Allan G. Barclay

Frequency of eidetic imagery among hydrocephalic children.

A sample of 75 mentally retarded children, including 14 with arrested hydrocephalus, 39 with other diagnoses of brain damage, and 22 familial cases, was tested for eidetic imagery, in order to clarify the relationship between eidetic imagery and neuropathology. The hypotheses tested were that the frequency of eidetic imagery is higher among hydrocephalics than among other brain-damaged children and higher among hydrocephalics than among familials. The data confirmed the hypotheses and are interpreted as supporting a theory in which particular structural impairments in the visual system may delay neural development and result in a persistence of eidetic imagery.

The Quick Test as a Screening Device for Intellectually Subnormal Children

For a sample of 40 educable retarded children, correlations between WISC IQs and Quick Test IQs were .53 (Verbal Scale), .32 (Performance Scale), and .50 (Full Scale). The QT mean IQ was significantly higher than the mean WISC Verbal and Full Scale IQs; there was no significant difference between the QT mean IQ and the mean WISC Performance IQ, although the correlation between these scales was somewhat lower. The findings suggest that, as with the adult retardate, the Quick Test assesses functional language ability of mentally retarded children moderately well and thus may be used in conjunction with other data for screening purposes.

Comparisons of Scores on Quick Test and Stanford-Binet Form L-M, for Retarded Children

For a sample of 40 young educable retarded children, the correlation between QT IQs and SB-LM IQs was .61. Thus the Quick Test correlates moderately well with the Binet, even with a restricted range of test scores. The QT IQ was significantly higher than the Binet IQ but showed no significant sex differences in test performance. These findings suggest that as with the adult and adolescent retardate, the Quick Test can be useful in assessing functional language ability and screening intellectual levels of young school-age children.

Influence of maternal attitudes on children with reading disabilities.

This study focused on attitudes expressed by mothers of 38 children with reading disabilities, as well as upon the intellective function of these children. Results indicated that the children manifested relatively superior verbal ability but, in spite of this fact, had failed to develop adequate reading skills. The youngsters also demonstrated inferior retentive ability which did not appear to be in keeping with their over-all intellectual ability. The results of the survey of maternal attitudes suggested that the mothers appeared to be authoritarian and controlling, with problems in the area of accepting their maternal role and a consequently higher degree of marital disharmony that is presumed to have a deleterious effect upon the childs development. It was concluded that maternal attitudes probably have a significant effect upon the motivation of the child to develop reading skills and that the lack of development of reading skills may reflect an attempt by the child to resist maternal pressures for achievement.

Cerebral dominance, psycholinguistic skills and reading disability.

This study examined contrasting patterns of psycholinguistic functioning among normal children and children with reading disabilities. In general, results suggested that children with reading disabilities had significantly different patterns of psycholinguistic functioning in auditory vocal, visual motor, vocal encoding, and motor encoding activities.

A FACTOR ANALYTIC STUDY OF WPPSI SCORES OF EDUCATIONALLY DEPRIVED AND NORMAL. CHILDREN

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence was administered to 372 children, one group being educationally deprived and the other normal, all being Caucasian. Factor analysis showed a three-factor structure: Verbal, Performance, and Picture Completion. There were no significant differences in factor structure of the two groups, suggesting similarity of factor structures. Apparently, the homogeneity of groups on cultural and demographic variables outweighed their arbitrary assignment to differential educational experiences on the basis of existing Title I definitions of educational deprivation.

A Semantic Differential Study of the Yin-Yang Symbol

Summary The inherent meanings of the ancient and culturally significant symbol known as the Yin-Yang was investigated by having 242 students rate it on the Semantic Differential. The investigation further explored the meanings of the symbol as it might relate to Jungs controversial concept of the archetype. The results indicated that the qualities of the symbol supported the concept of the Yin-Yang archetype and, surprisingly, these were consistent with Jungs concept of the anima and animus.

Preliminary investigation of the visuo-motor recall test

This pilot study yielded no differences in performance on the Wechsler Visuo-motor Recall Test associated with sex or age and no interaction of these variables among 80 Negro pre-school children in the sample studied. Further, the findings suggested that work is needed to arrange items in the order of difficulty. Finally, the influence of response “set” needs to be taken into consideration in future studies with this instrument.

Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test and WPPSI Performance of Disadvantaged Preschool Children.

Analysis of the performance of 48 disadvantaged preschool children on the Goodenough-Harris and the WPPSI showed that both tests yielded IQ estimates below the respective norm groups for both instruments. Goodenough-Harris IQs were in the dull-normal range, while WPPSI IQs were in the normal range. The Man and Woman scales were not equivalent measures and neither appeared to be an adequate predictor of WPPSI IQ levels.

Inter-rater reliability of scoring Goodenough-Harris drawings by disadvantaged preschool children.

Drawings of 50 culturally deprived children were examined to investigate inter- and intra-rater reliabilities for scoring the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test. Two naive raters taught themselves the method and then scored the sample of drawings. Significant (p < .001) Pearsonian correlations between the scores of the two raters were .951 for the man drawing, .954 for the woman, and .938 for the self. In addition, significant coefficients (p < .001) of intra-rater reliability ranged from .750 to .917 across drawings. The data suggested that the GHDT was reliably scored by naive raters who were allowed to train themselves and that the scoring criteria were applied consistently to the alternate forms of the test.