Test for Identification of Signs of Dyslexia: effects of developmental variables

Abstract

This study aimed to verify the effects of developmental variables as age, school grade and gender in the performance of the Test for Identification of Signs of Dyslexia (TISD). In particular from the analysis of the first two, it was also sought to verify validity evidence based on external variables. Participants were 515 children, randomly selected, ages between six and 13 years old (Average=8.46; SD=1.52) and 52% of males. Through the Univariate Analysis of Variance, only effects of age and school grade were found. It was observed that TISD was able to differentiate groups of six, seven, and eight years old and the school grade of the 1st to 4th grade of elementary school. From these results, it was possible to add positive validity evidence to the instrument, in order to motivate the conduction of other research studies of its psychometric qualities. RESUMO -Teste para Identificação de Sinais de Dislexia: efeitos de variáveis desenvolvimentaisEste estudo objetivou verificar efeitos das variáveis desenvolvimentais de idade, ano escolar e gênero no desempenho do Teste para Identificação de Sinais de Dislexia (TISD). Especificamente, a partir da análise das duas primeiras, buscou-se também averiguar evidências de validade desse instrumento baseadas em variáveis externas. Participaram 515 crianças, selecionadas aleatoriamente, com idades entre seis e 13 anos (M=8,46; DP=1,52) e 52% pertencentes ao gênero masculino. Por meio da análise univariada da variância, foram encontrados somente efeitos das variáveis idade e ano escolar. Observou-se que o TISD foi capaz de diferenciar grupos de seis, sete e oito anos e também os anos escolares do primeiro ao quarto ano. A partir desses resultados, foi possível adicionar evidências positivas de validade para o instrumento, de modo a motivar a condução de outros estudos de investigação de suas qualidades psicométricas. Palavras-chave: dislexia; transtornos de aprendizagem; psicometria; validade; neuropsicologia.RESUMEN -Prueba de Identificación de Señales de Dislexia: efectos de variables de desarrollo Este estudio objetivó comprobar los efectos de las variables del desarrollo de edad, año escolar y género en la ejecución del "Prueba de Identificación de Señales de Dislexia" (TISD). Específicamente a partir del análisis de las dos primeras, se buscó también verificar evidencias de validez de dicho instrumento basadas en variables externas. Participaron 515 niños, seleccionados al azar, con edades comprendidas entre seis y 13 años (M=8.46; DS=1.52) y 52% de hombres. Por medio del Análisis Univariado de Varianza, sólo se encontraron efectos de las variables edad y año escolar. Se observó que el TISD fue capaz de diferenciar grupos de seis, siete y ocho años y también los años escolares del primer hasta el cuarto año. A partir de estos resultados, fue posible añadir evidencias positivas de validez para el instrumento, con la finalidad de motivar la conducción de otros estudios de investigación de sus cualidades psicométricas.

Test for Identification of Signs of Dyslexia: Convergent Validity

“…A summary of the study findings shows that the TISD was able to establish patterns of convergence with instruments already used in Brazil to evaluate the constructs of interest. These data add to previous studies with the TISD (Alves et al 2013;Alves et al 2015;Roama-Alves et al 2019), strengthening its validity and collaborating for its future availability. The present results also demonstrate that TISD is correlating with longer tests, which assess the same constructs, besides to predict their results.…”

“…In all the subtests, higher scores equate to worse performance (Table 1). The instrument has some support from previous studies as described on Introduction (Alves et al 2015;Roama-Alves et al 2019).…”

Identification of signs of dyslexia test

“…In order to identify the evidence based on the relationships with external variables in more depth, an investigation was carried out regarding the effects of variables linked to human development, such as age and school year, on TISD performance (Roama- Alves et al, 2019). Through Univariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) it was observed that the TISD was able to differentiate groups of six, seven and eight years and also the school years from the first to the fourth year (Roama- Alves et al, 2019).…”