Description
The Kids
IQ Test is a 201-item multiple choice measure of verbal intelligence
designed for children ages 5 to 17. It was designed specifically for
administration over the Internet, with the assistance of an adult for
younger children. It has about 40 items for each of five of the content
areas measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children:
Information, Similarities, Arithmetic, Comprehension and Vocabulary. When
a child misses 5 items in a row, that section of the test is discontinued
and the next begun.
Design
The test items were written by the author to measure a range of ability
from a mentally slow 6 year old to a bright 16 year old. The content of
the items was written to reflect the content of the corresponding areas of
the Wechsler test. A multiple-choice format was chosen to permit Internet
administration and automatic, computer scoring. Each item has 5 options,
four which are possible answers and one for “I don’t know”. The test is
administered over the Internet at FunEducation.com and the author’s web site (www.testmasterinc.com).
There is only one correct answer for each item.
Statistical Properties
To obtain initial
statistics, the test was administered over the Internet to 395 children
ranging in age primarily from 5 to 17 with a few 3, 4 and 18-year-olds.
An invitation to participate in return for a few dollars worth of web site
testing services at the site was sent to 2,000 adults who had previously
visited a web site with which the author is affiliated (Funeducation.com).
Respondents were also told they would receive test scores when norming was
complete. These adults had visited the FunEd web site to take other tests
offered by it. They were invited to test their children. The invitation
was also sent to 13,000 children under the age of 18 who previously had
taken another intelligence test offered at the web site. The children
responded within a few week period in the summer of 2003. Most were from
the United States, with some from Canada, Great Britain, Australia and
other countries.
Data
Data from this initial study were processed by the author using SPSS
software. Correlations were run between each test item and the total
score of which it is a part for the total sample. Every one of the items
except the simplest Arithmetic item correlated significantly with its
total score, usually at the .01 level or better, indicating that each item
was contributing as expected. Similar analysis by age group showed less
consistent item characteristics.
Alpha reliability
coefficients were computed for each age, section and total score, a sample
of which is provided below.
Kids IQ Test Alpha Coefficient
Reliabilities
|
Age |
N |
Info |
Simil |
Arith |
Comp |
Vocab |
Total I.Q. |
|
6 |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
.97 |
|
7 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
.97 |
|
8 |
22 |
.84 |
.85 |
.94 |
.88 |
.91 |
.97 |
|
9 |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
.93 |
|
10 |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
.95 |
|
11 |
22 |
.94 |
.80 |
.86 |
.85 |
.92 |
.97 |
|
12 |
29 |
|
|
|
|
|
.95 |
|
13 |
42 |
|
|
|
|
|
.96 |
|
14 |
60 |
.77 |
.89 |
.94 |
.92 |
.93 |
.97 |
|
15 |
65 |
|
|
|
|
|
.89 |
|
16 |
62 |
.72 |
.72 |
.78 |
.66 |
.76 |
.91 |
|
17 |
30 |
|
|
|
|
|
.91 |
Thus, it appeared that
the section and total scores had adequate reliability for accurately
differentiating various levels of verbal intelligence overall, especially as
reflected in the Total Verbal I.Q. score.
By way of comparison,
consider the corresponding reliabilities for the WISC-III subtests and total
Verbal WISC-III I.Q. for 14-year-olds (1).
Comparison of Reliability Data, Kids
IQ Test
versus WISC-III, 14-year-olds
|
|
N |
Info |
Simil |
Arith |
Comp |
Vocab |
Total V.I.Q. |
|
Kids IQ Test |
60 |
.77 |
.89 |
.94 |
.92 |
.93 |
.97 |
|
WISC |
200 |
.87 |
.84 |
.77 |
.76 |
.91 |
.95 |
Means and standard
deviations are proprietary information. Means were plotted on graph paper
across ages and smooth curves drawn to obtain estimated values for larger
populations. Standard deviations were roughly similar across ages,
especially for sample groups of 20 or more. The mean standard deviation
across all ages was computed and is used as the standard deviation estimate
for larger populations.
The curves for the mean
scores were compared to similar curves drawn for corresponding raw score
data published in the WISC-III manual. Kids IQ Test curves were similar to WISC-III
curves, though the WISC-III curves tended to be straigher. The Kids IQ
Test
curves tend to rise in a curvilineal arc which tends to level out at age 16
to 17. This may reflect a leveling of brain neurological maturity at these
ages.
While some older
children obtained perfect scores on one or more section tests, none obtained
a perfect total score. The highest raw total score was 195 of 201 items,
obtained by a 14-year-old British girl.
Validity
Data
The test is designed to have content validity by mimicking the content of
the WISC-III. Readers familiar with both instruments can judge for
themselves how well this mimicking was achieved. Eventually a validity
study testing a sample of children on both instruments can provide
correlations between them for further validation.
Inter-test correlations
The correlations between
sections and the total score are provided below. These are for the total
initial sample, all age groups.
Inter-test Correlations, All Age Groups
Combined, N = 393
(All significant at .000 level)
|
Test section |
Total
QVQ |
Info |
Simil |
Arith |
Comp |
Vocab |
|
Info |
.83 |
1.00 |
.70 |
.69 |
.70 |
.50 |
|
Similar. |
.78 |
|
1.00 |
.62 |
.60 |
.44 |
|
Arith |
.83 |
|
|
1.00 |
.73 |
.49 |
|
Compreh |
.86 |
|
|
|
1.00 |
.56 |
|
Vocab |
.80 |
|
|
|
|
1.00 |
Thus, as expected, each
section correlates substantially with the total Verbal I. Q. to which it
contributes. The correlations between sections are less high, again as
expected. Each section score contributes to the measure of intelligence but
adding something different from the other sections.
Similar results were
obtained for each age group. For example, for 14-year-olds:
Inter-test Correlations, 14-Year-Olds, N= 60
(All significant at .000 level)
|
Test section |
Total
QVQ |
Info |
Simil |
Arith |
Comp |
Vocab |
|
Info |
.81 |
1.00 |
.77 |
.59 |
.53 |
.59 |
|
Similar. |
.77 |
|
1.00 |
.59 |
.45 |
.46 |
|
Arith |
.80 |
|
|
1.00 |
.61 |
.57 |
|
Compreh |
.87 |
|
|
|
1.00 |
.89 |
|
Vocab |
.87 |
|
|
|
|
1.00 |
Again by way of
comparison, consider the corresponding data for the WISC-III, for
14-year-olds (2).
Section and Total Score Intercorrelations,
200 14-year-olds, WISC-III (3)
|
Test section |
Total V.
I.Q. |
Info |
Simil |
Arith |
Comp |
Vocab |
|
Info |
.84 |
1.00 |
.66 |
.60 |
.52 |
.71 |
|
Similar. |
.85 |
|
1.00 |
.55 |
.63 |
.68 |
|
Arith |
.77 |
|
|
1.00 |
.50 |
.60 |
|
Compreh |
.80 |
|
|
|
1.00 |
.65 |
|
Vocab |
.88 |
