by Nancy Martin
Now, just one test covers all the ages that were previously covered by the two forms of the earlier test (TVPS-R and TVPS-UL-R).
The TVPS-3 remains an easy to use assessment to determine the visual perceptual strengths and weaknesses of students aged 4-0 through 18-11.
Visual perception is an important ability that enables one to make sense out of what is seen (in contrast to visual acuity tests which determine just that something was seen by the individual).
The TVPS-3 utilises black and white line drawings as stimuli for all the perceptual tasks; the stimulus plates are bound in a convenient easel-style booklet. The items are still presented in a multiple-choice format, and responses can be made vocally (by saying the letter of the response choice) or by pointing to the answer choice.
This fomat is ideal for use with students who may have impairments in motor, speech, hearing, neurological or cognitive functions.
There are still 16 plates in each of the perceptual areas so that the length of the test remains the same as in
previous editions:
- Visual Discrimination
- Visual Sequential Memory
- Visual Memory
- Figure-Ground
- Visual Spacial Relationships
- Visual Closure
- Form Constancy
Ceilings ensure that the more difficult items do not unduly tax younger students, yet enable the examiner to obtain a reliable and accurate measurement of the students' abilities at all ages.
By analyzing the subtest score patterns, the examiner make functional comparisons of the child's abilities and provide a basis for planning the appropriate remediation. The manual contains an updated review of literature pertaining to the importance of visual perceptual ability to the tasks a child faces in both school and home settings.
The TVPS-3 also provides new, nationally stratified norms on over 2000 students.
Administration and Scoring
The TVPS-3 is administered to individuals; it is untimed and takes about 25 minutes to complete. The TVPS-3 may be used by a number of different types of professionals: occupational therapists, learning specialists, optometrists and rehabilitation specialists. Scoring is quick and uncomplicated.
Raw scores are reported as scaled scores and percentile ranks for each subtest, the overall total score is reported as a standard score and percentile rank. Age-equivalents are also provided for the subtest and overall scores.
