Structure and Predictive Validity of the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception in Grades One and Three

Abstract

In 1958, Marianne Frostig produced a developmental test of visual perception that has since been revised and standardized. This test, based on her clinical observations and the works of Thurstone (1944), Wedell (1960), and Cruickshank (1957), designated five abilities, which were presumed to be developmentally mutually exclusive. She did not assume that the five abilities were the only ones involved in visual perception, but only that there was a specific relationship between these abilities and the student's ability to learn and adjust. The five abilities identified were: (1) eye-motor co-' ordination, (2) figure-ground, (3) form constancy, (4) position in space, and (5) spatial relations.The purposes of the present study were to determine if the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception (FDTVP) measures several different perceptual abilities, and to determine how well the instrument predicts reading achievement from first to third grade. METHOD SubjectsThe subjects (N=148) were drawn from three elementary schools in a city of approximately 50,000 people in the southeastern part of the United States. The three schools were selected to give an economic cross-section of the community.When the study was begun, the population consisted of 218 first grade children. The mean chronological age for this population was six years and three months, with a standard deviation of seven months. As measured by the WISC, the mean Verbal IQ was 92.44, s.d. 17.18, and the Performance IQ was 97.44, s.d. 16.92. The subjects for the third grade part of the study (N=148) are a lesser nurn-

Early First-Grade Skills Related to Subsequent Reading Performance: A Seven Year Followup Study

“…Except for the common finding that these apparently diverse tasks did predict reading in later grades, there is no basis for comparing the results since the degree to which the tests were measuring different or overlapping skills is unknown. Some studies utilized only total scores from readiness tests without analyzing for the effects of particular skill components (Pikulski, 1973;Olson & Johnson, 1970). Kingston (1962) and Askov et al (1972) used multiple correlation with various skill tests for prediction of reading achievement, but the emphasis in both studies was more on prediction than on understanding the reading process.…”

Specific Visual Perceptual Skills as Long-Term Predictors of Academic Success

“…Only three studies which were concerned with the test's long-term prediction effectiveness were found (Bryan 1964, Olson & Johnson 1970, Wiederholt 1971. Bryan and Olson and Johnson correlated children's DTVPs total score which was obtained during the first grade with their third grade reading achievement.…”