Dynamic Testing: Measuring Inductive Reasoning in Children With Developmental Disabilities and Mild Cognitive Impairments

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the use of dynamic testing based on a graduated prompts techniques training in a clinical educational setting. We examined the question of whether it would be possible to administer a four session dynamic test to a specific group of children with complex behavioral and psychiatric problems, developmental disabilities, and often very weak school performance. We further examined whether children would show different change patterns in their use of solving strategies when presented with a figural analogies task, and we explored the relationship between existing intelligence measures, school achievement measures, and dynamic testing outcomes. Data revealed that the children with these complex problems were able to solve figural analogies and progressed in their accuracy in solving the task after training. We also found that trained children employed more sophisticated problem solving after graduated prompts training, and individual differences in progression paths from pretest to posttest were apparent. Furthermore, we were able to identify groups of children differing in the number and type of instructions needed during training. IQ scores and teacher ratings of school performance were highly correlated, although IQ scores were not related to objectively measured school achievement scores. Dynamic test scores revealed lower correlations with teacher ratings of school performance but were the best predictors of school achievement. It was concluded that dynamic test measures gave the best indication of the children’s scholastic achievement and their potential for learning.