Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children Objectives

Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Assessing Cognitive Abilities in
Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D.
Assessment Training Consultant
Objectives
•
Describe cognitive factors that account
for differential classroom performance;
•
Describe basic cognitive processes and
their relationship to higher-order
conceptualization and reasoning.
•
Describe assessment of cognitive abilities
in young children.
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
In Early Childhood Programs, . . .
. . . some children learn the pre-academic
skills we present; some children do not.
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In Early Childhood Programs, . . .
. . . some children are able to wait their
turn; others respond impulsively.
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
What factors may account for
such differential performance?
Learner’s Skills
(Berninger, 2007)
Individual
Individual Differences
Differences in
in the
the Processes
Processes
in
in the
the Learner’s
Learner’s Mind
Mind or
or Brain
Brain
Curriculum and
and
Curriculum
Instructional
Instructional
Materials
Materials
Teachers’
Teachers’
Instruction
Instruction
(Pedagogy)
(Pedagogy)
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Understanding the Child’s Mind
Piaget’s
Piaget’s Stages
Stages of
of Cognitive
Cognitive
Development
Development
Sensori-motor
Sensori-motor (Birth
(Birth to
to 22 years)
years)
Pre-operational
Pre-operational (2
(2 to
to 77 years)
years)
Concrete
Concrete operational
operational (7
(7 to
to 11
11 years)
years)
Formal
Formal operational
operational (11
(11 to
to 15
15 years)
years)
(Santrock & Yussen, 1992)
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Understanding the Child’s Mind
Information Processing
Information
Information
from
fromthe
the
environment
environment
Sensory
Sensory and
and
Perceptual
Perceptual
Processes
Processes
Memory
Memory
Thinking
Thinking
(Santrock & Yussen, 1992)
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Language
Language
Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Information Processing
Brain
Mind
Cognition
• memory
• problem-solving
• reasoning
Output
Input
(Santrock & Yussen, 1992)
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What Do We Assess?
(Developmentally Appropriate)
Examples of Assessment
(Examples of test items are not included in handout)
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
The Process of Learning
••
Learning is
is the
the process
process of
of acquiring
acquiring
Learning
information.
information.
••
What are
are the
the cognitive
cognitive factors
factors that
that enable
enable
What
students to
to show
show what
what they
they know
know and
and can
can
students
do?
do?
How do they receive,
perceive, process, and
remember information?
How
How do
do they
they collect,
collect,
sort,
sort, store,
store, and
and
retrieve
retrieve information?
information?
(Elliott, 2007)
(Miller,
(Miller,2007)
2007)
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Sensory-Motor Functions
and Learning
Input
Input
••
••
IsIsthe
thechild
child able
ableto
tosee
see the
the
information?
Is
visual
information? Is visual
acuity
acuity within
withinnormal
normal
limits?
limits? What
Whatabout
aboutvisual
visual
discrimination?
discrimination?
IsIsthe
thechild
child able
ableto
tohear
hear
the
information?
Is
hearing
the information? Is hearing
acuity
acuity within
withinnormal
normal
limits?
What
about
limits? What about
auditory
auditorydiscrimination?
discrimination?
Output
Output
••
IsIsthe
thechild
child able
ableto
torespond
respond
in
writing?
Are
fine
in writing? Are finemotor
motor
abilities
within
normal
abilities within normal
limits?
limits?
••
IsIsthe
thechild
child able
ableto
torespond
respond
orally?
Are
language
orally? Are language
production
production abilities
abilities within
within
normal
limits?
normal limits?
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Attention and Learning
Does the child . . .
••
••
selectively
selectively attend
attend to
to
certain
stimuli
while
certain stimuli while
ignoring
ignoring competing,
competing,
irrelevant
irrelevant stimuli?
stimuli?
sustain
sustain attentional
attentional
focus
for
focus for aa prolonged
prolonged
period?
period?
••
shift
shift attentional
attentional
resources
resources from
from one
one
activity
to
another?
activity to another?
••
respond
respond to
to more
more than
than
one
one task
task
simultaneously
simultaneously ––
divided
divided attention?
attention?
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Memory and Learning
•
In schools, we expect children to learn and
remember information.
•
Often, the information is presented visually
and/or verbally.
•
Some of the information is novel; some is
acquired.
Strategies
Strategies
Language
Language
Images
Images
Conceptual
Conceptual
(Mather & Goldstein, 2008)
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Visual-Spatial Processes
and Learning
•
Much of what is presented in school has either a
visual-spatial or language basis.
•
Visual-perceptual skills play a major role in the
development of a child’s handwriting skills, and
fluency in math and reading.
•
For example, a student may be able to name
individual letters in a word (visual analysis, b-e-d),
but she may be unable to integrate the letters to
say the word (visual synthesis, bed).
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Language and Learning
Receptive
Receptive
Children
Children must
must
understand
understand words
words and
and
sentences
to
perceive
sentences to perceive
and
and process
process
information.
information.
Expressive
Expressive
They
They must
must use
use words
words
to
to show
show they
they can
can
retrieve
information
retrieve information
from
from memory.
memory.
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Language and Learning
Early
Early development
development of
of reading
reading depends
depends
critically
critically on
on whether
whether the
the receptive
receptive
phonological
phonological component
component of
of the
the aural
aural
system
system and
and the
the expressive
expressive phonological
phonological
component
component of
of the
the oral
oral system
system are
are
developing
developing in
in an
an age-appropriate
age-appropriate
manner
manner (Berninger,
(Berninger, 2007).
2007).
Language
Literacy
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Process of Learning and
Remembering
Encoding
External information is transformed into
mental representations or memories and
stored in STM.
Consolidation
Information from immediate memory is
solidified into long-term memory stores.
Retrieval
Information is brought into conscious
awareness.
Delayed
Delayed
Immediate
Immediate
Semantic
Semantic
Working
Working
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Executive Functions
•
Mental functions associated with ability to
engage in behaviors that are:
– Purposeful
Cat
– Organized
– Self-regulated
– Goal-directed
•
Internal supervisory guide for learning
and performance in the classroom.
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Executive Functions and
Working Memory
•
Many executive function tasks also require
working memory—actively holding information
in memory during cognitive tasks.
•
Children with poor working memory may lose
the “thread” and forget parts of the
instruction, or even their own intention in the
face of competing stimuli.
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Cognitive Processing Speed
and Learning
•
The ability to perform automatically with little
or no effort–improves dramatically as children
get older.
•
Automaticity is linked to speed and processing
capacity; as an activity is completed faster, it
requires less processing capacity.
•
As processing capacity increases, it becomes
easier to complete tasks that were previously
considered to be difficult. (Santrock & Yussen, 1992).
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Sample Test Results . . .
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Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Psycho-educational
Psycho-educationalInterpretation
InterpretationChart
Chart
Eligibility
Eligibility
Determination
Determination
Student’s
Student’sName:
Name: Sample
SampleStudent
Student
Age:
3:10
Age:
3:10
School:
Early
School:
EarlyHeadStart
HeadStart
Test:
Test:
DAS-II
DAS-II
Extremely
Low
Borderline
Superior
6.7%
2.2 %
Low
Average
Average Range
High
Average
16.1 %
50 % of Students
16.1 %
6.7 %
Very
Superior
2.2 %
GCA SS = 65
Verbal Comprehension SS = 69
Nonverbal Reasoning SS = 73
Spatial SS = 72
Early Number Concepts
PR = 3
Recall of Digits Forward
PR = 2
Recognition of Pictures
PR =3
70
80
90
100
110
120
Psycho-educational
Psycho-educationalInterpretation
InterpretationChart
Chart
Student’s
Student’sName:
Name: Sample
SampleStudent
Student
Age:
Age:
School:
School:
4:7
4:7
Pre-K
Pre-K
Test:
Test:
WPPSI-IV
WPPSI-IV
Extremely
Low
130
Instructional
Instructional
Planning
Planning
Borderline
Superior
6.7%
2.2 %
Low
Average
Average Range
High
Average
16.1 %
50 % of Students
16.1 %
6.7 %
2.2 %
Full Scale IQ = 117
Verbal Comprehension = 132
Visual-Spatial = 112
Fluid Reasoning = 114
Working Memory = 97
Processing Speed = 91
70
80
90
100
110
Very
Superior
120
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130
Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
Learning Depends on . . .
sensory-motor
sensory-motor functions,
functions,
•• attentional
attentional processes,
processes,
••
visual-spatial
visual-spatial processing,
processing,
•• language
language processes,
processes,
••
memory
memory and
and learning
learning processes,
processes,
•• executive
executive functions,
functions, and
and
••
••
speed
speed and
and efficiency
efficiency of
of cognitive
cognitive
processing.
processing.
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Summary
•
If a child is not performing the grade-level
skill, identify the cognitive factors that are
necessary for and related to performance of
the skill.
•
Assess these cognitive factors to determine
why the child is struggling with the specific
skill.
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Copyright © 2012. Pearson, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
References
Bayley, N. (2006). Bayley Scales of Infant
and Toddler Development-Third Edition. San
Antonio, TX: Pearson.
Berninger, V. W. (2007). PAL-II user’s guide.
San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
Elliott, C. (2007). Differential Ability ScalesSecond Edition: Introductory and technical
handbook. Bloomington, MN: Pearson.
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References
Korkman, M., Kirk, U., & Kemp, S. (2007).
NEPSY-II. San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
Mather, N., & Goldstein, S. (2008). Learning
disabilities and challenging behaviors.
Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
Miller, D. C. (2007). Essentials of school
neuropsychological assessment. Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley.
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Copyright © 2012. Pearson, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Assessing Cognitive Abilities in Young Children
Gloria Maccow, Ph.D., Assessment Training Consultant
References
Santrock, J. W., & Yussen, S. R. (1992).
Child development. Dubuque, IA: Brown).
Wechsler, D. (2004). Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children-Fourth Edition. San Antonio,
TX: Pearson.
Wechsler, D. (2012). Wechsler Preschool and
Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition.
(2012). San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
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