Verificação das propriedades psicométricas da bateria de visualização e raciocínio da Leiter-R em crianças dos 2 aos 8 anos e nos distúrbios do desenvolvimento

• Autor(a) principal: Mecca, Tatiana Pontrelli
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações do Mackenzie
• Texto Completo: http://dspace.mackenzie.br/handle/10899/24525
• topic: inteligência; avaliação, autismo, síndrome de Down; intelligence; assessment; autism; Down syndrome; CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::PSICOLOGIA::PSICOLOGIA COGNITIVA

One of the possibilities to access intelligence of individuals with developmental disorders is to use nonverbal tests such as the International Scale of Intelligence Leiter-R. The first goal of the present study was to determine validity and reliability of the Leiter-R to students between 2 and 8 years of age from private and public schools, and people with Down Syndrome (DS) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A full sample of 695 children from general education was evaluated. The Kuder-Richardson coeficient and Split-Half by Spearman-Brown showed to be adequate for the full sample. The precision in the subtests scores varied according to age group. In general, there was correlation of moderate magnitude between test-retest. Exploratory Factor Analysis indicated two factors on Leiter-R, which corroborates the internal structural model of the test. Analysis of variance revealed significant statistical differences between age groups, with progressive higher scores for older children. Significant differences were also noted between students from private and public schools. However, there was no significant difference between gender, either on the total score or the subtests. This study also conducted Pearson Correlations between Leiter-R and other intelligence assessment instruments, as well as tests that assess other constructs. The results suggested correlations with the intelligence measures, with higher correlations with the SON-R 2½-7[a]. The performance at Leiter-R was also correlated with working memory, writing of letters in pre-schoolers, and rapid naming of objects. Linear Regression analysis verified the predicting capabilities of the Leiter-R in academic abilities of reading words and arithmetic. The second part of this study used Leiter-R to determine the profile in two groups of children, one with DS and another with ASD. A total of 30 children with DS and 40 with ASD were paired by gender, age (in months), and type of school, with a control group. The results showed statistical significant differences between DS and controls, which indicates that Leiter-R is capable to discriminate the groups based on their intellectual functioning. In the ASD group there was significant difference to the control group in inductive and sequential reasoning task, discrimination and visual synthesis; however, there were no differences in tasks that involved visuo-spacial skills. Intra-group analysis showed different profiles between the two groups, indicating possible strengths and weaknesses. It was also found heterogeneity in the ASD group concerning their profiles, which based on a cluster analysis and comparison. Correlations between Leiter-R, adaptive functioning and symptoms disclosed by the caregivers were also found. Finally, a differential item functioning analysis indicated DIF to some items, mostly in favor to the DS group. Thus, the results of the present study showed adequate psychometric properties of the Leiter-R and promising use to assess individuals with developmental disorders.