Situational specificity and generality of test behaviors for samples of normal and referred children

The uses of observations generated during testing were examined through (a) a quantitative synthesis of the available research literaLUre. (b) a study conducted with a nationally representative sample of children (N . MO. including 71 with additional behavioral information), and (c) a study completed wlth children referred for psychoeducational evaluations eN . 140). Results demonstrated that behavloral and temperament qualities evaluated by test observations are related to children! > performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for ChildrenThird Edition (WISC·UI; Wechsler. 1991 ). Test observations provided considerably less inSight into children's adaptation and adjustment outside the test-session environmenLIQs from the WISC-lll showed limited prediction of classroom behavior, indicating that as much as 97% of [he score variation is tndependent. Findings are examined in light of research on the situational specificity of behavior. Recording test-session behaviors is an important practice that fulfills a variety of assessment functiOns. This article describes possible purposes for evaluating test-session behavior and empirically examines three commonly assumed reasons for monitoring such activities: (a) to help illuminate the scorability of children! > responses on formal tests administered during the same test session, (b) to document the degree to which the test environment is conducive to optimal performance, and (c) to provide a sample of behavior from a controlled setting that may then generalize and describe children! > behaviors and attitudes in other situations. A best evidence synthesis will be used to evaluate these premises, reviewing the results of published studies and test manuals, followed by two empirical studies. The two studies will use a new instrument for evaluating children's test behavior with both a large, nationally stratified sample and a smaller sample of children referred for psychoeducational testing. Results will provide evidence to support the value of formally recording test-session behaviors, as well as indicating limitations on how behavioral observations from test sessions generalize to other contexts. The observation and recording of test behaviors is routine in the field of individual appraisal. For example, students attending graduate programs in school and clinical psychology are taught to evaluate the behaviors children display when responding to items on individually administered tests. Ukewise, textbooks on individual appraisal and intelligence testing encourage the recording and interpreting of children's test behaviors (Kamphaus, 1993; Kaufman, 1994; Sattler, 1988). Test observations completed by trained clinicians offer certain presumed advantages over the behavior ratings collected by parents and teachers. Specifically, test observations offer a standardized methodology for comparing a childs behavior to the behavior of others. The uniformity of conditions under which test observations occur render them relatively free of environmental variation (e.g., home or classroom climate) that can interfere with the collection of valid observations. None of the major contexts of child development (e.g., home, school. and community) offers as hlgh a level of professional expertise, observational control, or uniformity of conditions as the context of individual test-taking. The relative objectivity of examiners is another benefit of test observations. Parmts, teachers, and others entrusted to rate childrens behaviors often lack fonnal training in data colAddress all correspondence concerning [his anicle to Josephl Glutting. 211 Willard Hall. Depanment of Educational Slud· ies, University of Delaware. Newark. DE 19716. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to gluuing@strauss.udel. edu.