Specialized Tests
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Unlike the tests above, these tests are administered by doctors or specialized examiners. These are not simple screening tests yielding only a single yes or no score suggesting whether additional assessment should be performed. Instead, they are complex, covering multiple domains where developmental delays can occur, and yielding multiple scores reflecting these various domains. These tests are also not used in their raw form, but rather are compared against a reference group (called a normative sample) of thousands of other children's scores on the same tests. Reported scores reflect whether test subjects are above or below the average performance expected of normal non-PDD diagnosed children. While some of these tests can be administered by regular doctors, others require specialized training. Child psychologists and their assistants, known as psychometricians, administer and interpret these specialized tests.
The individual tests comprising the Bayley Scales II cover three different developmental domains: behavioral, mental and motor skills. The behavioral part of the Scales measures how well children can attend to tasks, maintain emotional control and tolerate the testing process. The mental Scales track children's language development, problem-solving skills, memory and perception. Finally, the motor skills portion of the Scales assess children's posturing, muscle control, gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
Scores from the Bayley Scales are used to construct a customized infant development charts for each test subject that places the subject's development in the context of average same-age children's development. Children who demonstrate developmental delays are seen to be impaired in reference to test norms which were created by administering the test to thousands of normal children of varying ages, and varying conditions such as premature birth status, illness and other variables that might account for developmental delays. Details about the Bayley Scales can be found at: http://www.pearsonclinical.com/education/products/100000123/bayley-scales-of-infant-and-toddler-development-third-edition-bayleyiii.html
The WPPSI yields an overall "full-scale" IQ score, as well as separate verbal and performance IQ scores, and additional subtest scores, each norm-referenced so as to indicate relative strengths and weaknesses in relation to average test scores of normal children of the same age.
The IQ score is critical for assessing whether a mental retardation diagnosis is reasonable. IQ scores are set so that their average is always 100. Some 98% of children who take the test will achieve scores within 30 points plus or minus of that average figure. Scores below 70 can be indicative of mental retardation.