title: Estimating Premorbid IQ in New Zealand

authors: Lichtwark, Irene Tatjana

subjects: premorbid IQ

abstract: The experience of brain injury changes the world for the person experiencing it and their family. It is important for health providers to know as accurately as possible how severe the brain damage is to be able to deliver the appropriate level of treatment and rehabilitation. Tests are available to measure current cognitive functioning which can be expressed as an intelligence quotient (IQ). One such test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Other tests are able to estimate premorbid IQ, for example the National Adult Reading Test (NART), the Test of Premorbid Functioning (TOPF) and the New Zealand Adult Reading Test (NZART). The discrepancy between the current IQ and the estimated premorbid IQ scores provides an estimate of the decrease in cognitive function as a result of brain injury. Most of these IQ tests have not been developed or normed for the New Zealand population and their suitability for this population is therefore not known. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of the tests of premorbid IQ to estimate the current WAIS-IV IQ in a New Zealand sample. This sample consisted of 86 New Zealand born, neurologically healthy, men and women (mean age of 46 years), who were administered the WAIS-IV, NART, TOPF and NZART. The results showed that the tests of premorbid IQ significantly over estimated lower IQ scores and significantly under estimated higher IQ scores. New regression formulae for the NART, TOPF and NZART were developed based on the WAIS-IV FSIQ and were found to be only marginally better at predicting current IQ. These new regression formulae also over-and under-estimated current IQ in the lower and upper ranges. The NZART, a New Zealand developed test, showed slightly better performance than the overseas tests. It was concluded that the tests of premorbid functioning are not very accurate in in their prediction of WAIS-IV current IQ for people in New Zealand and alternative methods of estimating premorbid IQ are suggested.

text: Estimating Premorbid IQ in New Zealand The experience of brain injury changes the world for the person experiencing it and their family. It is important for health providers to know as accurately as possible how severe the brain damage is to be able to deliver the appropriate level of treatment and rehabilitation. Tests are available to measure current cognitive functioning which can be expressed as an intelligence quotient (IQ). One such test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Other tests are able to estimate premorbid IQ, for example the National Adult Reading Test (NART), the Test of Premorbid Functioning (TOPF) and the New Zealand Adult Reading Test (NZART). The discrepancy between the current IQ and the estimated premorbid IQ scores provides an estimate of the decrease in cognitive function as a result of brain injury. Most of these IQ tests have not been developed or normed for the New Zealand population and their suitability for this population is therefore not known. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of the tests of premorbid IQ to estimate the current WAIS-IV IQ in a New Zealand sample. This sample consisted of 86 New Zealand born, neurologically healthy, men and women (mean age of 46 years), who were administered the WAIS-IV, NART, TOPF and NZART. The results showed that the tests of premorbid IQ significantly over estimated lower IQ scores and significantly under estimated higher IQ scores. New regression formulae for the NART, TOPF and NZART were developed based on the WAIS-IV FSIQ and were found to be only marginally better at predicting current IQ. These new regression formulae also over-and under-estimated current IQ in the lower and upper ranges. The NZART, a New Zealand developed test, showed slightly better performance than the overseas tests. It was concluded that the tests of premorbid functioning are not very accurate in in their prediction of WAIS-IV current IQ for people in New Zealand and alternative methods of estimating premorbid IQ are suggested.

year: 2011

title: Migrants in their family contexts: Application of a methodology

authors: Ho, Elsie

subjects: population

abstract: The composition of immigrant families is a topic which has attracted considerable public and political attention in recent years. In the late 1980s concern was expressed over the size of some households of Pacific Island peoples in New Zealand. In the 1990s a more persistent concern has been with the incidence of what have been called ‘astronaut’ families – families where one of the partners is persistently absent overseas. The ‘astronaut’ family phenomenon has been most commonly associated with Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

This report uses a novel methodology to examine the incidence of ‘astronaut’ families in New Zealand at the time of the 1991 and 1996 censuses. The methodology is described in some detail in the first section, and it is hoped that the careful attention to the procedures used to examine migrants, who have been identified in the census, in their family contexts will stimulate further research in this area.

The second part of the report presents the findings of an initial exploration of 1991 and 1996 census data using the methodology outlined in the first section. It is clear from results of this inquiry that the ‘astronaut’ family phenomenon is well established amongst some components of New Zealand’s Asian community. However, it is not as widespread as media comment in 1995 and 1996, before the 1996 election, suggested.

It is important to develop ways of assessing characteristics of immigrant family structures in order to counter unsubstantiated assertions which promote negative stereotypes of immigrant communities. This research, which builds on a project supported by the Marsden Fund in 1997, suggest one fruitful avenue for making more extensive use of census data on immigrants in New Zealand to provide more objective assessment of “migrants in social context”.

text: Migrants in their family contexts: Application of a methodology The composition of immigrant families is a topic which has attracted considerable public and political attention in recent years. In the late 1980s concern was expressed over the size of some households of Pacific Island peoples in New Zealand. In the 1990s a more persistent concern has been with the incidence of what have been called ‘astronaut’ families – families where one of the partners is persistently absent overseas. The ‘astronaut’ family phenomenon has been most commonly associated with Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

This report uses a novel methodology to examine the incidence of ‘astronaut’ families in New Zealand at the time of the 1991 and 1996 censuses. The methodology is described in some detail in the first section, and it is hoped that the careful attention to the procedures used to examine migrants, who have been identified in the census, in their family contexts will stimulate further research in this area.

The second part of the report presents the findings of an initial exploration of 1991 and 1996 census data using the methodology outlined in the first section. It is clear from results of this inquiry that the ‘astronaut’ family phenomenon is well established amongst some components of New Zealand’s Asian community. However, it is not as widespread as media comment in 1995 and 1996, before the 1996 election, suggested.

It is important to develop ways of assessing characteristics of immigrant family structures in order to counter unsubstantiated assertions which promote negative stereotypes of immigrant communities. This research, which builds on a project supported by the Marsden Fund in 1997, suggest one fruitful avenue for making more extensive use of census data on immigrants in New Zealand to provide more objective assessment of “migrants in social context”.

year: 2000-06

title: Creating a curriculum for indigenous and community languages: Te reo Māori as an example

authors: Bruce, Ian

subjects: linguistics

abstract: Part 1 of this paper introduces the draft Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages and describes how it was used in the construction of draft New Zealand curriculum guidelines for French and German. Part 2 discusses how the CEFR has been employed in curriculum development in Te Reo Māori at the University of Waikato and suggests that it could also prove useful in relation to curriculum development projects involving indigenous and community languages more generally.

text: Creating a curriculum for indigenous and community languages: Te reo Māori as an example Part 1 of this paper introduces the draft Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages and describes how it was used in the construction of draft New Zealand curriculum guidelines for French and German. Part 2 discusses how the CEFR has been employed in curriculum development in Te Reo Māori at the University of Waikato and suggests that it could also prove useful in relation to curriculum development projects involving indigenous and community languages more generally.

year: 2002