nicole kotras masters thesis

CHAPTER SIX
CRITICAL EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
The continual need for the psychometric properties of any assessment instrument to
be investigated, needs to be reiterated. This includes the revision of the Griffiths Scales for
the children of South Africa. With reference to sample 1 in the present study, only the White
and Indian pre-schoolers correctly identified a mean number of small pictures above that
which was proposed by Griffiths (1960). With reference to sample 2, all excepting the Black
pre-schoolers correctly identified the proposed mean number of small pictures. The present
researcher's findings are in contrast with those of Allan (1992) who found no major
difference in the percentage of children from the different South African cultural groups who
passed the small picture items. However, the present study is in accordance with Allan
(1992) who found a lower percentage of Black children who passed item C.IV.5 (i.e.,
correctly naming 18 of the 20 small pictures), than did the children from the other South
African cultural groups. The small pictures in the Hearing and Speech Scale are, however,
utilized for children younger than the present samples age-range, and hence their
performance will not necessarily be the same as that of the older children.
A recognized trend noted in the present study (established from the naming of the 20
small revised pictures), was that picture 18 (shop) was the most incorrectly identified picture,
amongst all four cultural groups of sample 1 and sample 2. One could attribute this "trend"
to the graphic-illustration of the stimuli, as it was experienced as problematic for the majority
of the children in the present study. Furthermore, all the children from all four cultural
groups, of both samples correctly identified picture 2 (shoe), while all the children from the
White, Coloured and Indian groups of sample 1 correctly identified pictures 4 (train) and 10
(bed). Regarding sample 2, all the children from each cultural group, excepting the White
group, were able to correctly identify picture 6 (cap). Picture 10 (bed) was correctly
identified by all the children from the White, Coloured and Indian cultural groups of sample 2.
The Black pre-schoolers of both samples were the only cultural group where the majority of
children incorrectly identified picture 20 (owl). On a qualitative level, the small pictures 15
(cup) and 18 (shop) need to be assessed in terms of their illustrative adequacy.
Extracting Allan's (1992) findings on the performance of children aged between 60
and 83 months of age, on the Hearing and Speech Scale, it was indicated that at 60 months
of age, 100% of White children from her sample were able to name 12 objects in the large
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