report addresses the question of the structure of cognitive abilities, i.e., how many different abilities should be identified and the relations between abilities. Models suggested by Spearman, Thurstone, Guilford, Vernon, Cattell-Horn and others are reviewed. By combining features of the Vernon and Cattell-Horn models it is possible to…

Each of 434 West German and 446 American high school teachers nominated one student as highly gifted. All teachers completed a questionnaire in which they rated their nominees on 83 characteristics. The intercorrelations of the items were factor analyzed to yield seven German and five American factors. (LMO)

The primary objectives of this project commonly refereed to as "Assessing Human Abilities" were: (1) to provide reference measures for cognitive factors; and (2) to provide a guide to reference measures for self-report temperament factors. The overall objective was to conduct research in the area of factor analysis directed toward the…

This study assessed level and structure differences across sex and ethnic groups on a newly developed multiple aptitude battery, called the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB), and established and examined the concurrent and differential validities of the battery relative to different groups. The 17 Ball ability variables are: clerical test; idea fluency;…

A TECHNIQUE OF PATTERN ANALYSIS WHICH EMPHASIZES THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS OF SCORING A GIVEN SET OF VARIABLES WAS FORMULATED. TO THE ORIGINAL VARIABLES WERE SUCCESSIVELY ADDED TWO, THREE, AND FOUR VARIABLE PATTERNS AND THE INCREASE IN PREDICTIVE EFFICIENCY ASSESSED. RANDOMLY SELECTED HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS WHO HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE…