The validity of the Porteus maze test.

Abstract

An article in the October 1937 issue of the JOURNAL OF EDUCA-TIONAL PSYCHOLOGY by Moshe Brill 1 reported some work done with the Porteus Maze, the subjects being one hundred inmates of the State Colony for Feebleminded Males at New Lisbon, N. J. According to the author, the group consisted of "fifty socially well-adjusted and fifty seriously maladjusted mentally deficient boys." Brill found that the maladjusted boys scored higher, on the average, than the well-adjusted.On the basis of these results he concludes that claims made for the Maze test, particularly as regards its use as a corrective to the Binet, are invalid. He further states that "earlier conclusions as to the validity of the test from the standpoint of social adaptation were not fully justified." These conclusions were presumably contained in a study by Berry and myself, written in 1918 and published in 1920, from which he quotes as follows:"The Porteus Tests represent an attempt to evaluate socially valuable characteristics not fully tested by the Binet. These capacities are mainly prudence, forethought, planning capacity, ability to improve with practice, and adaptability to a new situation. The deficiencies in these respects, even more than in intellectual attainments, distinguish high-grade defectives from normal children; hence the value of the tests for diagnostic purposes. They fulfil the requirements of supplementary tests because they are standardized and arranged in the form of a scale. They can be easily applied and they test highly correlated mental practices in simple situations, so that results may be readily interpreted." 2 Had Brill wished to do so, he might have quoted from a still earlier publication, in which after making certain criticisms of the Binet-criticisms at that time new, but now so generally accepted as to be commonplace-I stated that the new tests "would prove a valuable supplement to, and partial corrective of the Binet-Simon Scale.'" There are possibly many things which I have written during the past twenty-five years that I would modify or retract, but these passages are not among them, for the claims therein made seem * This refers to delinquents compared with well-adjusted individuals in a community, not to delinquents compared with well-adjusted feebleminded in an institution. These latter are, of course, not socially well-adjusted in the ordinary sense of the term.

Chapter II: Current Construction and Evaluation of Intelligence Tests

“…Brill (15), in a study of fifty socially well-adjusted and fifty seriously maladjusted mentally deficient boys, found that the maladjusted boys scored higher on the average than the well adjusted and concluded that earlier statements as to the validity of the test in measuring social adaptation were not fully justified. In reply, Porteus (55) pointed out that Brill's interpretation of feeble-mindedness was not in accordance with accepted standards and cited further evidence to indicate the validity of the test as a measure of the subject's prudence and planning capacity. In addition, Porteus emphasized that the maze test is a supplement to and not a substitute for the Binet.…”

Delinquency, delay of gratification, recidivism, and the Porteus Maze Tests.

“…Erikson and Roberts (1971) found the TQs of two groups of delinquents to be over 15 points higher than their Binet, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), or Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) IQs. Grajales (1945), Porteus (1939), Shakow and Millard (1935), and Wright (1944) all reported mean maze scores that were within 3 points of the re-ported mean IQ test scores, and out of four comparisons, TQ was higher than IQ in three. Jarrett (1926), on the other hand, stated that none of the 100 delinquents in his study had a maze TA higher than his Binet MA.…”

“…Quantitative Score (TA or TQ) A reanalysis of maze TA's ability to identify delinquents was undertaken to assess the utility of this approach. Although it was originally believed that the relationship believed to exist among TA, intelligence, and social adjustment would be of use in identifying delinquents, it is clear from the data available on delinquent groups that there is no consistent relationship between TA and intelligence within these groups (Erikson & Roberts, 1966;Erikson & Roberts, 1971;Grajales, 1945;Jarrett, 1926;Porteus, 1939;Shakow & Millard, 193S;Wright, 1944). Erikson and Roberts (1966) found the mean TQs (using the old norms) of two delinquent groups to be over 20 points higher than their mean IQs as measured by the California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity.…”

“…Since there appears to be no consistent relationship between intelligence test scores and maze scores among delinquents, the possibility that TA may be lower among delinquents than among normal subjects should be examined. Most investigators report maze scores among delinquent groups that are lower than the norms for the general population, insofar as these are known (Grajales, 1945;Porteus, 1939Porteus, , 1954Porteus, , 1955Shakow & Millard, 1935;Wright, 1944). These studies involve a total of 10 delinquent groups.…”

The effects of PMS/PMDD on attention and shortterm memory in adolescent girls

“…In a study that examined the validity of the PMT and the ability to evaluate social adaptation, maze ratings were examined alongside Stanford-Binet performance. The rank order correlations were 0.57 for the Binet and 0.77 for the maze test (18). The PMT was adapted to Turkish by Togrol (19).…”