The utility of a computerized assessment battery to evaluate cognitive functioning and attention

• Main Author: Ellis, Carl Richard
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 1991
• Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Educational Psychology; Quantitative Psychology
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618883; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2093&context=etd

In recent years much attention has been given to the application of computer technology to psychometric methods, but researchers have concentrated on adapting traditional methods of psychological testing to the new technology instead of utilizing it to develop innovative methods of assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a computerized assessment battery designed to evaluate cognitive functioning and attention could demonstrate reliability and validity. The Computerized Cognitive Assessment Battery (CCAB) was developed according to the PASS Model of Cognitive Functioning and administered via a Macintosh computer and test results included response style variables (mouse movement and response time). Children having attention problems (N = 25) in grades three through five were compared to a random group of children (N = 29). On the newly developed CCAB, the majority of the sectional variables displayed significant intercorrelations (p {dollar}<{dollar}.01) indicating internal consistency of this measure. The reliability of the Sequential component of the CCPT was found to be.90 for Scale 1 and.83 for Scale 2. No relationship was found between the covert measures on the CCAB and Conners' parent and teacher rating scales. Evidence indicated that the covert measures are related to the Planning Factor. The attention measure of the CCPT was able to discriminate between the two groups as well as the Gordon Diagnostic System. The total CCAB was able to predict group membership with one hundred percent accuracy using the classification results of the discriminant function analysis. Consistent with the prediction of the PASS model, the Attention component (CCPT) was the only area in which the scores of the two groups differed. The present study demonstrated the feasibility and practicality of a fully-computerized cognitive assessment battery to aid in the assessment process. The results of this research indicate that the potential exists to evaluate cognitive functioning by a computer-based assessment system. Not only could such a test provide an index of intellectual ability based on a well researched and extensively used IQ test (Raven), it could also yield a great deal of information related to meta-cognitive skills, self-regulatory behavior, processing styles and compensatory mechanisms.