Table of Contents

Introduction; Section One: Theoretical Perspectives on Mental Measurement; 1 The Challenge of Evaluation,; Making sense of information; A brief history of mental measurement; What test scores do not measure; Points for reflection; 2 The Concept of the Mind; An evolutionary view; The mental legacy; Soul mind and thought; Body and mind; 3 The Psychological Route; Issues in communication; Two different faces of psychology; Gateways to the mental domain; Underlying processes in the mental domain; The structure of thinking; Section Two: A Guide to Psychometrics; 4 About Numerical Values of Mental Ability; The meaning of numbers; Norm-referenced testing; What do we need to know?; The concept of mental age; Understanding the nature of psychometric tests; More about the process of standardisation; IQ in relation to the normal distribution curve; Some important points to bear in mind; Why the need for precision?; 5 About individual Tests of Mental Development; Introduction; Test content; Structure; Packaging; Section Three: Issues in Application; 6 Common Errors During the Assessment interview; Introduction; The assessment setting; The social skills of engagement; Parental preparation; Test administration; Scoring; The care of test materials; Some practical suggestions for maintaining the flow of the test session; 7 The Task of Observation; Introduction; Issues in observation; How to improve observation skills; 8 How Skilled Observation Assists Evaluation; Introduction; The area of language; The area of vision; In the area of touch; 9 Facilitators and Promoters in the Development Process; Introduction; The child with emergent skills; The child as a whole; The quality of parenting; 10 Communicating Findings: How to Write a Report; Introduction; The contents of the report; 11 Some Memorable Moments During Assessment; Introduction; Motherly love; Shaken and stirred; Finally satisfied; Epilogue; Beyond the Finishing Line: A wide Angle Glance; Appendices; 1 How We Make Sense of Information Received; 2 Nature and Function of Measurement; 3 The Gaussian Curve and Equivalent Values; 4 Table of IQ ranges and their SD points and descriptive levels; 5 Notes on Play; 6 Language Development; 7 The Hand; 8 Facial expressions; References.