NONVERBAL ABILITIES OF HISPANIC AND SPEECH-

The present study examines a new battery of nonverbal cognitive measures used extensively with numei us prt. ::;ch:,z.1 cl-ildren. Seven nonverbal, individually administered measures of fluid reasoning and visualization were administered to these children. Raw scores were converted to age-corrected scaled scores and subjected to multivariate analysis of variance between 320 Anglo and 63 Hispanic children, and between 27 speech-impaired Anglo and 410 nonimpaired Anglo children. No significant differences were found on the nonverbal subtests of the new battery between Anglo and Hispanic preschoolers, showing some promise for ethnic fairness in assessment with this battery. However, significant differences were found for typical versus speech-impaired preschoolers. A case study is presented in an appendix of a 46-month old speech-impaired Hispanic male to illustrate the usefulness of nonverbal cognitive tests, including the new battery, in the assessment of this population. The educational and clinical significance of nonverbal preschool assessment is discussed. (Contains 10 references.) (Author/SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** NONVERBAL ABILITIES OF HISPANIC AND SPEECHIMPAIRED PRESCHOOLERS Eduardo C. Armenteros, Dade County (FL) Public Schools Gale H. Roid, George Fox University Paper presented at the meetings of the American Psychological Association Toronto, Canada, August 12, 1996. ABSTRACT The present study examines a new battery of nonverbal cognitive measures used extensively on numerous preschool children by the authors. Seven nonverbal, individually-administered measures of fluid reasoning and visualization were administered to these children. Raw scores were converted to age-corrected scaled scores and subjected to multivariate analysis of variance between Anglo and Hispanic children, and between Speech-impaired Anglo and Non-impaired Anglo children. No significant differences were found on the nonverbal subtests of the new battery between Anglo and Hispanic preschoolers, showing promise for ethnic fairness in assessment with this battery. However, significant differences were found for typical vs. speechimpaired preschoolers. A case study will be presented of a 46-month-old Speech-impaired Hispanic male to illustrate the usefulness of nonverbal cognitive tests, including the new battery, in the assessment of this population. The educational and clinical significance of nonverbal preschool assessment will be discussed.The present study examines a new battery of nonverbal cognitive measures used extensively on numerous preschool children by the authors. Seven nonverbal, individually-administered measures of fluid reasoning and visualization were administered to these children. Raw scores were converted to age-corrected scaled scores and subjected to multivariate analysis of variance between Anglo and Hispanic children, and between Speech-impaired Anglo and Non-impaired Anglo children. No significant differences were found on the nonverbal subtests of the new battery between Anglo and Hispanic preschoolers, showing promise for ethnic fairness in assessment with this battery. However, significant differences were found for typical vs. speechimpaired preschoolers. A case study will be presented of a 46-month-old Speech-impaired Hispanic male to illustrate the usefulness of nonverbal cognitive tests, including the new battery, in the assessment of this population. The educational and clinical significance of nonverbal preschool assessment will be discussed.