Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised
NLSCY children aged 4 to 5 years were given a vocabulary test: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R) for English-speaking children or the Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody (EVIP) for French-speaking children.
The PPVT-R was designed to measure receptive or hearing vocabulary and can be used for any age group, up to adults. The test was developed by Lloyd and Leota Dunn at the University of Hawaii and has been widely used in both large-scale data collections and assessments. A French adaptation of the PPVT-R was developed by the test's authors and Claudia M. Thériault at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The French test is called the Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody (EVIP).
The PPVT-R/EVIP was used to measure the school readiness of NLSCY children aged 4 to 5 years. Verbal parental consent was required before the test was administered by the interviewer in the child's home. The child looked at pictures on an easel and identified which picture matched the word read aloud by the interviewer.
A total raw score was calculated for each child who completed the PPVT-R/EVIP by computing correct responses. A standard score was also assigned to each child to allow comparison of scores across age groups. A 5-year-old is clearly expected to perform better and obtain a higher score on the PPVT-R/EVIP than a 4-year-old. The standard score takes account of the child's age.
Standard scores of a test are usually based on the distribution of scores obtained by a defined sample of individuals; this is called the norm sample. Children in the PPVT-R/EVIP norm sample were assigned standard scores such that for all age groupings, the mean of the standard scores was 100 and the standard deviation was 15. This standardization was done by two-month age groups.
The PPVT-R/EVIP norm sample was based on a sample selected in the U.S. It was deemed appropriate to develop standard scores for the Canadian context. Therefore, in collaboration with the test's developers, Canadian norms were developed for children aged 4 to 5 years. It should be noted that the standardization was done separately for the PPVT-R and for the EVIP. Therefore, when global comparisons are made between children who completed the test in English and those who completed it in French, performance should, by definition, be equivalent.
Information regarding the reliability and validity of the PPVT-R/EVIP can be found in the User's Guide.
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