Kaufman test to measure intelligence for adolescents and adults
The Kaufman test for measuring intelligence for adolescents and adults ( K-TIM ) is an intelligence test that can be used in the age range from 11 to 85 years. It was developed by the American psychologists Alan S. Kaufman and Nadeen L. Kaufman and the German version was first published in 1997. It is based on the American version of the test, the "Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test" (KAIT) which was first launched in 1993. It is mainly based on the two-factor theory of Raymond Bernard Cattell , but also more recent research results. It is a test that extends the scope of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) to adolescents and adults.
Theoretical foundations
The two-factor theory of Cattell is based on the assumption that general intelligence is determined by two different factors that are fundamentally different from each other:
- fluid intelligence (liquid intelligence);
- crystalline intelligence.
Fluid intelligence describes the ability to reasonably think and solve unknown tasks. But also includes other concepts such as processing speed. Their development is little dependent on environmental factors.
Crystalline intelligence describes the application of learned problem-solving strategies, for example verbal understanding or the application of general knowledge.
Cattell saw intelligence not only determined by a single factor, which is called the g-factor in psychology , but by the named two factors.
application
The structure of the K-TIM is based on psychological test theory and measures different skills in eight sub-tests, each of which is assigned to a fluid or crystalline measuring scale. Some subtests of the fluid scale are kept speech-free in order to rule out cultural and linguistic differences. Two additional, optional (i.e. optionally usable) sub-tests query information learned in the test again after an interval.
The evaluation offers two different IQ values that are based on the theoretical background of fluid and crystalline intelligence. An overall intelligence value can also be calculated. “However, this should only be interpreted as a summative value and not in the sense of a theoretical construct,” such as the g-factor , a value that summarizes the basic intellectual abilities. In the evaluation, too, reference is made to the theoretical construct of fluid and crystalline intelligence, which differentiates a strict separation between intelligence values based on environmental factors and those not influenced by environmental factors.
Normalization
The K-TIM is based on a sample of 2200 people from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol.
review
The K-TIM is a comprehensive and theoretically well-founded intelligence test. The disadvantage is the high proportion of tasks that query memory performance. Here it is unclear to what extent the test does justice to the theoretical background, since the memory performance is only awarded to a part of the intelligence performance.
Individual evidence
- ^ RB Cattell (1963): Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol 54 (1), 1-22.
- ↑ a b Melchers, P., Schürmann, S. and Scholten, S. (2006): Kaufman - Test for measuring intelligence for adolescents and adults (K-TIM). German version of the Kaufman - Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT) by AS Kaufman & NL Kaufman. Leiden / NL: PITS BV Journal for Neuropsychology, 20 (2), 2009, 153 - 161