Motor-Free Visual Perception Test Research Articles

Effects of figure-ground reversal on the visual-perceptual and visuo-motor performances of cerebral palsied and normal children.

Individuals with brain damage often encounter visual perceptual and visuo-motor difficulties. Studies have indicated an improvement in exceptional individuals' performances when the colors of figure-ground materials were reversed. Effects of reversals were studied for spastic cerebral palsied and normal children's scores on the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration and the Motor-free Visual Perception Test. Normal children performed better than the cerebral palsied children on all tests; the cerebral palsied children performed best on the reversed-format Motor-free Visual Perception Test. Reversal affected neither group's scores on visual-motor integration.

Visual exploratory activity of hemiplegic patients viewing the motor-free visual perception test.

Eye movements of adult hemiplegics (11 right- and 9 left-brain-damaged patients) and 11 nonimpaired controls were recorded as they viewed selected cards of the Motor-free Visual Perception Test. The major finding was that neither group of patients exhibited an asymmetry of visual exploration (unilateral visual neglect) as they viewed the cards. Their scanning strategies were, however, unsystematic and irregular. In addition, both groups of patients scanned the cards longer and made more errors than controls. Use of the Motor-free Visual Perception Test as an appropriate measure for the general assessment of visual-perceptual processing abilities of adult brain-damaged patients who lack severe clinical manifestations of neglect is discussed.

Performance of schizophrenic patients on a motor-free visual perception test.

The Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT) was administered to 15 chronic schizophrenic patients and 15 normal controls, ages 40 to 60, to see whether, perceptual deficits would be found on non-motor tasks. Groups significantly affected performance on the MVPT, as did occupational status. In the schizophrenic group only, efficiency of intellectual functioning was positively related to how well they performed on the MVPT. Age, educational level, and IQ had no significant impact on functioning on this test in either group. The schizophrenic patients made more errors on the more complex operations of the MVPT, and the only significant group differences in percentage of subjects' own errors was in figure-ground. The MVPT may be useful in screening for visual-perceptual deficits in adult schizophrenic patients.

Measures of Visual Closure

The manual for Motor-free Visual Perception Test (Colarusso & Hammill, 1972) describes visual closure as a form of visual discrimination which involves the to identify incomplete when only fragments are presented (p. 8). The manual of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (Kirk, McCarthy, & Kirk, 1968) describes visual closure as ability to identify a common object from an incomplete visual presentation (p. 12 ) . Although these two definitions of visual closure are similar, careful examination of two measures indicates several differences. First, format of tasks differs. The Motor-free Visual Perception Test items are presented in multiple-choice format and child points to one of four choices which would be like stimulus item if we finished drawing these figures (Colarusso & Hammill, 1972, p. 26). On visual dosure subtest of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities child points to as many hidden objects he can find in pictures containing distraaing stimuli. Secondly, stimulus items are different; Motor-free Visual Perception Test uses geometric shapes and letters while Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities uses common objects, such as shoes and bottles. Thirdly, latter is timed, while former is not.

Comparative assessment of visual perceptual abilities in the trainable mentally retarded.

Visual perceptual abilities of 47 institutionalized trainable retarded subjects were compared on selected measures of visual perception. Significant relationships were found between the Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the Matching and Copying subtests of the Metropolitan Readiness Test. Only moderate correlations were found between these two subtests and Motor-free Visual Perception Test.

49 DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN BORN TO WOMEN WHO RECEIVED METHADONE DURING PREGNANCY

Although evidence suggests that infants of methadone dependent women (IMDW) are within normal range in their mental and motor development, this is predictive neither of later intellectual functioning nor the presence of learning disorders. In order to investigate the possible existence of long-term dysfunction, 25 IMDW who underwent abstinence and 25 control Ss are being evaluated at 4 yrs. of age. To date, 10 male and 11 female Ss have been studied. The addicted group, N=9, x age 4.3, were born to methadone maintained women participating in the Family Center Program. The non-addicted group, N=12, x age 4.3, were randomly selected from a stratified population of comparable socioeconomic, race and medical backgrounds. Ss were assessed with: Test of Language Development (TOLD), Imitation of Gestures (IM), Motor Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT), Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and a neurological exam. Group means and standard deviations were: A t-test revealed no significant differences between groups on the WPPSI (t=1.04, p<.05). All neurological exams were normal. This preliminary data suggests that there are no apparent longterm effects on children from prenatal methadone use.

Assessment of visual-motor disabilities in young children: Toward differential diagnosis

This study sought to determine if the nature of disability (visual, motor, or both) could be diagnosed for children with visual-motor integration disabilities and to determine methods by which appropriate diagnoses could be made. A total of 104 children aged 6 and 7 were selected for having Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test performance below average for their age. The Motor-Free Visual Perception Test and the Southern California Motor Accuracy Test were then administered to the children, and subgroups were identified who demonstrated no visual disabilities and/or no motor disabilities. These results were seen as supporting the existence of semiautonomous visual and motor systems. Using multiple regression analyses, the types of errors of reproduction, time to completion, and behavioral observations from the Bender Test were considered as predictors of visual perception and motor accuracy. Analyses were performed for the two age groups and two criterion variables separately. The number of integration errors was found to be the only significant predictor of both visual perception and motor accuracy for the six-year-old group and accounted for less than 15% of the variance in each criterion variable. Number of integration errors and the frequency of tracing the design with the finger were found to be significant predictors for the seven-year-old group and accounted for about 22% of the variance. There were no significant predictors of motor accuracy for the seven-year-old group. It was concluded that there is a need for differential diagnosis of visual vs. motor disabilities and for further investigations to determine valid methods. Suggestions for assessment and future research included use of clinical limits-testing procedures, development and refinement of test instruments, and consideration of additional variables in predicting visual perceptual and motor expressive ability.

Appropriateness of the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test When Used with the Trainable Mentally Retarded

Appropriateness of the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test When Used with the Trainable Mentally Retarded