Psychological Assessment in Early Childhood
A Critical Discussion of Psychological Assessment in Early Childhood
Introduction
This essay follows on from a practical task completed by administering a few developmental tests to a child (age 4). The task was by no means a formal assessment in any way but rather a way for me to gain some first-hand experience and an idea as to what assessment of a young child entails as well as how to go about administering the tests.
This essay will contain a discussion pertaining to psychological assessment in early childhood. What it is, why it is done, the different types of developmental measures and examples of appropriate tests and shortcomings of assessment in a South African context will all be laid out in this essay. Furthermore ethical considerations as well as factors that must be taken into consideration when testing a child as well as how they play a role in the outcome of the tests will be discussed. Predictive validity will be mentioned and in light of each of the abovementioned points I will attempt to report on my practical task and the usefulness of assessment in early childhood.
The Rationale for Assessment in Early Childhood
It has been a long known and generally accepted idea that a child’s formative early years are of great importance to their healthy development. The growth that occurs during these younger years has a large impact on later life development.
The measure of individual intelligence can be used to get an idea of a person’s level of intelligence in general. In early childhood assessment the goal is to gather information and an understanding of that information in a way that will aid the child’s development as well as capitalize on their natural abilities (Foxcroft and Roodt, 2009). It can be a valuable tool when helping a child perform to the best of his/her ability.
In cases of poor scholastic performance the undertaking of tasks designed to shed light on the levels of general intelligence can help arrest development
Introduction
This essay follows on from a practical task completed by administering a few developmental tests to a child (age 4). The task was by no means a formal assessment in any way but rather a way for me to gain some first-hand experience and an idea as to what assessment of a young child entails as well as how to go about administering the tests.
This essay will contain a discussion pertaining to psychological assessment in early childhood. What it is, why it is done, the different types of developmental measures and examples of appropriate tests and shortcomings of assessment in a South African context will all be laid out in this essay. Furthermore ethical considerations as well as factors that must be taken into consideration when testing a child as well as how they play a role in the outcome of the tests will be discussed. Predictive validity will be mentioned and in light of each of the abovementioned points I will attempt to report on my practical task and the usefulness of assessment in early childhood.
The Rationale for Assessment in Early Childhood
It has been a long known and generally accepted idea that a child’s formative early years are of great importance to their healthy development. The growth that occurs during these younger years has a large impact on later life development.
The measure of individual intelligence can be used to get an idea of a person’s level of intelligence in general. In early childhood assessment the goal is to gather information and an understanding of that information in a way that will aid the child’s development as well as capitalize on their natural abilities (Foxcroft and Roodt, 2009). It can be a valuable tool when helping a child perform to the best of his/her ability.
In cases of poor scholastic performance the undertaking of tasks designed to shed light on the levels of general intelligence can help arrest development
References: 1. Foxcroft, C. & Roodt, G. (2009). Introduction to psychological assessment in the South African context (3rd ed.). Cape Town: Oxford University Press. 2. Meisels, S.J. & Atkins-Burnett, S. (2000). The elements of early childhood assessment. In J.P. Shonkoff & S.J. Meisels (Eds.). Handbook of early childhood intervention (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (pp. 231-257). © Cambridge University Press – reproduced with permission from DALRO. Located in UNISA PYC4807 Tutorial Letter 103/0/2013. 3. UNISA. (2013). Psychological Assessment Tutorial Letter 101/0/2013.