When questions arise regarding a child’s cognitive functioning, often traditional, static tests are utilized to evaluate the child’s cognitive abilities. However, these static tests are said to... Show moreWhen questions arise regarding a child’s cognitive functioning, often traditional, static tests are utilized to evaluate the child’s cognitive abilities. However, these static tests are said to provide limited information about possible reasons for success or failure on the test. The primary goal of this dissertation was to investigate what information could be obtained through the use of process-oriented dynamic testing. This type of testing aims to make an estimate of a child’s learning potential, through the provision of training or feedback within the testing procedure, and evaluates the task solving processes a child uses. Additionally, this dissertation focused on the specific properties of a new computer automated method to obtain a picture of the task solving processes children employed, by analysing the grouping of answer pieces. The findings of this dissertation stated that process-oriented dynamic testing provides valuable information as an addition to the performance of a child and that it can provide information about the effects of training on the processes children employ during task solving. The different process measures that were utilized in this dissertation all seemed to measure different aspects of the task solving process. Show less
Task solving processes and changes in these processes have long been expected to provide valuable information about children's performance in school. This article used electronic tangibles ... Show moreTask solving processes and changes in these processes have long been expected to provide valuable information about children's performance in school. This article used electronic tangibles (concrete materials that can be physically manipulated) and a dynamic testing format (pretest, training, and posttest) to investigate children's task solving processes and changes in these processes as a result of training. We also evaluated the value of process information for the prediction of school results. Participants were N = 253 children with a mean age of 7.8 years. Half of them received a graduated prompts training; the other half received repeated practice only. Three process measures were used: grouping behaviour, verbalized strategies, and completion time. Different measures showed different effects of training, with verbalized strategies showing the largest difference on the posttest between trained and untrained children. Although process measures were related to performance on our dynamic task and to math and reading performance in school, the amount of help provided during training provided the most predictive value to school results. We concluded that children's task solving processes provide valuable information, but the interpretation requires more research. Show less
