The Kuhlmann-Anderson intelligence tests compared with seven others

Abstract

The Kuhlmann-Anderson tests are a series of 35 tests grouped in batteries for different age levels. The child's score on each test of a battery is converted into a mental age, and the median of his several mental age scores is taken. The Kuhlmann-Anderson tests were compared with seven others in a comprehensive testing program. Each comparison involved from 89 to 221 children. Scores on a single test show higher variability and higher correlation with the battery as a whole the more difficult the test. Other tests become easier from lower to higher grades, but the Kuhlmann-Anderson is more nearly uniform in difficulty because different batteries are used. The K.-A. tests permit more zero and maximum scores than other tests, but avoid the error by the median mental age method of scoring. In the K.-A. tests, the method of scoring weights them in terms of age ability. In 9 out of 11 comparisons, the K.-A. tests showed less overlapping in mental ages between two successive grades, and in 15 out of 17 comparisons they showed a smaller S.D. of the mental ages. Correlations with other tests followed closely the differences in the S.D. In four out of nine comparisons the K.-A. tests showed a higher correlation with school grades, but were exceeded in four cases by the National, which bears a high correlation with educational tests. The K.-A. tests gave a more normal distribution and an average IQ nearer to 100 in nearly all cases. The highest age norm for the K.-A. tests is 18-0, exceeded by the Terman at 19-6. The K.-A. and the Otis make provision for IQ scoring when the raw score is above the highest age norm. No alternative form of the K.-A. tests has been worked out, and testing has not been repeated for the purpose of computing reliability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)