Development test

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A development test is a diagnostic test procedure which e.g. B. can be used in the field of education and psychology . With the help of projective or psychometric methods, the aim is to determine quantitative and / or qualitative statements about the level of development of children and adolescents . A development test can be one or more dimensional. A typical area of ​​application is the determination of the entrance qualification.

Basics

In science, a distinction is made between a traditional and a modern understanding of development (see the environmental-investment debate ):

  1. The traditional perspective views development as neurological maturation. Even the smallest deviations from general development principles can be considered pathological.
  2. From a modern point of view, a more differentiated and broader understanding of normal development is assumed, which is empirically proven and taken into account accordingly in development tests.

Content structure

Development tests can be broken down into screening procedures, general and specific development tests:

  1. Screening methods are systematic, time-efficient test methods that provide an initial orientation (classification: conspicuous / normal) in the case of certain symptoms. When a suspected case is confirmed, a more detailed examination must follow as part of a differential diagnosis to determine the actual developmental deficits.
  2. General development tests examine a more comprehensive spectrum in child and adolescent development than pure screening methods do and thus enable a finer determination of symptoms:
  • Body motor skills (gross motor skills)
  • Manual dexterity (fine motor skills)
  • Eye-hand coordination (visuomotor skills)
  • perception
  • Language development
  • emotional development
  • Social development
  • cognitive development
  1. Specific development tests concentrate on certain areas or on a certain range of services. Some development tests deal explicitly with certain disorders in the precursor skills (e.g. dyslexia , dyscalculia, or ADHD ).

Statement of development tests

Development states and development processes are measured. Development processes can only be determined by repeatedly recording development states over a certain period of time. The evaluation of the development processes enables a control and review, for example, of the effectiveness of certain support measures. Development profiles show a differentiated level of development of a child or adolescent in the areas tested.

Goodness of development tests

The currently common scientifically founded development tests are objective in their implementation, evaluation and interpretation and, as standardized procedures, deliver reliable results. All current development tests show validity in terms of content (cf. Macha, Proske & Petermann, 2005). Current standards in performance diagnostics, which also include development tests, are particularly important. As in the area of intelligence diagnostics, there are generation-dependent differences in the development area ( Flynn effect ).

List of development tests (examples)

See also

Web links

Basics of development diagnostics and development tests in general

literature

  • Jürgen Bortz, Nicola Döring: Research methods and evaluation. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-33305-0 .
  • T. Macha, A. Proske, F. Petermann: Validity of development tests. In: Childhood and Development. Volume 14, 2005, pp. 150-162.
  • F. Petermann, T. Macha: Developmental Diagnostics. In: Childhood and Development. Volume 14, 2005, pp. 131-139.
  • R. Rosner: Developmental Diagnostics and Developmental Tests in Clinical Developmental Psychology. In: R. Oerter, C. v. Hagen, G. Röper, G. Noam (Ed.): Clinical developmental psychology. Psychologie Verlags Union, Weinheim 1999, pp. 119–147.