A suggested method for analyzing and extending the use of Bellevue-Wechsler vocabulary responses.

Abstract

F OR many years, the literature in the field of intelligence testing has been laden with psychometric pattern research. Underlying this approach is the hope that differential patterns of response to intelligence tests will be found, which will aid in the diagnosis of functional and organic mental disturbances.The following paper suggests an approach which places its emphasis upon the relationship between the use of language (as manifested in a vocabulary response) and the underlying cognitive process. Such research, in lieu of psychometric patterns, orients the field of intelligence testing to a frame of reference concerned with seeking differential levels of intellectual functioning as manifested in the development of children's vocabulary definitions, in normal adults and adults suffering from mental disturbances.Wechsler [8] has pointed out that, "in defining a word, a subject gives more than its mere meaning." In many instances, he tells us a good deal about himself, or at least about the quality and character of his thought processes. These facts may not be immediately apparent, but can be frequently brought to light by analyzing the formal and contextual aspects of the subject's response. There is an obvious difference in the reasoning ability between two adults, one of whom defines "donkey" as "an animal," and the other who defines it in such terms as "it has four legs." Wechs-

Learning to Read: Theory, Research, and Practice

“…For instance, Templin (1957) distinguished between productive and recognition vocabulary; the data suggested that the words children could use on their own and those whose meaning they could recognize were different in character. Other researchers explored the nature of the definitions rendered by youngn children (e.g., Feifel and Lorge 1950;Gerstein 1949), or their selection of qualitatively different definitions on multiple-choice tests (Cronbach 1943;Russell and Saadeh 1962). These investigations, though provocative, petered out for some reason.…”

Research with the Wechsler-Bellevue test: 1945-1950.

“…Miscellaneous studies. Gerstein (48) presented an interesting procedure for analyzing vocabulary responses. She utilizes Yacorzynski's principle that the "right answers" on V are not prima facie evidence of adequate knowledge of the word meaning.…”

Towards a Standardized Test of Religious Language Comprehension

“…28 Vocabulary has long been considered to give a good estimate of capacity for conceptual thought. When vocabularytests have been usedfor diagnostic purposes, qualitative marking of responses under headings such as 'concrete', 'functional' and 'abstract' has proved useful 11 and there is much support for the view that vocabulary standards reflect successive stages in cognitive development, 37 with increasing numbers of abstract definitions and growing awareness of the class features of words. 25 -30 -44 Other workers have seen particular advantages in proverb tests.…”