Constructing Local Age Norms Based on Ability for the Bender-Gestalt Test

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine developmental patterns in visuomotor functioning across age and ability groups. A second purpose was to develop local norms to allow practicing psychologists to examine relative differences within age and IQ groups in visuomotor performance. Thus, an age-by-mental ability normative data set (N=4,014) was constructed from archival records from 10 public school systems and analyzed to identify both qualitative and quantitative differences in visuomotor functioning for children between 6 and 18.11 yr. of age across 9 IQ levels ranging from 40 to 129.

Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test in Adolescents: Relationship between Visual-Motor Development and the Tanner Stages

“…Noronha, Santos, and Sisto (2007) and Rajabi (2009) observed a decrease in scores with increasing age. The studies of Bolen (2003) , Fernández and Tuset (2007) , Ferreira, et al (2009) , Özer (2011 , and Pinto and Noronha (2010) also obtained the same results. For this reason it may be that the majority of studies employing the Bender test have been restricted to individuals in childhood and early adolescence (10, 11, and 12 years of age), as observed by Lauretta Bender (1938) .…”

“…Studies report signifi cant correlations between visual-motor maturity (for which the Bender test is usually the measure employed) and intelligence (determined by diff erent measures, range r = −.37 to −.57: Cousino & Wilder, 1978 ;Shapiro & Simpson, 1995 ;Bolen, 2003 ;Ghassemzadeh, Tahvildar, Rezai, & Danekar, 2004 ;Romi & Marom, 2005 ;Rueda, Bartholomeu, & Sisto, 2006 ;Di Blasi, et al, 2007 ;Pacanaro, et al, 2008 ;Sisto, Bartholomeu, Rueda, Santos, & Noronha, 2008 ;Böhm, et al, 2010 ).…”

“…However, Decker (2008) suggests that rapid visual-motor maturation takes place in middle adolescence, followed by a slow decline during adulthood and a sharp decline in subsequent phases of life. Shapiro and Simpson (1995) and Bolen (2003) suggest that there is a continuation of visual-motor development beyond the age of 11 years.…”

“…Because of the evidence of the eff ects of puberty ( Colli, et al, 2003 ), the resulting possible changes in some cognitive functions ( Kolb & Whishaw, 2002 ;Machado, et al, 2005 ), and the implications of visual-motor maturation after childhood ( Shapiro & Simpson, 1995 ;Bolen, 2003 ;Decker, 2008 ), the goal was to assess whether changes in visual-motor skills take place precisely at the time of puberty, this being the time that Bender (1938Bender ( , 1985 considered visual-motor maturation to be fully developed.…”

Relationship of Bender Gestalt Developmental Scores and Human Drawing Developmental Scores in a Sample of Turkish Preschool Children

“…The Koppitz (1963) system is one of the most widely used and researched systems in the field. This is indicated by the presence of over 300 studies between the years of 1965-2000 concerning children's Bender Gestalt performance (Bolen, 2003). Koppitz's system is a developmental, maturational system.…”