Tests of the Stanford Revision of the Binet- Simon Scale Most Frequently Failed by Children in Orthogenic Backward Classes
- Author:
Rebecca R. Townsend
Supervisor of Mental Examinations, Department of Special Education, Philadelphia
The object of this experiment was first, to determine the tests most frequently failed by children in the Orthogenic Backward classes and secondly to see how these failures correlated with the ability or inability to do school work. One hundred cases of ten year old children (10-0 to 10-11) were selected for the study. This age group was decided upon because it approximates the average age of Fifth Grade children, and also because it is the median age level between the Six and Fourteen Year Levels. Also the range for success and failure is equally distributed above and below the Ten Year Level. The cases were selected on the basis of the recommendations made by the different examiners, that is, all the cases used were recommended for placement in an Orothgenic Backward class. None of them was considered an institutional case and all are attending the public schools. The Intelligence Quotients ranged from 60 to 89. Only the starred Binet questions were used since the complete Binet is seldom given in the public schools. The following table shows the number of failures for each test.
Table I Year VI VII VIII IX X Test 1234 1256 2346 1 2 45 1256 Number Failures 3 2 0 2 3 5 13 21 33 14 45 52 43 59 84 65 97 92 94 83 There were no failures below the Six Year Level and no successes above the Twelve Year Level. One child passed test six at the Twelve Year Level and seven passed test seven at that level. Since one hundred children were tested the above numbers indicate the results in terms of per cent?that is, 3 per cent of the children failed test one at the six year level, etc. The number of failures at the Six Year Level is so small as to be almost negligible. At the Seven Year Level there is a decided discrepancy in the number of failures. The fact that there are seven times as many failures in copying a diamond as there are in giving the correct number of fingers on each hand and on both hands, not only indicates that these tests do not necessarily present the same difficulty but that the task of copying a diamond presents a problem to the retarded child that involves more than adequate muscular coordination. According to these results this test presents a more difficult problem than that of giving differences. This last mentioned test results in almost five times as many failures as the first test, and almost three times as many failures as that of giving satisfactory descriptions of pictures. These results would indicate that the tests at the Seven Year Level are not of equal difficulty and also that the diamond presents a more difficult and involved problem than might be expected.
At the Eight Year Level, the greatest number of failures occur in the vocabulary test. There are over three times as many failures in this test as there are in that of meeting practical situations where there are only 14 per cent of failures, which is less than the failures in copying the diamond at the Seven Year Level. The similarities test ranks next in number of failures at the Eight Year Level and compares with the number of failures at the Nine Year Level in giving the correct date. It would seem that these two tests would be better placed at the same age level. It is also evident that the vocabulary test is not comparable with the other tests at this level and, as realized all through the scale, is not an estimate of the individual’s native intelligence. This is true of many of the other tests, but the weakness of the vocabulary test is pronounced.
At the Nine Year Level, with the exception of the reverse memory span, the tests seem to show more correlation than any of the preceding tests at any one age level. The outstanding deviation in this series of tests is the great percentage of failures in the reverse memory span. The fact that 84 per cent of backward children fail this test, suggests that this problem is an economical one to present to candidates for an Orthogenic Backward class. It would be interesting to compare these failures among retarded children with children of so-called average ability. The percentage of failure for this test is even greater than that for naming twenty-eight words in one minute at the Ten Year Level. The failures in the reverse memory span are to be expected since it involves more abstract thinking than the preceding and some of the following tests. The test of composing sentences when three words are given claims the next number of failures at the Nine Year Level. This can be understood because of the demand made for the adequate use of language. This ability is related to some extent with the ability employed in passing the vocabulary test. The least number of failures at the Nine Year Level occurs at the first test where it is necessary to give the correct date. Following this, the problem of arranging five blocks of various weights from heaviest to lightest presents 59 per cent of failures. The failure to perform this task is often due to lack of comprehension and not always to poor kinaesthetic imagery.
At the Ten Year Level, the percentage of failures is naturally greater because the tests are approaching the chronological age level of the group. The first three tests at this level, namely? vocabulary test, sensing absurdities, and meeting practical situations show a fairly good correlation, (although this may not prove to be true among more normal types) but the test of naming twenty-eight words in one minute does not seem to be as difficult as the preceding tests and, as has been stated before, seems to be of about the same difficulty as the reverse memory span test. Taken collectively, however, the various tests seem to show better correlation at this age level than at any of the preceding levels. The following table shows in rank order the percentage of failures for each test below the Ten Year Level:
Failures No. op Test Name op Test 84% ^ Reverse Memory Span 65% 5 Using three words in a sentence 59% IX, 2 Arranging five weights 52% VIII, 6 Vocabulary Test 45% VIII, 4 Similarities (two things) 43% IX, 1 Giving the correct date 33% VIII, 2 Counting backward from 20 to 1 21% VII, 6 Copying a diamond 14% VIII, 3 Comprehension?third degree 13% VII, 5 Giving differences from memory 5% VII, 2 Description of pictures 3% VII, 1 Giving the number of fingers 3% VI, 1 Distinguishing right and left 2% VI, 2 Finding omissions in pictures 2% VI, 4 Comprehension?second degree This table shows that, at least for retarded children, the tests are not arranged according to difficulty in the present Binet-Simon Scale.
The tests most frequently failed have to do first with the problem of reverse memory span which presents too complex maTESTS OF THE BINET-SIMON SCALE 203 terial for the retarded child to cope with. The next most difficult test for this type of child is that of showing an adequate vocabulary which includes not only a good comprehension of the English language, but ability to define, use, and interpret words. Tests” involving this ability are not only the vocabulary tests, but others such as dissected sentences, sensing absurdities, association tests in naming twenty-eight words, and similarly the association of ideas on the basis of likenesses and differences. All of these tests show a high percentage in failure and consequently correlate with the inability of the individual to cope with complex situations. The copying of the diamond is also a test frequently failed by children of limited ability and one deserving of further analysis and study. An interesting case showing how good language ability gives a false representation of a child’s ability to do school work and to solve what for him is a new problem is that of a nine years and eight months old boy who is a dwarf and gives evidence of hydrocephaly. This child has been read to since he was old enough to understand language. This affords almost his only form of amusement. He did not play with other children, but when he wanted to be entertained, his mother read to him. He not only learned to read well before he came to school, but at the same time, he had asked questions about the reading and developed a very good, usable vocabulary. Although he is only in first grade because of his inability to spell and do arithmetic, he reads 4 B reading material readily and needs little prompting in 5th grade reading. He is able to tell what he has read and to give the meaning of such words as “locate,” “herd,” “preparing,” “preventitive,” etc. This ability to use language well enabled him to pass the tests just discussed and give him a rating on the Binet Scale comparable to his chronological age. This rating is not consistent with his ability to do school work or with his results on any of the other tests he was given to do. His inferior memory span and inferior performances on the mechanical tests are comparable with his native ability, but his Binet rating, accelerated by his good language ability, gives an example of how a judgment based on the ability to use language may not be correct in estimating the child’s ability to do school work.
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