A child psychologist visits a shelter school in Surat where children of migrant families from Odisha, Bihar and Assam study together. Many of them speak languages she does not know, and several have never been to school and cannot read or write. To estimate each child's intelligence, she places a set of small wooden blocks with coloured faces in front of the child. She shows a design on a card and asks the child to put the blocks together to copy it, while she notes the time taken on a stopwatch.
Which of the following correctly identifies the test the psychologist is using, as classified by the nature of its items?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A performance test, which can be easily administered to persons from different cultures
Option (1) A verbal test, which can be answered either orally or in a written form — Incorrect. A verbal test needs verbal responses, spoken or written, so it can be given only to literate people. Several of these children cannot read, and the block task asks for no words at all.
Option (2) A performance test, which can be easily administered to persons from different cultures — Correct. A performance test asks the subject to manipulate objects to do a task, and written language is not needed. Arranging blocks to copy a design within a time limit is Kohs' Block Design Test. Its major advantage is that it can be easily given to people from different cultures, which suits these children.
Option (3) A non-verbal test, in which the subject chooses a figure to complete a pattern — Incorrect. A non-verbal test uses pictures as items. In Raven's Progressive Matrices the subject looks at an incomplete pattern and picks the figure that completes it. Here the children do not pick a figure; they handle real blocks to build a design.
Option (4) A mixed test, which combines items from the verbal and non-verbal categories — Incorrect. A test may mix items from different categories, but this task has only one kind of item. The children only arrange blocks; there are no word items and no picture-choice items in it.
NCERT (2026-27): “Verbal, Non-Verbal, or Performance Tests … “Box 1.1 is asked to arrange the blocks within a time period to produce a given design. A major advantage of performance tests is that they can be easily administered to persons from different cultures.” |