ساخت و هنجاريابي آزمون خط زني (فرم فارسي‌) براي دانش‌آموزان دوره ابتدايي شهر شيراز

Construction and Standardization of the Cancellation Test (Farsi Version) for Primary School Students in Shiraz

Introduction Atteution works as a main cognitive component iu the mind. Attention involves two processes: focusing on a certain stimuli and filtering out the other arriving information. Visual scanning is an essential part of focusing on a certain stimuli. Different neuropsychological devices allow the examiner to provide the subjecrs scanning strategy. Cancellation Test (CT) has been developed to detect the incidence of disorganized visual scanning. CT is a paper and pencil test that requires the person to search for target signs presented on a page and wipe them out. Many versions of the cancellation test exist. They include cancellation of shapes, numbers, letters, lines and the like. CT is used to evaluate thc presence and severity of visual search deficits. Some studies have suggested that disorganized visual scanning in children is associated with ADHD and learning disabilities (Faraone& et.al. 2001). Research questions If the Cancellation Tests have qualitative interpretation, normative data would be useful for interpreting the result, but very limited data are reported regarding the performance of Iranian students on the various cancellation tests. The purpose of the study was to construct. standardize and provide normative data for the cancellation test (Farsi version) for primary school students in Shiraz. The basic research question of this study is the genderand age differences in the CT performance. Methods Three equal forms (including letter, digit and shape) were completed with 550 randomized items. Nine non-target stimuli prearranged by chance and made 478 items of the test; then, 72 target stimuli were randomly dispersed among them. The letter form consists of ten Persian!Arabic letrers.o- ʹJʹ" ʹcJ ʹ( .J ʹt ..B ʹJ ʹ~ , ʹ"ʹ. The target is the leller "~ʹ".The digit form consists of ten Persian/Arahic numbers from 0 to ʹJ. The target is the digit 8. The shape form includes ten simple shapes: lock, scissors, key, bicycle, star, glasses. telephone, man, clock and envelop. The target is the scissors shape. Three separate researchʹs samples were selected randomly from Shiraz elementary schools. Subjects were studying in grade one to five. The average age of students in grade one was 7 and the average age of grade five was twelve. For test-retest sample, 60 students (3U girls and 30 boys) were selected from two public schools through stratified random sampling (12 students from each grade). They completed each form of cancellation test three times. The interval between the first and the second administration was seven days and the time between the first and the third administration was 21days. The validation samples were selected the same as the test-retest sample. A total of 1244 students (638 girls and 606 boys) who were selected throughout random cluste.r multistage sampling from Shiraz puhlic school board were the subjects of the normative group. Students completed the test in a group session with two minutes time limitation. The instruments used in the study were Stony Brook Child Symptom Inventory (Goldestein & Goldcstcin. IʹJ98), Farsi edition of continuous performance lest (Hadianfard & et.al, 2001 ) and Porteus mazes (Palkes & et.a!. 1968). Results Test- retest reliability correlation coefficients after seven and fourteen days for letter (1ʹ7 = U.74. 1ʹ, , =0.88), digit (1ʹ7 = 0.77, r, .. =U.84) and shape (1ʹ7 = 0.73, ʹ, .. =0.77) arc fairly high. Twenty one days test retest reliability coefficients also are high and acceptable. Performances on the three forms have heen compared with Farsi edition of continuous performance test. P0I1eus mazes and Stony Brook Child Symptom Inventory, which indicaterelatively strong relationship between them (coefficients range fromO.54 to 0.66). Based on these results, the performance of girls was significantly better than boys (p < .on I). Result showed a gradual increase in CT perfonnanee across the ages from seven to twelve. The performance of the older subjects was significantly better than the younger F(lette,)= 179.20, F(d,gilj=379.79. F(,hape)=302.48; p<.OOl. The study also examined the CT formsʹ difficulty. The results indicate that there is a significant difference among studentsʹ performance on the three forms (Pʹ2. 2486)=81.36, P < .(01). Comparison of the form shows the digit form is the easiest one and the letter fonn is the hardest one. Discussion and conclusion Based on the psychometric result. the Cancellation Tests (Farsi version) are .accurate devices for measuring visual scanning ability. The variation of Performance of different age groups assists an examiner to estimate different levels of visual scanning maturation. The standard scores afford a comparison of attention ability among different ages. Nonnative data in one year increments from age 7 to 12 are provided separately for each sex. This result is consistent with the general findings that show girls aeqnire visual motor skills earlier than boys.