SON-R 5 1 / 2-17
The Snijders-Oomen Non-Verbal Intelligence Test (SON) is an individual test for examining the intelligence of children , which can be carried out without the use of spoken ( non-verbal ) or written language. This means that the test person does not have to be able to read or write. In addition, no specific language is required for solving the test tasks.
history
The first version appeared in 1943 and was originally intended for the examination of deaf children. In 1958 the test was revised, expanded and standardized as for both deaf and hearing children aged 3 to 17 years (SON-'58). In 1975 the SSON (Starren, 1975) was published for children between the ages of 7 and 17 and the infant -SON (Snijders & Snijders-Oomen, 1975) for children between the ages of 2½ -7 years. In 1980 the authors considered a new edition of the SON'58, but came to the conclusion that a complete new version of the SON'58 as well as the SSON should be worked out. The full name of the revised new test is therefore SON-R 5½ -17. The " R " stands for the revision and the numbers indicate the age limits of the standardization . A revision of an intelligence test is necessary at certain time intervals, since both the standardization and the data on reliability and validity can be relativized by changes in society. For example, the performance of comparable age groups on non-verbal intelligence tests increases by around 2-3 IQ points within 10 years. This is due, among other things, to changes in teaching , an increased level of education among the population and an improved socio-cultural environment. In addition, the composition of the population has changed in the last few decades, partly due to the increase in foreigners (allochtones). The current revision combines the advantages of the two earlier versions (SSON & SON'58): - The variety in the material and the tasks of the SON'58, as it largely consists of action tests that serve to observe the behavior of the active test person. - The multiple choice tests of the SSON
After a critical analysis of the previous SON tests, the following sub-test types were selected for the SON-R: - Tests for abstract thinking - Tests for concrete thinking - Tests for spatial thinking - NEW: Perception tests, as these are related to many intelligence tests and have a high correlation show their results
Memory and creativity tests were not included. Thus, memory performance , although as a precondition viewed on the function of intelligence, but would not be a real core function thereof. In addition, the connection between creativity and intelligence is not sufficiently clarified.
test
Test type or types
1. Tests for abstract thinking
The abstract reasoning tests use relationships between terms that are not tied to space and time and are therefore referred to as "abstract"
Example: "vehicles" car, train, bicycle ... BUT: pedestrians have no specific reference
The task for the test person is to derive a principle of order from the test material offered
Subtests: "Categories" + " Analogies "
2. Tests for concrete thinking
The task of the tests for concrete thinking is to create a spatial-temporal connection between objects related to reality
Subtests: "Situations" + "Picture Stories"
3. Spatial reasoning tests
Here, the person to be tested must establish a relationship between parts of a figure, similar to the tests for concrete thinking.
Subtests: " Mosaics " + "Drawing Patterns"
4. Perception test
Perception tests test the ability to perceive.
Subtest: " Search images "
Two subtests should be created for each test type, which, however, did not succeed in the perception test. So there are 7 subtests with the SON-R.
Subtests
Subtest 1: “Categories” (test for abstract thinking) A multiple choice test in which the test person is presented with 3 drawings of objects. You have to choose the objects from 5 possible answers that belong to the category of the first 3.
Difficulty theory: 1. The level of abstraction of the items increases 2. Acceptability of the wrong alternatives increases
Subtest 2: "Mosaics" (test for spatial thinking) An action test in which various predetermined mosaic patterns with small squares must be added. The squares have different shapes and colors.
Difficulty theory: 1. Type of squares offered 2. Degree of asymmetry of the mosaic pattern to be replicated 3. Number of border crossings within a pattern
Subtest 3: "Search images" (perception test) An action test in which the test person has to find a search object that is hidden within some drawings and circle it with his finger.
Subtest 4: “Drawing pattern ” (test for spatial thinking) An action test in which the test person has to complete an interrupted line pattern with a pencil so that the pattern runs through.
Difficulty theory: 1. Degree of asymmetry of the pattern 2. Number of returning lines within the pattern 3. Degree of alternation of the pattern 4. Number of overlaps in the pattern 5. Number of lines that make up a pattern 6. Extent to which a pattern does not phased is 7. Size of the omission in the pattern
Subtest 5: “Situations” (test for concrete thinking) A multiple choice test in which the test person is presented with a drawing of a situation in which one or more parts are missing. The test person now has to select the illustration (s) from a series of alternatives that logically complete the situation.
Difficulty theory: 1. Number of missing parts of the situation 2. Acceptability of the wrong alternatives 3. Complexity of the situation
Subtest 6: “Analogies” (test for abstract thinking) A multiple choice test in which a geometrical figure (A-term) is changed (B-term) and the test person recognizes the principle of the change and even uses another figure (C-term ) must apply (D-term).
Difficulty theory: 1. Complexity of the transformation 2. Number of transformations carried out 3. Number of basic elements that make up the A term 4. Extent of the difference between A and C term 5. Attractiveness of the wrong alternatives
Subtest 7: "Picture stories" (test for concrete thinking) An action test in which the test person has to put a number of picture cards that make up a story in the correct order.
Difficulty theory: 1. Complexity of the story 2. Number of parts of the story 3. Number of cards that make up a story
According to the difficulty theory, the items were divided into 9-11 levels of difficulty and 2 or 3 series (A, B, C) of 9-11 items were created, which are almost identical in increasing difficulty. After each item, positive or negative feedback is given to the test person.
Adaptive test procedure
In the adaptive test procedure of the SON-R 5½-17, the test subjects are tested in 2 or 3 rows. As soon as 2 errors are made in a row, the next row is started and the score of the previous row (last item minus number of errors) minus one item is started. The advantages of this test procedure are: 1. The number of items and thus also the processing time are reduced. 2. The test frustration is reduced by the adjusted level. 3. Since the items that go beyond the ability of the test person are reduced, there are fewer advised items.
validity
The SON-R 5½-17 correlates to r = 0.59 with indicators of the school career (type of school, staying seated and grades).
The correlation with the primary school final exams is r = 0.66.
Normalization
The definition of the standardization population is: "The inhabitants of the Netherlands of the same age who have lived in the Netherlands for at least one year and who are not significantly physically or mentally disabled."
In contrast to the SON'58 and SSON, the SON-R has a uniform standardization for hearing and deaf people. 1350 children aged 6 to 14 years in the Netherlands were examined. 150 were tested per age group , 75 of them girls and 75 boys. When drawing the sample, the following steps can be distinguished: 1. Classification according to level of instruction 2. Classification according to parts of the country 3. Selection of schools 4. Selection of students at the schools
1. Classification according to level of instruction The first and most important step concerned the distribution of test persons, by age group and gender, across the various types of instruction.
2. Division into parts of the country: The Netherlands was divided into regions (West, South and North / East Netherlands). For each region, the number of pupils to be tested was determined by age group, gender and level of instruction in proportion to the number of inhabitants.
3. Selection of schools Primary schools : 3 municipalities per region Special schools : one LOM and one MLK school per region Vocational schools : one or two schools per teaching area General secondary education: three schools per teaching area
4. Selection of pupils in schools For the standardization it is important that the different age groups are homogeneous with regard to the actual age. For each age group, x.5 years was chosen as the starting point (x years; 6 months; 0 days). Deviations of more than 2 months from this ideal age were avoided as far as possible by examining pupils from other schools of the same type in such a case.
30 schools refused to take part in the investigation, which may have led to a loss of representativeness in the sample. Replacement by other schools meant that there were relatively too few foreign children among the substitute students and too many children of parents with a high professional level.
Test form
The test form is divided into three parts. The upper part is reserved for entering personal details. In the middle part there is an overview of the test results with the graphic representation. Additional comments regarding the test procedure can be found in the lower part.
variants
The SON-R 2½-7 must be distinguished from the SON-R 5½-17. The SON-R 2½-7 is a speech-free intelligence test for children aged 2; 6 to 7; 11 years. The mean correlations with other intelligence tests are r = 0.65. It correlates with verbal development and verbal intelligence (r = 0.48) and with the teacher's judgment (r = 0.48).
literature
- Test manual SON-R 51 / 2-17
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ PJ Tellegen, JA Laros. SON-R 5½-17. Non-verbal intelligence test. 3 corrected exercise 2005
- ↑ http://www.testresearch.nl/sonrd/sonr5d.html
- ^ PJ Tellegen, JA Laros, F. Petermann: SON-R 2½-7 Non-verbal intelligence test