Comparison between Gorham's Proverbs Test and the Revised Shipley Institute of Living Scale for a Black Population

Penn, Nolan E.; Jacob, Teresa C.; Brown, M. E.

doi:10.2466/pms.1988.66.3.839

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Intelligence is positively related to proverb interpretation (Becker, 1956; Crumpton, 1963; Gorham, 1956c; O'Reilly & Harrison, 1960; Shimkunas, Gynther, & Smith, 1966), but performance on the Proverbs Test is not a factor of intelligence when patients are of average or above average intelligence (Carson, 1962; Harrow, Tucher, Himmelhoch, & Putnam, 1972). Familiarity with a proverb increases the probability of its correct interpretation (Cunningham, Ridley, & Campbell, 1987; Penn, Jacob, & Brown, 1988a). Children with learning disabilities also have a more difficult time explaining the figurative meanings of proverbs than do average learners (Lutzer, 1988).…”

Section: A Critique Of Proverbs In Psychological Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

What proverb understanding reveals about how people think.

Gibbs

Beitel²

1995

Psychological Bulletin

117

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The ability to understand proverbial sayings, such as a rolling stone gathers no moss, has been of great interest to researchers in many areas of psychology. Most psychologists assume that understanding the figurative meanings of proverbs requires various kinds of higher order cognitive abilities. The authors review the findings on proverb interpretation to examine the question of what proverb use and understanding reveals about the ways normal and dysfunctional individuals think. The widely held idea that failure to provide a figurative interpretation of a proverb necessarily reflects a deficit in specialized abstract thinking is rejected. Moreover, the ability to correctly explain what a proverb means does not necessarily imply that an individual can think abstractly. Various empirical evidence, nonetheless, suggests that the ability to understand many proverbs reveals the presence of metaphorical schemes that are ubiquitous in everyday thought.

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Section: A Critique Of Proverbs In Psychological Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

What proverb understanding reveals about how people think.

Gibbs

Beitel²

1995

Psychological Bulletin

117

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Familiarity with Proverbs and Performance of a Black Population on Gorham's Proverbs Test

1988

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The Gorham Proverbs Test was administered to 278 black participants residing in a large metropolitan area in Southern California. Respondents were also asked to indicate whether they were familiar with each of the 40 proverbs in the test. Scores were significantly affected by respondents' ages, education, and perceived childhood socioeconomic status. Familiarity with a proverb increased the probability of its correct interpretation. Familiarity of proverbs and attempts to interpret them were significantly associated, that is, respondents tended not to attempt interpretation of unfamiliar proverbs. The number of familiar proverbs per test was not significantly associated with respondents' test scores. The mean Abstract score obtained in this study was comparable to mean scores previously reported in the literature, suggesting that ethnic differences do not significantly affect performance on the Proverbs Test.

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Comparison between Gorham's Proverbs Test and the Revised Shipley Institute of Living Scale for a Black Population

Cited by 2 publications

References 12 publications

What proverb understanding reveals about how people think.

What proverb understanding reveals about how people think.

Familiarity with Proverbs and Performance of a Black Population on Gorham's Proverbs Test

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