Visual Memorization Test - VISGED - 1 Year License

Test Overview

The adaptive presentation provides that every respondent is required to complete just as many tasks as necessary. The respondents are only confronted with those tasks that correspond to their performance level. This is to avoid overstrain or under-stimulation.

Main Areas of Application

• Performance-oriented aptitude diagnostics
• Decisions regarding school, college, or career
• Aviation psychology
• Research

Theoretical Background

The test items based on an explicitly designed construct assess the capacity of the visual memory which also plays an important role in the orientation process: the development of a so-called "knowledge of how to remember characteristic marks". The design of the test items mainly follows the "Theory of visual imagination" by Kosslyn (1980), and "the Model of integrative information processing" by Hanggi (1989).

Administration

The respondent sees a city map on the screen, which indicates typical sites marked with symbols. He / She is asked to memorize the individual positions of the symbols and to recall them subsequently. This is done by presenting the map again, but without the symbols, and by asking the respondent to mark the position where he / she thinks the symbol was before. Immediately after the respondent has marked the supposed position in the map, the real location appears to give him / her feedback on the performance. The individual items vary with respect to number and arrangement of the symbols.

Test Forms

There are three test forms. Their difference is the precision with which the respondent's parameters (PAR) are estimated. The screening form is recommended to obtain a quick overview when there are no real consequences for the respondent (e.g. in the framework of studies that ascertain visual memory as an additional control factor). The long form should only be administered in specific experiments, which require a particularly high measurement precision (e.g. court report).

Scoring

The test yields the person parameter and a norm comparison (percentile ranking) with regard to the variable "visual memory performance".

Reliability

All items conform to the criteria of probabilistic test theory and thus can be shown to measure the same aptitude dimension. Since the item presentation occurs adaptively, there is optimal precision of measurement for any level of capability. The required degree of measurement precision can therefore be achieved with significantly fewer items than would otherwise be the case. The reliability is r=.64 for Test Form S1, r=.75 for Test Form S2 and r=.84 for Test Form S3.

Validity

The construct validity of the test derives in part from the fact that the test items are underpinned by a construction rationale derived from psychological theory. The embedding of the tasks in a realistic scenario contributes to the ecological validity of the test. In this connection extensive use was made of the opportunities which the computer offers for creating new item and reaction formats.

Norms

The test produces a sample-independent person parameter according to Rasch which describes the respondent's aptitude. In addition norms are available for a student sample of N=590 and a representative sample of N=481 people in the age range 17-85. The latter sample is also available divided into four age groups.

Testing Time

The time needed for the test varies between 10 and 15 minutes, depending on the number of items worked.

VTS System Overview

The Schuhfried VTS enables computer-assisted application of a large number of highly diverse psycho-diagnostic tests and measuring procedures. In developing the system much emphasis was placed on transparent structure and largely uniform design. It is therefore simple to operate and easy to understand and does not require any special computer skills.

The VTS basic module is required for administration of any of the available tests.

The Schuhfried VTS supports the administration of both single tests and test batteries. Many of the single tests are available in different test versions. These test versions may differ, for example, in terms of test duration or difficulty or may be parallel forms. They are characterized by different parameters reflecting specific test requirements. They have been designed for administration to a specific population (e.g. psychiatric patients, children, etc.) or for special measuring purposes (e.g. repeated measurements). Test batteries are compiled from the available single tests and test versions.