Coloured Progressive Matrices Test Research Articles

COULD EARLY LITERACY SCORES AFFECT THE DIAGNOSIS OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER IN CHILDREN AT RISK

Background and objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the early literacy skills of pre-school children at risk of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) by comparing Test of Early Literacy (TEL) scores between three groups including the siblings of children with SLD, children with speech disorder and healthy controls. Methods: Children between the age of 60-72 months were recruited. The total number of participants was 81. A sociodemographic Data Form, the Colored Progressive Matrices Test (CPM) and TEL were applied to all participants. Results: A significant difference was determined between the performance of the three groups in all sub-tests of TEL. The children with speech disorder displayed the worst score in all sub-tests except vocabulary; this was followed by the siblings of children with SLD while the control group displayed the highest scores. Conclusion: The current study is the first investigating the TEL scores of pre-school children using a transparent language like Turkish at risk of SLD. The risky group with a language disorder showed the worst performance in almost all subtests examined. It is critical to start interventions early, assuming that this group will be at highest risk in the future.

Assessment of the impact of neuro-linguistic programming on primary Schoolchildren's intellectual capacity

BackgroundLebanon's education system confronts significant obstacles from political instability, economic downturns, and inequalities among children, underscoring the urgency for interventions like Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). This study posits that NLP techniques hold promise in equipping students with the tools to surmount these hurdles and enhance their intellectual capabilities. ObjectiveThis study examines the influence of NLP on the intellectual capacity and abstract reasoning skills of primary school children aged 6 to 11. MethodsOver four months, from April to July 2023, a before-and-after intervention study was conducted. The study involved children from a private urban school in Lebanon, and the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices test was individually administered to assess their intellectual abilities. This test was administered before and after the NLP intervention, which comprised four sessions for teachers and one for students. ResultsThe study involving 121 students (60.0% females, 40.0% males), indicated significant enhancements in performance, particularly among older students aged 8 to 11. Notable increases in mean scores were observed, such as 8-year-olds improving from 8.95 to 9.36 and 11-year-olds experiencing a significant boost from 6.86 to 12.69. Connectivity analysis revealed positive relationships between students' age and performance, with correlation coefficients of 0.328 before and 0.633 after the intervention. Similarly, strong correlations between grade level and performance were evident, with coefficients of 0.385 before and 0.716 after the intervention, both statistically significant (p < 0.001). Comparisons of intellectual abilities among students showcased more significant improvements among older age groups, emphasizing the potential benefits of NLP, particularly for students between 9 and 11 years old. ConclusionThe NLP intervention yielded notable enhancements in children's academic performance, particularly demonstrating a more pronounced positive effect among those aged 8 and older. Despite weaker correlations with parental factors, the study underscores the promising impact of NLP interventions on cognitive development, particularly among older students. As a cost-effective technique, NLP can be implemented with minimal resources, increasing accessibility even in resource-constrained environments.

Evaluating Psychometric Properties of Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices Test in Indonesian Sample using the Rasch Model

Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) is a psychological test well known among Indonesian psychologists to measure intelligence. Some researchers who use CPM in their research reveal that CPM has weaknesses in the principle of measurement equivalence. Therefore, the focus of this research is to evaluate the details of the psychometric properties of CPM by using the Rasch model. This research used a secondary data analysis approach, where the primary data sets from a psychological service were collected into a single file for further analysis. Data of 371 boys and 377 girls with an age range of five to seven years old who took an intelligence test to assess their school readiness were collected. The Rasch model analysis showed that CPM showed unidimensionality and local independence, had a fairly good reliability value, and eight items were unsuitable for testing intelligence. Only twenty-eight items of CPM were suitable for measuring children’s intelligence in Indonesia

A network analysis involving mental difficulties, cognition, physical fitness, 24-hour movement components, fatness, and sociodemographic factors in children

BackgroundEvidence supports the beneficial linear influence of diverse lifestyle behaviors on brain health since childhood; however, multiple behaviors -and not only one-simultaneously affect such outcomes. Therefore, the aim was to explore the multivariate relationship through a network analysis among mental difficulty and cognitive function with physical fitness (PF), 24-h movement components, fatness, and sociodemographic factors in children. MethodsCross-sectional study involved 226 children (52.2 % boys) aged between six and 11 years. Mental difficulties were evaluated through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and cognitive function by the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test. The body mass index and PF were assessed according to the procedures suggested by the Proesp-Br, while moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) using accelerometry. The socioeconomic level, sleep, and screen time were evaluated by questionnaires. A network analysis was carried out to evaluate the associations among variables and establish centrality measures. ResultsAge and PF moderated the negative relationship between cognitive function and MVPA. Furthermore, the direct and inverse relationship between cognitive function and mental difficulties appears to be affected by the 24-h movement components. Finally, age, PF, and screen time are the nodes with higher values of expected influence, indicating more sensitivity to interventions for decreasing mental difficulty and improving cognitive function. ConclusionMental health and cognitive function were moderated by the multivariate interaction among age, PF, and the three 24-h movement components. Nonetheless, centrality measures from the network analysis suggest that PF, MVPA, and screen time are crucial nodes in order to implement future interventions.

The Relative Strengths of Relationships Between Fine Motor Skills, Working Memory, Processing Speed and Fluid Intelligence in Early Elementary School Children.

The goal in the present paper was to examine the combined and relative impact of fine motor ability, auditory working memory, and processing speed on fluid intelligence in a sample of early elementary school students. Our participant sample was 145 children (Mage = 9.1years, SD = 1.1; 80 boys, 65 girls). We used the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test as a measure of fluid intelligence and five other measures to represent the three predictor variables: the Grooved Pegboard Test as a measure of fine motor skills, Digit Span Forwards and Digit Span Backwards tests as measures of working memory, and Rapid Automatized Naming and Letter-Digit Substitution tasks as measures of processing speed. Regression analyses indicated that only two of these measures had a statistically significant association with the fluid intelligence test scores, namely, scores on the Grooved Pegboard (fine motor skills) and Digit Span Backwards (working memory) tests, with these two measures explaining 35% of the variance in the fluid intelligence test scores. Thus, fine motor skills and working memory were correlated with fluid intelligence in early elementary-grade students. Until the directions of these relationships are better understood, we might assume that interventions aiming to increase young children's fluid intelligence, or at least their intelligence scores, might partly target working memory and fine motor skills.

Bilingualism and intelligence in children exposed to poverty environments: A Raven's error pattern analysis using a generalized propensity score method

The main objective of this study is to compare the quantitative (correct answers) and qualitative (error types) performance of children belonging to different linguistic groups on a non-verbal reasoning test, Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test, after being matched based on level of exposure to poverty, certain individual characteristics and test performance. The sample is representative for Mexico at a population level and consists of children aged 5 to 12 (n = 4644), of which 671 are bilingual in Spanish and an indigenous language, 3970 are monolingual in Spanish and 78 are monolingual in an indigenous language. The results show significant quantitative differences with a lower overall performance in the Raven's test by bilingual children as compared to their monolingual (Spanish only) peers, but no qualitative differences when analyzing their error types. When considering each linguistic group individually, the relative frequency of three error types (Repetition, Wrong Principle, and Incomplete Correlate) is similar in children aged 5 to 8 and in those aged 9 to 12. However, considering the two age cohorts, the results reveal how the intragroup differences in each linguistic group, are only statistically significant in the case of Difference errors, in the group of monolingual children in Spanish.In addition to practical use that may be potentially derived from this empirical evidence, these results may also be encouraging from a methodological point of view. They demonstrate how the method used, in addition to permitting greater comparison between the experimental groups of a representative sample at a population level, does not present high sensitivity, either for the model used to estimate the Generalized Propensity Score method, or for the specific estimator used.

An examination of the early literacy skills of five- to six-year-old children who are deaf and hard of hearing

ABSTRACT Children’s early literacy skills (ELS) are closely related to literacy learning and reading comprehension performance. Children who cannot acquire early literacy skills face significant difficulties in doing so in the following years. Although it is widely known that children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) perform less well in early literacy skills than their typically developing peers, there is not enough information about the magnitude of the performance differences and in which skills these occur in Turkish-speaking children who are DHH. In this study, the early literacy skills (language, vocabulary, phonological awareness and letter knowledge) of 30 Turkish-speaking DHH children and 30 with typical development (TD) attending kindergarten were compared. The Coloured Progressive Matrices Test, as well as the Turkish early language development and Turkish expressive and receptive language tests, in addition to the early literacy one, were used to determine the children’s skill levels. The results of the analysis showed that the DHH children performed at significantly lower levels in language, vocabulary and phonological awareness skills than their peers with TD, while there was no major difference between the two groups in letter knowledge. The outcomes also revealed that there were a higher number of significant relationships among the early literacy skills of the DHH children than those with TD. The findings of are further discussed in regard to their contribution to current research and practice relating to the early literacy skills of Turkish-speaking children who are DHH.

Intelligence and intellectual disability in children-research phases

The article reports on intelligence and intellectual disability, definitions and measurement tools are presented. A research was carried out in order to delimit two groups of preschoolers, with intellect either within the limit of typical development or within the limit of intellectual disability, by applying the Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices test. The results were evaluated using the statistical method, and in the result the groups of children were structured according to the criterion of the level of intelligence development.

Norm and Standardization Study for Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, 5-9 Age Group.

The aim of the present study was to test the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test for children in the 5-9 age group and to determine the psychometric attributes of this tool. Intelligence is a complex and abstract concept. Therefore, it is not possible to observe or measure directly. However, it helps experts to have an idea about the intelligence levels of people with the evaluation scales used. Nonverbal ability tests are also one of the assessment scale types used for this purpose. The study was conducted based on the general survey model. One district from each socioeconomic development region was selected via random assignment taking as a basis the socioeconomic development listing for the districts. The study was carried out with 753 children from 4 different socioeconomic development regions. Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-3, Colored Progressive Matrices Test, and Denver II Developmental Screening Test were used for data collection. Cronbach Alpha reliability, test-retest reliability, and parallel form reliability were calculated during Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test reliability analyses. For validity analysis, the level of correlation between Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test and Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-3 and Colored Progressive Matrices Test tests was examined. It was determined that Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test has high reliability with an average reliability coefficient of .88. High correlation was observed between the A and B forms of Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test A (r = 0.93, P < .001) and during the test-retest analyses (0.87, 0.88). A statistically significant difference was determined between the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test scores and class level and age group, while a statistically significant difference could not be determined based on gender. A high, positive, and statistically significant correlation was determined between Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test and Colored Progressive Matrices Test (r = 0.84, P < .001), whereas a moderate, positive, and statistically significant correlation was determined between Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test and Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-3 (r = 0.52, P < .001). The findings illustrate that Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test is a valid and reliable intelligence test for measuring general intellectual ability and for assessing reasoning skills.

Bender-Gestalt II Test: Psychometric Properties with Global Scoring System on a Turkish Standardization Sample

ABSTRACT The present study aims to standardize the Bender-Gestalt II Test by exploring its psychometric properties on a Turkish sample between the ages of 4 and 17 years and to obtain its normative values. The standardization sample consisted of 2691 students aged 4.0–17.11 years/months from low, middle, and high socioeconomic statuses, attending preschool, primary, and high school education. The participants were administered the Bender-Gestalt II Test and other tests, including the Gesell Developmental Schedules test, Colored Progressive Matrices Test, Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test, Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices Test, and Visual-Aural Digit Span Test-Revised Form, according to their age groups. The results revealed the absolute agreement values of the Copy items to be between .87 and .98. Thereafter, we calculated the test-retest reliability coefficients of the Copy scores to range from .74 to .67 by age groups, while the split-half reliability coefficients for each age group were between .62 and .87. The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested its single-factor structure for all age groups. The Copy scores showed significant correlations and predicted the criterion characteristics, which include general cognitive ability, mental development/fine motor skills, short-term memory, and attention. Overall, the present study confirmed that the Bender-Gestalt II Test is a valid, reliable, and standardized measure to evaluate the visual-motor integration ability of those aged 4.0–17.11 years/months.

Picky Eating Behaviour, Feeding Practices, Dietary Habits, Weight Status and Cognitive Function Among School Children in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Introduction: Picky eating behaviour was linked to nutritional problems due to limited dietary variety. This study aimed to determine the causes and consequences associated with picky eating behaviour among school-aged children in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Methods: A total of 339 children aged seven to nine years participated in this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic factors, eating behaviours and child/ parental feeding style were assessed through parent’s questionnaires, while eating habits of children were accessed through child’s questionnaire. Body height and weight were measured; body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Cognitive function level was determined using the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices test. Results: One third (38%) of the children were picky eaters and consumed lesser vegetables (χ2=4.49,p=0.034) and fish (χ2=5.55,p=0.019), but more milk and dairy products (χ2=3.91,p=0.048), snacks (χ2=6.25,p=0.012) and fast food (χ2=7.35,p=0.007) compared to non-picky eaters. Picky eaters were more likely to have normal weight status based on weight-for-age, height-for-age and BMI-for-age compared to non-picky eaters (p&lt;0.05). Picky eaters came from a household with other picky eaters in the family and their parents tend to use an instrumental feeding style. Picky eaters had a poorer cognitive function compared to non-picky eaters (p=0.03). Conclusion: We did not find significant differences in growth parameters between picky and non-picky eaters but picky eaters were more likely to have a poorer cognitive function. As parental feeding styles significantly influenced children’s eating behaviour, interventions should target parents to improve their children’s dietary variety.

Relationship between neuropsychological test scores and hippocampal atrophy in non-demented Japanese older adults

BackgroundIt is essential to detect morphological changes in the brain prior to the onset of cognitive decline. Although hippocampal volumes have been reported to be correlated with scores on neuropsychological tests, this relationship is still unclear among Japanese non-demented older adults. Thus, this exploratory retrospective study aimed to identify neuropsychological tests that correlate with the degree of hippocampal atrophy in Japanese non-demented older adults. MethodsThirteen non-demented Japanese older adults aged 71.2 ± 5.2 years were included. Hippocampal atrophy was evaluated by assessing the participants’ MRI scans using the voxel-based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer’s disease (VSRAD) software. Spearman’s partial correlation analyses were conducted to reveal relationships between VSRAD scores and neuropsychological test scores, including Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices test (RCPM), the Standard Verbal Paired Associate Learning test (SP-A), and the Trail Making Test (TMT) scores by controlling for age, sex, and years of education. ResultsThe Spearman’s partial correlation analysis results revealed that there were significant correlations between the degree of hippocampal atrophy and RCPM (rho = -0.691, p = 0.027), TMT part B (rho = 0.823, p = 0.003), and the related SP-A test scores (rho = -0.663, p = 0.027). ConclusionsOur results indicate that neuropsychological tests, particularly the TMT part B, might be used in assessing the degree of hippocampal atrophy in non-demented Japanese elderly individuals and should be studied further in the future to develop screening methods to detect brain atrophy.

Association between Early Cognitive Impairment and Short-Term Functional Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: Little is known about the association between poststroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) and functional outcome in the acute care phase of ischemic stroke and the influence of the clinical condition of acute stroke on this association. We examined this issue, taking into account stroke-related factors, in a hospital-based prospective study of patients with acute ischemic stroke. The same analysis was also performed after subsequent rehabilitation to investigate whether the association observed in the acute care phase persisted after that. For comparison, the same analysis was performed for pre-stroke dementia (PreSD). Methods: We included in the study a total of 923 patients with acute ischemic stroke who were admitted to a hospital from 2012 to 2020 in Japan. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination and Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices test at an average of 6.3 days after stroke onset. The subjects were divided into three groups with normal cognition, PSCI, and PreSD. Study outcome was a poor functional outcome, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of ≥3 at the end of acute care (median 21 days after admission). Among total subjects, 460 were also assessed for poor functional outcome after rehabilitation (median 77 days after admission). A logistic regression model was applied in this study. Results: Patients with PSCI and PreSD had higher median National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores than those with normal cognition (median [IQR]: 3 [2–6], 4 [2–12], and 2 [1–4], respectively). The age- and sex-adjusted cumulative incidence of poor functional outcome was significantly higher in patients with PSCI and PreSD than in those with normal cognition in the acute care and rehabilitation phases. In the acute care phase, these associations remained significant after adjustment for stroke-related factors and other confounders (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio [95% CI] for PSCI vs. normal cognition: 3.28 [2.07–5.20]; for PreSD: 2.39 [1.40–4.08]). Similar results were observed in the rehabilitation phase (for PSCI: 2.48 [1.31–4.70]; for PreSD: 3.92 [1.94–7.92]). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that PSCI, as well as PreSD, is possibly associated with the development of poor functional outcome in the acute care phase of ischemic stroke, and this association continues thereafter.

Investigation of Working Memory Performances of Children with Low Early Mathematics Achievement

This study examined the working memory performance of children with low early mathematics achievement in comparison with their peers and analyzed the relationships between these skill areas. The distribution of children with low, average and high early mathematics achievement according to their working memory levels was also examined. The participants consisted of 100 kindergarten children with typical development and average and above-average intelligence. The Colored Progressive Matrices Test (CPM) was used to determine nonverbal intelligence levels, the Test of Early Mathematics Ability, Third Edition (TEMA-3) to evaluate early math skills and the Working Memory Scale (WMS) to determine working memory performances of the children. Children were divided into three groups of low, average and high achievement according to their early mathematics achievement assessed by the TEMA-3. It was found that the working memory performances of children with low, average and high achievement in early mathematics differed significantly. The working memory performance of children with low early mathematics achievement was significantly lower than their peers with average and high achievement. The results of the relationships between early math skills and working memory showed that early math skills and working memory components, except for visual short-term memory, were correlated to a small and medium degree. The distributions of working memory levels of the groups were examined and the results showed that children with low early mathematics achievement had low and average working memory performance, while children with high early mathematics achievement mostly had average and high working memory performance. However, none of the children with low early mathematics achievement showed high working memory performance. The results are discussed within the framework of the literature.

MABC-2 TRANSCULTURAL ADAPTATION AND EVALUATION OF CHILDREN AGED 7 TO 10 YEARS WITH AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER

Motor development is not part of the diagnostic criteria for people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, but it must be considered in the assessment and intervention process of ASD children. Objectives: To carry out translation and transcultural adaptation to Portuguese / Brazil version of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) for the 7-10 year age group and test the version translated into children with ASD. Method: The study was applied to 41 boys with ASD and correlated with Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices test (CPM). Results and Discussion: It was observed that the correlations with the standard scores between the domains assessed by MABC-2 and the CPM results showed to be median for MD (r = 0.454, p = 0.012) and B (r = 0.324, p = 0.081) and small for A&amp;C (r = 0.170, p = 0.368). By the traffic light system, 83% of those evaluated were classified in the red zone, with significant motor deficits. Conclusion: Correlation tests showed that the degree of intelligence seems to influence motor performance. The relevance of studies and assessments about motor area for ASD children is considered, minimizing the factors that may interfere with the motor tasks performance.

National Non-verbal Cognitive Ability Test (BNV) Development Study

The aim of the present study is to develop a national non-verbal cognitive ability test in Turkey. Test items were developed during the first stage and applied as a pilot study on 3,073 children in the age interval of 4 to 13. The test was given its final form based on the values of item difficulty, item distinctiveness, item total score correlation. Norm study was carried out at 12 different provinces with a total of 9,129 children comprised of 4,464 females (49%) and 4,665 (51%) males. Test-retest, split-halves, KR-20, and KR-21 methods were applied for the reliability analyses of the study. Standard error, standard deviation, and reliability coefficient were calculated for the measurement. Content and construct validity along with criterion-related validity analysis methods were used for validity analyses. The KR-20 reliability coefficient obtained from the complete sample group was estimated as 0.92. Test-retest reliability coefficient was determined as 0.80. A correlation of .71 was determined between Naglieri Cognitive Ability test and BNV test. A correlation of .67 was determined between Toni-3 test and BNV test while a correlation of .86 was determined between BNV and Colored Progressive Matrices Test.

Early life multiple exposures and child cognitive function: A multi-centric birth cohort study in six European countries

Epidemiological studies mostly focus on single environmental exposures. This study aims to systematically assess associations between a wide range of prenatal and childhood environmental exposures and cognition. The study sample included data of 1298 mother-child pairs, children were 6–11 years-old, from six European birth cohorts. We measured 87 exposures during pregnancy and 122 cross-sectionally during childhood, including air pollution, built environment, meteorology, natural spaces, traffic, noise, chemicals and life styles. The measured cognitive domains were fluid intelligence (Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices test, CPM), attention (Attention Network Test, ANT) and working memory (N-Back task). We used two statistical approaches to assess associations between exposure and child cognition: the exposome-wide association study (ExWAS) considering each exposure independently, and the deletion-substitution-addition algorithm (DSA) considering all exposures simultaneously to build a final multiexposure model. Based on this multiexposure model that included the exposure variables selected by ExWAS and DSA models, child organic food intake was associated with higher fluid intelligence (CPM) scores (beta = 1.18; 95% CI = 0.50, 1.87) and higher working memory (N-Back) scores (0.23; 0.05, 0.41), and child fast food intake (−1.25; −2.10, −0.40), house crowding (−0.39; −0.62, −0.16), and child environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) (−0.89; −1.42, −0.35), were all associated with lower CPM scores. Indoor PM2.5 exposure was associated with lower N-Back scores (−0.09; −0.16, −0.02). Additional associations in the unexpected direction were found: Higher prenatal mercury levels, maternal alcohol consumption and child higher perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) levels were associated with better cognitive performance; and higher green exposure during pregnancy with lower cognitive performance. This first comprehensive and systematic study of many prenatal and childhood environmental risk factors suggests that unfavourable child nutrition, family crowdedness and child indoor air pollution and ETS exposures adversely and cross-sectionally associate with cognitive function. Unexpected associations were also observed and maybe due to confounding and reverse causality.

Foundational Study on the Simple Detection of Impairment Resulting in Dangerous Driving in Patients with Higher Brain Dysfunction.

ABSTRACTObjectives:We performed a survey of medical records to reveal the cognitive deficits behind dangerous driving in patients with higher brain dysfunction.Methods:Thirty-four patients with higher brain dysfunction were included in this study. Patients’ basic characteristics, neuropsychological test results, scores on two types of driving aptitude tests, and accident/near miss data from a driving simulator were extracted from medical records. We conducted χ2 tests for independence between comprehensive driving aptitude scores and “traffic accidents” / “being prohibited from driving as defined by the number of traffic accidents and near misses.” Backward logistic regression analysis was carried out to assess correlations of “traffic accidents” and “being prohibited from driving as defined by the number of traffic accidents and near misses” with neuropsychological test scores.Results:No significant correlation was observed between the comprehensive driving aptitude score and “traffic accidents” / “being prohibited from driving as defined by the number of traffic accidents and near misses.” The score on the Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices test was the only factor identified as a significant predictor of “being prohibited from driving as defined by the number of traffic accidents and near misses.”Conclusions:The results of this study suggest that it is important to focus on the decline in problem-solving ability as a predictor of “being prohibited from driving as defined by the number of traffic accidents and near misses.”

A Feasibility Study for Developing a Computerized Adaptive Form of Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices Test for Omani Children Based on the Item Response Theory

The current study investigated the feasibility of developing a computerized adaptive form of Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices test, one of the most important culture-free intelligent tests, using the Item Response Theory. The test consists of 36 items divided into three groups. The data used in the current study were adapted from the study by Kadhim et al. (2008), which included 1042 subjects, aged 5 to 10 from both genders and distributed into 11 Omani governorates. Item Response Theory assumptions were met and then the mirtCAT package was used to evaluate a computerized adaptive form of the test. Raven’s test items were compatible with the three-parameter model which was used to scale the test items. The Maximum Fisher Information method was used to select items in the adaptive form. The full and the adaptive forms were compared to each other across the different simulated conditions in the current study. The results indicated that using 17 items of the adaptive form could accurately estimate the subjects’ abilities without a substantial loss of information. The previous finding is a preliminary indication of the possibility of developing an adaptive form of the colored progressive matrices test that can be used in various assessments that practitioners may need to assess, classify or diagnose children.

Influence of hematoma volume and age on cognitive functions and ADL after putaminal hemorrhage

Background and objectiveAfter cerebral hemorrhage, cognitive functions and activities of daily living (ADL) are affected by various factors, including hematoma volume and patient age. In the present study, we investigated the effect of age and hematoma volume on cognitive functions and on ADL. MethodsThe sample comprised 274 patients (183 men and 91 women; mean age 58.2 ± 12.5 years) with putaminal hemorrhage who were hospitalized in a convalescent rehabilitation ward. Hematoma volume was estimated from computed tomography imaging at stroke onset. Cognitive functions were evaluated using Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices test (RCPM) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at hospital admission, while ADL score was assessed at discharge using the Functional Independence Measure motor subscale (FIM-M). In the present study, we classified the patients into six groups according to whether they were non-elderly or elderly (cutoff age, 60 years) and whether their hematoma was small, medium, or large (cutoff volumes, 20 and 40 mL, respectively). Subsequently, the scores on the RCPM, MMSE, and FIM-M were compared among the groups. ResultsIn both age groups, patients with a larger hematoma volume had lower RCPM and MMSE scores. Patients <60 years old exhibited different trends in their RCPM and MMSE scores, such that the RCPM score showed a step-wise decrease according to hematoma volume, while a difference in the MMSE score was only observed at the 20 mL boundary. Most of the younger patients (<60 years of age) attained high FIM-M scores at discharge, as long as their hematoma volume was either medium or small (<40 mL). This age group had higher RCPM scores on admission, which may have contributed to their higher FIM-M scores on discharge. ConclusionsIn the present study, we demonstrated that advancing age increases the effect of hematoma volume on RCPM and MMSE scores and identified differences in the effects observed on these two scores. Thus, it may be important to use the RCPM alongside the MMSE for patient assessment.