Kohs block design test

The Kohs Block test, also known as the Kohs Block Design Test,^[1] is a performance test designed to be an IQ test. The test taker must, using 16 colored cubes, replicate the patterns displayed on a series of test cards. The design of the test was motivated by a belief that the test could easily be administered to persons with language or hearing disabilities.^[1]

History

The test was developed in 1920 by psychologist Samuel C. Kohs (1890–1984), a student of Lewis Terman,^[2] building on earlier and similar designs (such as Francis N. Maxfield's Color Cube Test).^[3]

Kohs described the 1920s version of the test as a series of 17 cards which increase in complexity as the test progressed.^[4] Test takers replicated the designs with painted blocks (each side was a single color or two colors divided by a diagonal line).^[4] The initial scores were based on completion time and number of moves.^[5] Hutt amended the scoring method to only score completion time.^[5] The test was given to both children and adults.^[4]

As early as the 1930s, the Kohs Block Test was administered at the Ohio School for the Deaf,^[6] and at other schools with special needs students.

The Kohs Block Design Test has been adapted into sections in several current IQ tests.^[7] The Kohs test now has little clinical use in its original form.

Patients with damage to the right hemisphere of the brain find successful completion of the task to be extremely difficult, so the test is often used to diagnose right hemisphere damage.^[8]

See also

• Block design test

References

1. Phillips, Leslie (1966-03-13). "Tests Often a Game For Children Are Signposts For Psychologists". News Journal. Mansfield, OH. pp. 6D.
2. Terman, Lewis (1930). "Autobiography of Lewis M. Terman". In Murchison, Carl. History of Psychology in Autobiography. 2. Worcester, MA: Clark University Press. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
3. Bettcher, Brianne; Libon, David; Kaplan, Edith; Swenson, Rod; Penney, Dana (2011). "Block Design". Find out how to access preview-only content Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology: 419–422.
4. Kohs, S. C. (1923). [doi:10.1037/11201-002 Intelligence measurement: A psychological and statistical study based upon the block-design tests] Check |url= value (help). MacMillan Co. pp. 64–77.
5. Hutt, M. L. (1932). [doi:10.1037/h0074559 The Kohs block-design tests. A revision for clinical practice.] Check |url= value (help) (16(3) ed.). Journal Of Applied Psychology. pp. 298–307.
6. "Degree of Master of Arts Won by Mis Jean McDonald". The Zanesville Signal. Zanesville, OH. 1931-03-15. p. 6, section 2.
7. American Psychological Association (2007). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Washington (DC): American Psychological Association. ISBN 978-1-59147-380-0. Lay summary (27 April 2014).
8. Julian Jaynes (1976). The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Boston/New York: First Mariner Books. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-618-05707-8.

Further reading

• David Wechsler (1944). The Measurement of Adult Intelligence. pp. 91–4.
• Richards, T. W. (1946). Modern Clinical Psychology. p. 54.
• Collins, Mary; Drever, James (1948). Psychology And Practical Life. pp. 96, 122.
• Wechsler, David (1958). The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence (fourth ed.). Baltimore (MD): Williams & Witkins. p. 79. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
• Stone, M. (1985). "Kohs Block Design Test". In D. J. Keyser; R. C. Sweetland. Test Critiques. II. Kansas City: Test Corporation of America.
• Kaufman, Alan S. (2009). IQ Testing 101. New York: Springer Publishing. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8261-0629-2. Lay summary (10 August 2010).
• Kaufman, Alan S.; Lichtenberger, Elizabeth (2006). Assessing Adolescent and Adult Intelligence (3rd ed.). Hoboken (NJ): Wiley. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-471-73553-3. Lay summary (22 August 2010).

External links