Application of multi-media technology to psychological and educational assessment tools

Multi-media technology is applied to the testing of children, brain damaged adults and the general population using standard psychological and educational assessment tools. To avoid the inherent bias occurring when a tester speaks in a language or dialect not fully comprehended by the student or other human subject, the multi-media computer has a linguistic adaptation means, such as a sound card and data associated therewith, which can produce sounds, such as test instructions, in the most appropriate language and dialect of the test taker, such as a student, so that the human tester can provide the human subject with instructions for responding to the psychological evaluation. The human subject is exposed to computer-generated multi-media psychological evaluative probing, so that the human subject can respond to the computer-generated psychological evaluative probing. The computer tallies and records the student's responses and analyzes the human subject's recorded responses. Afterward the computer automatically prepares a report based upon the human subject's recorded responses, and transfers its report, such as transfer to a computer-readable diskette or by printing to a printer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is related to interactive multi-media applications in 
psychological testing. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Psychological and educational assessment tools have been used for the 
measurement and evaluation of abilities, aptitudes, personality 
characteristics and so forth. An early example of such tests dates back to 
1904 when psychologist Alfred Binet was asked by the French Ministry of 
Education to design a test that would identify slow learners. It was noted 
that some children did not learn well in an ordinary classroom setting and 
needed special help. Reluctant to let teachers identify slow learners due 
to the possibility of prejudicial bias, an objective test was sought that 
would reveal who could benefit from remedial work. Binet's brainstorm was 
the famous IQ test. 
It is well to note the basic difference between the assessment tools that 
are the subject of this invention and the skill acquisition or remedial 
training tools commonly known as computer-assisted instruction (CAI). Many 
examples of the latter courseware for simple presentation or the newer 
multi-media versions are available in subjects from art to zoology. The 
main attribute of such courseware (including testing) is the interactive 
nature of the programs and the convenience and "customizing" of each 
session as a function of the demonstrated skill level of the student. In 
CAI the notions of reliability, validity, bias, and standardization are 
seldom of central importance because of the objective nature of the 
courseware. 
These notions, however, are of primary importance in the psychological and 
educational assessment tools; furthermore, accurate determination of the 
subject's basals and ceilings is required for the proper administration 
and scoring of the test. 
The allocation of presentation material to video vs. audio is just a matter 
of style or perceived effectiveness in the CAI environment. The situation 
is quite different regarding assessment tools which are rigorously field 
tested (ie. "normed") for reliability and validity; the mode of 
administration is precisely stipulated, and any deviation may violate the 
conditions under which it had been normed. For psychological and 
educational assessment tools, the full range of multi-media presentation 
features closely simulates the manual version of a normed test. The 
standards used to create the manual test are easily translated to the 
computer test by a comparative study of the similarity of test scores of 
computer assisted versus manual testing. 
To summarize the distinctions between CAI and norm referenced 
computer-assisted assessment (CAA) of the present invention, the uses of 
each as well as the scoring techniques should be explored. CAI is used to 
teach new material, to review learned material as in drill and practice, 
to teach productivity techniques such as word processing and to teach 
programming. Some CAI programs have features to keep track of scores or to 
adjust the level of difficulty. In contrast, CAA of the present invention 
is an assessment tool; teaching is not the objective. Scoring of CAA is 
sophisticated with raw scores, standard scores, subtests, age equivalents, 
and basals and ceilings. The testing rules of CAA are rigid with no 
deviation allowed. 
The traditional psychological and educational assessment manual tools are 
usually administered one-on-one with a clinician serving the dual role of 
test administrator and observer/recorder. For brain damaged adults, the 
clinician is typically an experienced psychologist or psychiatrist. 
However, in the school environment for educational or psychological 
assessment, the clinician may be a social worker, a visiting psychologist, 
a speech therapist, a reading specialist, a resource room teacher, a 
special education teacher, etc. While test administration requires a 
training program, the proficiency of the clinician is variable especially 
in the school environment. Each of the assessment tools has extensive 
instructions for the clinician in the area of question sequencing and 
scoring related to establishing the critical range of the subject; this is 
involved with the subject's basals and ceilings which are determined by 
runs of right or wrong answers within a particular sequence. A rule might 
be, "if the subject gets two questions wrong in succession, change to 
sequence 4 and score all of the answers below question x as wrong and 
above question y as right". To the uninitiated, this might seem counter 
intuitive; field experience has shown this aspect of test administration 
and scoring to be most problematic, especially for clinicians with limited 
assessment background. For example, clinicians tend to be reluctant to 
"penalize" subjects by not giving credit for correct answers above the 
ceiling; others show a reluctance to grant unearned credit for incorrect 
answers below the basal. Other reasons for bias such as social class 
prejudice or the assumption that shy or disruptive children are learning 
impaired may be operative. The subjectivity of manual testing precludes 
true standardized administration. Subjectivity and deviation from test 
rules can take place during any part of the testing session. Factors may 
involve the clinician or the subject. 
In the traditional test session, the clinician is expected to manually 
administer the test, record the scores, and assess the subject's response 
and behavior. In addition, the clinician is expected to compute the scores 
and sometimes to write a report suggesting learning programs. This is 
difficult to do well, especially with "difficult" test subjects. In fact, 
such testing using a human examiner is often not possible for children 
with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or those too young to focus long 
enough to be accurately tested. 
While clinicians may be very proficient in their respective fields, they 
may not speak clearly. They are expected to flawlessly recite scripts to 
the subjects during evaluation. In some cases, the subject is getting the 
question wrong just because he or she doesn't understand the examiner. In 
situations with "English as a Second Language" (ESL) subjects the problem 
is compounded. Sometimes, the reverse problem manifests itself if the 
clinician has an accent. 
Computer software for test scoring and analysis of error patterns is 
available for manually administered tests. However, it is necessary to 
manually enter the raw scores into the computer prior to the automated 
analysis. Also, there is no computer guidance in administrating the test 
since this is done as an ad-hoc procedure after the test is over. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
Therefore, the objects of the present invention are as follows: 
To preclude all possible bias in test administration, thereby achieving 
complete objectivity; 
To provide dynamic linguistic adaptation to accommodate ESL test subjects; 
To enhance the validity of the subject's response by utilizing professional 
voice actors with unsurpassed clarity in every dialect to guarantee that 
the subject understands what is being asked; 
To automatically determine the subject's basals and ceilings, thereby 
finding the subject's critical range to ensure the proper test 
administration and scoring; 
To improve subject on-task performance by superior computer presentation of 
test items which has been shown to improve motivation and focus; 
To free the clinician to assess the subject's response and behavior by 
using the multi-media system to take over the test administration 
function; 
To permit cost-effective screening of students by less-trained and 
less-paid paraprofessionals using computerized testing; this eliminates 
the inherent bias in the selection process of students for further 
professional testing; 
To use the features of multi-media computer presentation as an audio-visual 
aid to enhance the clarity and understanding of test items; 
To use the computer as an audio-visual aid in presenting sample items to 
help clarify instructions and model correct responses; 
To use computer-based test administration to maintain test standardization 
by precisely conforming to traditional modes of evaluation; 
To provide automated scoring and analysis of error patterns without the 
manual re-entry of raw scores; and, 
To utilize animation and other audio-visual techniques inherent to 
multi-media technology to create new measures (tests) to test subjects in 
ways they could never be tested before, as well as to test specific 
cognitive, motor, and other abilities, which could never be tested before. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The nature and substance of this invention includes a method and system to 
perform psychological and educational assessment of subjects using 
multi-media technology. 
The method of the present invention for psychological evaluation of human 
subjects includes the steps of providing a human subject, such as a 
student, to be evaluated with a multi-media capable computer having a view 
monitor means, such as a VDT terminal, and a computer input-response 
means, such as a keyboard, a mouse or a touch screen. A human 
psychological tester operates the multi-media computer and conducts the 
psychological evaluation of the student. 
To avoid the inherent bias occurring when a tester speaks in a language or 
dialect not fully comprehended by the student or other human subject, the 
multi media computer has a linguistic adaptation means, such as a sound 
card and data associated therewith, which can produce sounds, such as test 
instructions, in the most appropriate language and dialect of the test 
taker, such as a student, so that the human tester can provide the human 
subject with instructions for responding to the psychological evaluation. 
The human subject is exposed to computer-generated multi-media 
psychological evaluative probing, so that the human subject can respond to 
the computer-generated psychological evaluative probing. 
The computer tallies and records the student's responses and analyzes the 
human subject's recorded responses. Afterward the computer automatically 
prepares a report based upon the human subject's recorded responses, and 
transfers its report, such as transfer to a computer-readable diskette or 
by printing to a printer. 
The psychological evaluation of the human subject is provided by at least 
one software program stored in a randomly accessible non-volatile computer 
memory, such as the computer's hard drive, for providing at least one type 
of psychological evaluation. The at least one software program further 
includes a plurality of discrete audible and/or visual segments such as 
questions to be responded to by the human subject being evaluated. 
The discrete audible segments include audibly-reproducible signals stored 
in a randomly accessible non-volatile computer memory for producing sounds 
to be responded to by the human subject being evaluated, such as spoken 
phrases to be responded to by the human subject. The spoken phrases are 
selected from a plurality of user-selectable languages and/or dialects. 
The discrete visual segments include visually-reproducible signals stored 
in a randomly accessible non-volatile computer memory for producing images 
to be responded to by the human subject being evaluated, such as text 
selected from a plurality of psychological evaluation question items 
stored as text written in a plurality of languages and/or dialects and/or 
character sets, such as Chinese or Cyrillic, among others. 
To assist in evaluating temporal time oriented tasks, such as allowing a 
student to decide which of three moving objects, such as balls, moves 
fastest, or the calculated destination thereof, optionally the discrete 
visual segments may include computer-generated motion for psycho-motor 
evaluation of human subjects. 
The computer generated motion may include a plurality of user selectable 
visually-perceived motions, such as the moving balls, at differing speeds 
and/or velocities and/or accelerations. 
Moreover, the linguistic adaptation means includes at least one software 
program capable of presenting audible psychological probing tasks in a 
variety of user-selected languages and dialects, wherein the languages and 
dialects are respectively stored discretely in randomly accessible 
computer non-volatile memory, such as the computer's hard drive or upon a 
removable diskette. 
The method of using multi-media technology in psychological evaluations may 
include an evaluation of the human subject's emotional status, mental 
health, learning ability, neurological impairment status, educational 
status, educational achievement status, aptitude for future education or 
aptitude for future vocational education. 
In changing the language or dialect of the test, the linguistic adaptation 
means further includes a user selection of the language and/or dialect to 
be used for the psychological evaluation of the specific human subject, 
such as a student. 
Furthermore, the linguistic adaptation means further includes information 
stored in a computer non-volatile memory means, such as discrete randomly 
accessible test questions in a plurality of languages and/or dialects on 
the hard drive or insertable diskette of the multi-media computer. To 
begin the test, the human psychological tester selects the type of 
psychological evaluation to be conducted and selects the language and/or 
dialect in which the test is to be conducted. In that manner, the test 
avoids language based bias in the use of interactive multi-media 
applications in psychological testing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
As shown in FIGS. 1-12A through 12E, a multi-media computerized system for 
psychological evaluation of a human subject includes a multi-media 
computer 17 having a view monitor means 21, and a computer input-response 
means 23, such as keyboard 25, a mouse 18 or other input means. 
In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 7A, input response means 23 is 
used for a human psychological tester 5 to input communicated sensory data 
from the human subject 4 to multi-media computer 17 to conduct a 
psychological evaluation of the human subject 4. 
A linguistic adaptation means is provided in computer 17 to avoid the 
inherent bias occurring when a tester 5 speaks in a language or dialect 
not fully comprehended by the human subject 4. The linguistic adaptation 
means includes a library of pre-recorded sets of test instructions in a 
plurality of language and dialects. 
A computer-responsive user selectable means, such as keyboard 25, is 
provided to allow tester 5 to select at least one set of pre-recorded test 
instructions in at least one language and dialect thereof appropriate to 
the language and dialect of human subject 4. 
An audible playback means 22 communicates audibly the at least one set of 
pre-recorded test instructions in the appropriate language and dialect 
thereof. The audible playback means has a sound card and data associated 
therewith. The sound card audibly produces audible test instruction 
sounds, in the appropriate language and dialect thereof. 
A software program further includes a plurality of discrete audible and/or 
visual segments such as questions to be responded to by the human subject 
being evaluated. The discrete audible segments are included in 
audibly-reproducible randomly accessible non-volatile computer memory for 
producing sounds to be responded to by the human subject 4 being 
evaluated. A user-selectable set of computer-generated multi-media 
psychological evaluative probing data communicates with the audible 
playback means 22, and a recording means, such as a microphone 24 records 
recordable responses of the human subject 4 in response to the 
computer-generated psychological evaluative probing. A tally means tallies 
and records the human subject 4's responses. 
A computer output printer automatically preparing a written record of the 
human subject 4's recorded responses in a written report, which report is 
transferred to a computer readable means, and stored in randomly 
accessible non-volatile computer memory of multi-media computer 17. 
FIG. 1 shows a prior art educational assessment session 1 involving a 
clinician 5 manually administering an educational assessment test to a 
student 4. Although both are shown sharing table 2 and seated on chairs 3 
facing each other, this may not be a practical position for the clinician 
5. The test material 8 is shown in an easel form as is popular; an 
optional easel holder 9 is shown propping up the material 8 which uses a 
wire binding facilitating easy lie-flat page manipulation. 
In this type of test, the construction of the test is such that the surface 
10 facing the student 4 has a panel of pictures while the surface 11 
facing the clinician 5 has a precise instructional script to be recited to 
elicit the answer response from the student. Besides reading the 
instructional script, the clinician must enter raw scores on the answer 
forms 12 and take observational notes on pad 6 using pencil 7. The student 
4 answers the recited question by pointing to one of the pictures on the 
panel. 
While seated clinician 5 is in a good position to read the instructions 11, 
make behavioral observations and enter notes on pad 6, it is doubtful 
whether she can reliably ascertain the object of the pointed finger of 
student 4 from the position shown. 
Therefore, the clinician 5 may be seated at an angle to student 4 to better 
view his answer. In addition to this activity, the proper administration 
of the test requires the clinician to be aware of basal and ceiling rules 
to know when to skip to other question sequences. 
FIG. 2 shows an educational assessment session of the present invention, 
using a multi-media system to give the same type of test as had been shown 
in FIG. 1. Here, the student 4 is seated at table 2 facing screen 16 on 
video display terminal 15 sitting atop multi-media personal computer 17. 
He uses mouse 18 as a pointing device to indicate his answer. The 
clinician 5 is shown sitting on stool 19 free to enter behavioral notes on 
pad 6 with pencil 7. She can hear the questions being perfectly enunciated 
by the audio output of the computer 17 and observe the actions of the 
student 4. She does not have to record answers or recite instructions or 
questions. An optional seating position for the clinician 5 is to be 
located behind student 4, since this provides less distraction. 
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the required elements of a multi-media 
system for administering psychological and educational assessment tests. A 
multi-media computer 20 is shown attached to video display terminal 21, 
loudspeaker 22, and mouse 23. Optional items include microphone 24 and 
keyboard 25. 
The computer 20 may be any of the common multi-media computers as detailed 
in FIG. 4. These include a mother board 30 containing a microprocessor and 
other modules and support electronics, with optional extra random access 
memory (RAM) 38, a hard drive 37, a floppy drive 41 using removable media 
(diskettes) 42, a CD-ROM 39 with removable CD 40, a sound board 31 and a 
variety of sockets or ports to support a speaker 32, a microphone 33, a 
display 34, a mouse port 35 and a keyboard socket 36. 
Typical current specifications for the multi-media computer may be those of 
a Packard Bell model AX3510 which has 8 MB RAM, a 1000 MB hard drive, Quad 
speed CD-ROM, stereo speakers and an Intel 100 MHZ Pentium processor. 
Schools are more likely to have older equipment, and these systems could 
easily be upgraded to serve as a platform for a multi-media assessment 
test by the addition of an inexpensive ($25 to $30) 8-bit sound board. 
The assessment tools of the present invention may run on a 33 MHZ '386 
class processor with a 100 MB hard drive, single speed CD-ROM and 4 MB of 
RAM. A notebook computer having similar capability with integral liquid 
crystal display (LCD) may also be used as a delivery system. 
Any type of pointing device can be used; this includes a mouse, track ball, 
video game control, joy stick, or even a finger when used with a "touch 
screen". Other display technologies such as plasma or Texas Instrument's 
micro-mirror may be an alternative. These other display technologies also 
support 3-D presentation displays, which can be used to good advantage in 
educational assessment tests. For tests requiring only pointing by the 
subject, neither a microphone nor the keyboard is required. The test 
software may be entered into the computer as a CD-ROM or as one or more 
diskettes. 
The test content is prepared using state-of-the-art multi-media authoring 
tools combining audio, picture and text sources. The use of this medium 
provides an opportunity for many improvements over the manual 
administration of these assessment tools. For example, the automatic 
nature of using a computer precludes all possible bias in test 
administration. 
The use of a professional voice actor does not leave enunciation to the 
chance proficiency of a clinician not trained in this activity. 
Multilingual capability or dynamic linguistic adaptation is as simple as 
specifying the language of choice for a particular session; this even 
accommodates subtle dialect differences in the same language, if desired, 
by the use of the appropriate voice actor. 
The determination of basals and ceilings and the consequent sequencing and 
scoring are eminently conducive to logical specification and subsequent 
coding in the software. 
It has been shown that computer administration enhances student on-task 
performance therefore expanding the administration of these assessment 
tools to some attention deficit disorder (ADD) children and to younger 
children in general. The use of inexpensive sessions using these 
educational assessment tools of the present invention via computer with 
less costly paraprofessional assistants permits their use as a diagnostic 
tool to screen students in an non-biased fashion. 
It is obvious that test standardization is assured by computer 
administration. What is not obvious is the impact of the change to 
computer presentation on the validity or reliability of tests that have 
been normed as a manual tool. Early results from correlation tests 
presently in progress by a major test provider indicate that norming is 
not affected by this change to multi-media techniques. 
The screen view 50 of FIG. 5A shows a typical panel from an assessment 
test. The upper right panel 51 shows a picture of a horse. Suppose this 
were the correct answer to a sample question which was incorrectly 
answered. The computer can easily help clarify the instructions and help 
model correct responses by presenting the screen 52 of FIG. 5B showing 
only the horse picture 51 in the same position as in screen 51 but without 
the "clutter" of the other pictures. 
FIG. 6 illustrates the use of animation in creating new measures dealing 
with temporal issues. Screen view 55 is shown with three balls 61, 62 and 
63 moving to the left toward wall 60 at different speeds. The question can 
be, "Point to the ball that went the fastest". Another example of testing 
cognitive skills involves showing a ball approaching a group of three 
people. The question could be to predict which person would be hit by the 
ball. The computer is ideally suited for assessment tools that require the 
use of timing. In a manual environment, this requires the use of a 
stopwatch by the clinician to either time the presentation of materials or 
the period for timed responses (or both). These are illustrations of 
things that are difficult, cumbersome or impossible to do using a paper 
technology. 
FIG. 7A shows a side view of a testing session using a multimedia computer 
17 with an assessment test that requires voice answers by the test subject 
4. FIG. 7A shows both a keyboard 25, for use by clinician 5, as well as 
microphone 24. In actuality only one of these is required during a test 
session. 
In certain embodiments, when computer 17 has voice recognition software of 
proper quality that it can reliably recognize the utterances of subject 4 
without the need for "training", a microphone can be used to field the 
responses and determine if the answer is right or wrong (or if more than 
one response has been given). In this case, the clinician can just observe 
and make notes as she is not involved in answer recognition. 
The state-of-the-art of voice recognition software is rapidly improving as 
witnessed by a product of Syracuse Language Centers which runs on a 
386-class computer with 4 MB of RAM and is capable of analyzing the 
pronunciation of words automatically without training of the software to 
the respondent's voice. 
Standardized tests can be computer administered even when the test requires 
the student's verbal response. 
As shown in FIG. 7A, when the test subject 4 needs to see visual stimuli 
presented on the video display screen 16, specific keys on the keyboard 25 
or buttons on the screen can be used by the examiner 5 to register the 
response of subject 4 as correct or incorrect, as well as to elicit the 
appropriate response to the test subject's verbal answer. 
When the test subject 4 is not being presented with visual stimuli on the 
video display screen 16, the screen 16 can be used as an aid to present 
the scoring criteria to the examiner 5 on a question by question basis. 
The examiner 5 clicks on options on the screen 16 to evaluate the response 
of the test subject 4. Different keys on the keyboard 25 can also be 
linked to specific verbal responses or prompts (i.e. if the test subject 4 
gives an ambiguous answer, the examiner 5 can press `F3` to cause the 
computer 17 to say `Explain what you mean`). 
All the benefits of computer administration of educational assessment are 
still present: automatic basal and ceiling calculations, clear voice 
quality, more precise scoring, objective and non-blased administration 
etc. 
One very important advantage is the fact that the present invention enables 
many more examiners 5 to administer the test bilingually. Perfect fluency 
in a second language is no longer necessary in order to administer the 
computer version of that test to test subject 4. If the examiner 5 speaks 
a `broken` version of that language, and can sufficiently understand the 
response of test subject 4, this procedure allows examiner 5 to administer 
the test with perfectly fluent audio prompts. 
The dialect features of the present invention are highly beneficial in that 
they greatly expand the potential number of qualified examiners 5 who can 
now test ESL (English as a second language) children, as well as the 
number of children who can be adequately assessed. It should also be noted 
that many examiners 5 in the real world have been utilizing `adhoc`, 
imprecise translations when confronted with an ESL student. In contrast, 
the procedures of the present invention ensure that the voice is not only 
professional and native speaking, but that the translations are 
professionally done as well. This ensures that the validity of the test 
remains intact. 
A less ambitious technique for lesser computers, common in school 
environments, not utilizing voice recognition software is the "assisted 
voice recognition" system which uses the keyboard 25 and no microphone 24. 
In this scenario, three or more keys on the keyboard 25 are mapped onto 
special functions by the testing software. These are shown with temporary 
overlays, such as may be bonded with low-tack pressure sensitive adhesive, 
as "C" 65, "E" 66, and "I" 67 in FIG. 7B which shows a keyboard detail. 
The clinician must listen for the answer and depress "Correct" key 65, 
"Error" key 66 or "Invalid" key 67 as appropriate. The computer will 
correctly score the answer as keyed, but it will emit appropriate audio 
feedback such as, "Please respond with only one answer" every time one of 
the Invalid 67 keys is pushed. All other aspects of test administration 
are still completely automated such as the calculation of basals and 
ceilings. 
FIG. 8 is a high level flowchart of typical psychological or educational 
assessment tool software for use on a multi-media system. The program 
starts with a sample question and can repeat it if it is answered 
incorrectly. The test can be automatically terminated if the test subject 
never gets beyond this initial stage. Following the initial sequence and 
question number setup, an examination of the "end of test" flag is made. 
Then, a question is presented, the response is examined, the raw score is 
updated, the basal/ceiling analysis is performed, the test score is 
updated, the sequence is changed if necessary, and the subsequent 
following question is presented (or the test is ended). This general flow 
can be used with pointing as well as verbal answers. It is understood that 
other logical flows can be used to achieve an equivalent result without 
deviating from the spirit of this invention. 
The remaining FIGS. 9, 10, 11, 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, and 12E illustrate the 
features of the present invention with sample video display screens from 
an educational assessment session. 
FIG. 9 shows two question panels, for example, using paper medium, from a 
prior art manually administered assessment tool. Display panel 70 shows 
four lollipops. Display panel 71 illustrates the verbal question, "How 
many lollipops are left if we take three away?". In display panel 71, four 
lollipops are still shown, but with three of them crossed out. 
Using the multi-media version of the same situation, animation is used to 
advantage in the sequence shown in FIG. 10. Video display screens 72 
through 75 are shown in quick succession with the count "ONE, TWO, THREE, 
FOUR" on the sound track. Then the reverse sequence shown in video display 
screens 75, 74, 73, 72, are presented along with the question noted above. 
This time the test subject doesn't have the confusing picture of the three 
crossed out lollipops shown in FIG. 9. 
FIG. 11 shows video display screen panel 80 illustrating the selection of a 
language for the following multi-media assessment test. This dynamic 
linguistic adaptation is simply accomplished by using the pointing device 
to point to the appropriate word, ENGLISH 81, SPANISH 82, RUSSIAN 83 or 
FRENCH 84. The rest of the session is administered in the language of 
choice. 
The sequence of screens shown in FIGS. 12A through 12E illustrate the power 
of multi-media techniques in modelling appropriate responses for sample 
questions. This is the only area where feedback to the student is 
permitted. FIG. 12A shows screen 90 with pictures of a girl's head 91, a 
bird 92 and a flower 93. If the student were asked to point to the girl, 
and he answered incorrectly, screen 90 shows the image of FIG. 12B showing 
only the correct answer 91, along with the pointing arrow 94. By not 
showing the other two images in the same screen, the student's attention 
is focused on the correct answer. 
FIGS. 12C and 12D show the video display screen images if the incorrect 
answer were given in response to questions, asking for the bird 92 picture 
or the flower 93 picture respectively. In FIGS. 12C and 12D, only a single 
visual picture 92 or 93 is shown, and it is in the same position as in the 
initial "three picture" panel. If the incorrectly answered question was 
asking the student to point to the flower, the sequence of FIGS. 12A, 12D 
and 12E would be shown to completely model the appropriate answer. The 
student's attention would be focused on the flower in FIG. 12D and then 
the flower would be shown in companionship with the other two pictures in 
FIG. 12E. 
OPERATION OF THE INVENTION 
The following typical example shows how the method and system of the 
present invention is used. It is illustrative of one example only. A 
sample psychological/educational assessment test is run in a computer 
program designated by Applicant as the "Comprehensive Responsive and 
Expressive Vocabulary Test-Computer Administered" (CREVT-CA). 
Running the CREVT-CA Program 
To start the program, the user double clicks on the CREVT-CA icon in the 
CREVT-CA Program Group. If the user has installed the program in WINDOWS 
95.RTM., from the start menu, the user selects "Programs, CREVT Program 
Group", with the CREVT-CA icon. After the opening title, the Main Menu 
appears. Six choices on this screen are available to the user, such as: 
(OK) Administer Tests 
(OK) Score Expressive Subtest 
(OK) View a Previous Record 
(OK) Change the Password 
(OK) Recharging Information 
(OK) Exit 
To choose an option, the user points and clicks on the box next to the 
operation the user wishes to being. 
Administering a Test 
To administer a test to an individual, the user chooses "Administer Tests" 
from the Main Menu. 
The Subtest Selection Menu appears. The user cam choose to administer both 
the Receptive and Expressive subtests or individual subtests. The user 
clicks on the "OK" button next to the name of the subtest(s) the user 
likes to administer, such as: 
(OK) Receptive Vocabulary Subtest 
(OK) Expressive Vocabulary Subtest 
(OK) Both Subtests 
Then, user the completes the demographic information screen. 
The user selects an appropriate language and dialect of the test subject, 
such as a child, such as "French-Quebecois" vs. "French-Haitian Creole", 
or "English-Australian" vs. "English-Southern American" and the like. When 
this is done, the user clicks on the "OK" button to continue. 
Finally, the user chooses which form of the test the user would like to 
administer--Form A or Form B. If the user is administering both subtests, 
the form selection applies to both subtests. 
Receptive Vocabulary Subtest 
Whether the user has choosen to administer the Receptive Vocabulary 
Subtest, or both Subtests, the testing begins with the Receptive subtest. 
The subject is seated in front of the computer with the mouse in hand (in 
other test environments, the examiner may input information from the 
subject, who is tested in a hands-free environment). During the Receptive 
portion of the test, a voice in a pre-selected language and dialect 
pronounces a word while the subject views the pictures. In this example, 
the subject simply uses the mouse to point and click on a picture to 
indicate an answer. 
As soon as a ceiling is reached (when the subject misses two consecutive 
items in the set of items) the program automatically moves on to the next 
set of pictures. 
During the Receptive subtest, a small left-pointing arrow appears in the 
lower left corner of the screen. This is the "Repeat a Word" button. If 
the subject did not hear the word that was said, the user tells the 
subject to click on the arrow button to have the computer enunciate the 
word again. The user tries to limit the use of the Repeat button during 
the administration of the test. The user uses it when the subject has not 
heard a word, not when the subject does not know what the word means. 
If the user is using the CREVT-CA program to administer the Receptive 
portion of the test but is administering the Expressive portion without 
the computer's assistance, the user can still have the CREVT-CA compute 
the standard scores, percentiles, and age equivalents for both subtests 
together. When the Expressive and Receptive subtests are completed, and 
after the user has finished the Receptive test on the computer, the user 
simply clicks on the "yes" button to choose to score the Expressive 
subtest as well. The CREVT-CA program asks the user to enter the raw score 
of the Expressive subtest and then computes the Receptive, Expressive, and 
composite scores. 
After the Receptive subtest is completed, the user needs to enter the 
user's password to be able to view the scores (the password is initially 
set to "CREVT"). First, the screen displays a graph of the percentage of 
correct answers per set of pictures. This graph can be printed by clicking 
on the `OK` button next to the word "Print" at the bottom of the screen. 
To continue on and to view the subject's scores, the user clicks on the 
`OK` button next to the words "Continue" and "View Test Scores". 
Expressive Vocabulary Subtest 
The Expressive portion of the test is given on the computer after the 
Receptive portion or by itself. During the Expressive portion of the test, 
the computer screen is turned away from the subject and toward the 
examiner. The computer gives the instructions orally and asks the subject 
to define a series of words. The examiner listens to the subject's 
definitions and scores them using the criteria shown on the screen. 
A) The Examiner scores the subject as follows: 
1. If the subject said one of the phrases listed in the "CORRECT" box, the 
examiner clicks on the subject's selected phrase in the "CORRECT" box or 
on the word "CORRECT" at the top of the box. The CREVT-CA program then 
scores the answer as correct. 
2. If the subject said one of the phrases listed in the "QUERY" box, it 
means that the subject's answer was incomplete or too ambiguous. The 
examiner clicks on the subject's selected phrase in the "QUERY" box or on 
the word "QUERY" at the top of the box. The computer asks the subject to 
tell more about the given word. The subject is given one more chance to 
give a correct, complete definition. 
3. If the subject said an incorrect answer, the examiner clicks on the word 
"INCORRECT" on the screen. The computer asks the subject more about the 
given word. Clicking on the word "INCORRECT" produces the same result as 
clicking on the word "QUERY". 
4. If the subject says, "I don't know anything about that word", the 
examiner clicks on the phrase "I DON'T KNOW", which appears in the 
"INCORRECT" box on the screen. The program does not ask the subject to 
tell more about the given word but scores the answer as incorrect. 
5. If the subject says a correct answer when asked to tell more about the 
word (see Situations "2" and "3" above), the examiner scores the subject 
as correct, as explained in Situation #1 above. If the subject still does 
not give a complete definition of the word, the examiner clicks on the 
phrase in the "QUERY" box that the subject said, on the word "QUERY", or 
on the word "INCORRECT". The answer will then be scored as incorrect. 
6. For some questions, the subject needs to say two correct phrases in 
order to be scored correct. In such a use, the top "CORRECT" box has two 
headings to choose from: "ONE CORRECT REPLY" and "TWO CORRECT REPLIES". 
The user clicks on "ONE CORRECT REPLY" if the subject only said one 
correct phrase and the user wants the computer to ask the subject to tell 
more about the word. The user clicks on "TWO CORRECT REPLIES" if the 
subject said two correct phrases from among the choices given. The user 
can also click on the phrases in the top box to indicate what the subject 
said. If the subject gave two correct responses, the user simply clicks on 
the two phrases that the subject said, and the subject will be scored as 
correct. If the subject only gave one correct response, the user clicks on 
the correct phrase and then clicks on "QUERY", "INCORRECT", or "I DON'T 
KNOW". This indicates that the user wants the computer to ask the subject 
for more information about the word. When the subject says only one 
correct response and the computer asks for more from the subject, the 
heading of the top box changes from "ONE CORRECT REPLY" and "TWO CORRECT 
REPLIES" to "SECOND CORRECT REPLY". To indicate that the subject said a 
second correct response, the user clicks on the phrase that the subject 
said, clicks on the words "SECOND CORRECT REPLY", and the subject is 
scored as correct. 
B. Repeating Words: 
If the subject did not hear the word that was said, the examiner clicks on 
the left-pointing arrow ("Repeat") button in the lower left corner to have 
the computer enunciate the word again in the appropriate language and 
dialect of the subject. The user limits the use of this button during the 
administration of the test. It is used when the subject has a word, not 
when the subject does not know what the word means. 
C. The Child's Reply Box: 
On the bottom of the screen is the "CHILD'S REPLY" text box. The examiner 
uses this box to record the answer of the subject. If the examiner clicks 
on any phrase in the "CORRECT" or "QUERY" boxes, the phase is 
automatically placed into the "CHILD'S REPLY" text box. The examiner can 
also type a subject's answer into the text box and edit the phrases 
entered there. To edit the text, the user drags the cursor over the text 
to be edited to highlight the text. Then the user hits the Delete key to 
remove the text or to "drag and drop" the highlighted text to a new 
location within the reply box. 
D. The "Continue" Button: 
At the end of each question, the examiner clicks on the right-pointing 
arrow "Continue" button to indicate that the "CHILD'S REPLY" text box 
contains whatever information should be saved in the subject's record and 
that the subject is ready to continue. 
E. End of the Subtest: 
The Expressive Subtest automatically ends when either a ceiling is reached 
(i.e., when the subject misses three consecutive items) or when the last 
(25th) item is administered. 
Viewing Score and Producing Reports 
A) Viewing and Printing the Scores After Administering a Test: 
When the testing is finished for a particular subject, the examiner enters 
a password (the password is initially set to "CREVT") to view a 
comprehensive report of the test results on the computer screen. The 
examiner can then print out a hard copy of the report by clicking on the 
"PRINT" button at the bottom of the scores screen. If the Expressive 
subtest was administered and some information was saved in the "SUBJECT'S 
REPLY" text boxes, the examiner has the option of also printing out those 
replies. 
B. Graphing Standard Scores: 
The CREVT-CA program also allows the user to graph the standard scores 
obtained by the subject, along with up to seven standard scores with means 
of 100 and standard deviations of 15 obtained when using other tests with 
the subject. The examiner thus can compare how the subject scored on the 
CREVT to how he or she scored on other comparable tests. To produce this 
graph, the user clicks on the "VIEW GRAPH" button at the bottom of the 
scores screen. To print, the user clicks on the "OK" button next to the 
work "PRINT" on the bottom of screen displaying the graph. Clicking on the 
"OK" button next to the word "Continue" on the bottom of the screen 
displaying the graph returns the user to the Main Menu. 
C. Viewing Previous Scores: 
To view the scores of a subject who took the test previously, the user 
chooses to view a previous record option from the Main Menu. The user 
enters the name of the subject whose record the user wants to see. The 
user can search for a record by last name only or by first and last names. 
The user can also choose to view the database record by record. Once the 
desired record is displayed on the screen, the user can choose to view 
either the subject's scores or the subject's responses to the Expressive 
Vocabulary subtest. The user can also print out hard copies of either of 
these items. 
Exiting the CREVT-CA Program 
To exit the program and go back to the user's WINDOWS.RTM. session, the 
user chooses the "EXIT" option from the Main Menu. 
If, for some reason, the user wants to exit out of the test during the 
actual administration of the test, the user can press the Escape key to 
cancel the test administration. The Escape key only functions during the 
actual questions of the test. It does not function while any audio is 
playing or while a sample question of the Receptive subtest is being 
shown. When the user cancels, no information or scores are saved in the 
database. The CREVT-CA program is then closed, and the user returns to the 
WINDOWS.RTM. session. 
As a result, the user is able to administer a comprehensive 
psychological/educational assessment test in a dialect-correct 
environment, in the languages and dialect of the subject, such as a child 
or an adult. 
It is known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, 
without departing from the scope of the invention, as noted in the 
appended claims.