Behavior/attribute measured: Visual perception development
Scale type: Performance test. Also administered as a group.
Duration of administration: No time limit.
Scope: 9 geometric shapes.
It is applied to children aged 1-7 years. It consists of 9 shapes ordered from easy to difficult. The items are organized according to the level of each age. There is no time limit during the test. The child is not allowed to use an eraser. The item he/she can accomplish gives the mental age of the child. Based on this test result, the average intelligence quotient of the child is calculated.
Based on the need to develop reliable tools for the evaluation of visual perception and motor coordination development of 5-6 year old children for the conditions of our country, Gesell Development Figures'In a study that aimed to conduct a preliminary reliability study of the Gesell Developmental Figures Test for 5-6-year-old kindergarten students, it was determined that the Gesell Developmental Figures Test was a reliable tool in line with the findings obtained. In line with the findings obtained from the study, when the mean scores of the error types were analyzed, it was determined that the most common type of error made by this age group was the distortion of the shape. The second most common error type was merging, while the least common error type was rotation. It was observed that the sample was able to draw the first four shapes (circle, plus, triangle and square) with the fewest errors, while they were unable to draw the ninth shape (rectangular prism), which was the last shape. Since the sample was a group of healthy developing children who did not have any neurological or psychiatric diagnosis, it was observed that the sample did not receive any combination error scores except for some items in which they had developmental difficulties.Even if they drew the figures they were expected to achieve by making distortion errors, it was thought that they did not have problems in perceiving and integrating the shape correctly. Again, the fact that they did not make rotation errors in some figures developmentally was interpreted as that they did not have difficulties in perceiving and visualizing a shape and positioning it correctly in space. Within the scope of reliability analyses, test-retest reliability analyses were performed first. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was calculated as .80 and significant results were obtained at .01 level as a result of the Correlation Analysis, which examined the relationship between the total error score obtained from the Gesell Developmental Figures Test between the first and second application. Similarly, in the analyses examining the relationships between the findings obtained from the first and second administrations, significant relationships were found at the .01 level between the total scores of the distortion, merging and rotation error types, which are subcomponents of the Gesell Developmental Figures Test. These results show that the test gives consistent results between measurements and is reliable. As a result of the internal consistency analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated as .44. In the results of the analysis, the 8th figure among the Gesell Developmental Figures, the segmented rectangle The total internal consistency coefficient of the scale increased with the removal of the 8th figure, the error score of combining a segmented rectangular shape.n this respect, it is possible to say that the combination error type of this figure is a score type with high discrimination in the kindergarten sample. This value suggests that some of the figures in the test require visual motor skills above what is expected from the children's age group.
The Gesell Development Test, which was designed by Arnold Gesell to measure the mental development levels of children, envisages the evaluation of children within the framework of developmental stages depending on the comprehension of physical object and space relations. The Gesell Developmental Figures were created by Arnold Gesell from eight geometric shapes. Later, Goldber and Shiffman added the "Greek Cross" and turned it into a nine-figure test. In our country, the validity and reliability studies of Gesell Developmental Figures are still ongoing (Erden, 2005). An A4-sized paper, which is rearranged to be used in clinical practice and on which all the figures are placed side by side, is placed in front of the child and the child is asked to draw the same thing he/she sees under each figure. In the scoring of the Gesell Developmental Figures, error scores determined by a series of studies inspired by Koppitz's Bender Gestalt Visual Motor Perception Test are used. Figures receive 1 point for each error in the areas of distortion, merging and rotation. The sum of the error scores from all figures constitutes the Gese ll total error score used in this study. In addition, scores for subcomponents are obtained by summing the distortion, merging and rotation errors for each figure separately.
* Cantez & Girgin, 1993, Erden, 2005, Türköz & Erden, 2005, Taşçı & Erden, 2005, Özkök, 2010.