Each child has his or her own pace of development and it is very important to determine how his or her abilities evolve. physical and intellectual abilities. The assessment of the child’s evolution is carried out considering the set of things that he learns and the degree of maturation with which he performs them.
To evaluate the state of psychomotor development, various tests are used, of which the Denver test is one of the most used. If you want to know a more complete description of the Denver test, how it is performed and its interpretationyou can find it in this Psychology-Online article.
Description of the Denver test: what it is and what it measures
The Denver test is also the Denver Population Child Development Examination (EDIPD) and was created by three psychology professionals: Williams Frankenburg, Josieh B. Doods and Alma Fordal.
This psycho-technical test It allows you to evaluate in a simple but effective way the state of a child’s physical, intellectual and psychomotor development during the first stages of growth, approximately during the first six years of life.
The Denver test is an evolutionary test that measures the acquisition of certain functions of development in relation to the chronological age of the child. It allows you to quickly evaluate the state of certain functions and thus define strategies and procedures to stimulate psychomotor development. Psychomotor development or the progressive acquisition of skills in the child is the external manifestation of the maturation of the child.
Healthy children follow a clear pattern of development or skill acquisition. By evaluating psychomotor development in healthy children, easy-to-measure standards have been defined that allow us to evaluate maturational evolution and thus know if the boy or girl in question is progressing adequately. It also allows evolutionary monitoring, detailing the achievements observed from previous controls.
What does the Denver test measure?
The Denver test evaluates these 4 areas:
- Social Personal Area: Evaluates the child’s relationship with his/her environment. How it is managed at a social level.
- Fine Motor Area: It evaluates those skills that include coordination, concentration and manual skills. Example: “Draw a man.”
- Language Area: Evaluates the process as well as its evolution and the child’s ability to listen and communicate.
- Gross Motor Area: Evaluates body coordination and movements. Example: “Throw the ball with your hand.”
How the test is administered
The test administration time is about 20 minutes. It is administered individually. To carry out the test it is important to create a pleasant environment, with the family present and the child calm. The test consists of 55 items, but only those that are to the left of the age line should be applied.
First step
The examiner must mark a line on the test sheet that joins the child’s chronological age in the four scales (gross psychomotor, fine psychomotor, language and social area).
Second step
Evaluate the tasks determined by the age of the child and mark one of the following four options:
- The child carries out the task.
- The child does not do a task that 90% of children his age do.
- The child does not do the homework, but there is still time to do it later (the age line is below 90% of children his age).
- The child for some reason does not cooperate. We will try to evaluate it on a next visit.
Materials to administer the Denver test
For its administration, a series of materials are needed:
- red wool ball
- Campaign
- tennis ball
- box of marbles
- rattle
- aluminum jar with screw cap
- pencil
- 8 cubes of 23 mm
Interpretation of the Denver test
First you have to ask the family if the child does the elements that are to the left of the drawn line or those that cross the line.
- If the child or child fails to perform a test that is normally performed by 90% of children of his or her chronological age, he or she should be considered a absolute failure.
- Is considered relative failure When the child does not pass a test that 75% of children his age take, in this case parents are recommended for greater stimulation.
Only absolute failures are counted in the assessment of the test, and these can be assessed as problematic or doubtful. It is considered problematic when there are two or more faults in two or more areas and doubtful if only one area has 2 or more faults.
Delays in development may be due to a lack of collaboration on the part of the child due to factors such as fatigue, fear, illness or some organic factor such as deafness. Or there may be a real delay in psychomotor development. Discover here some types of.
We have to keep in mind that it is not an intelligence test. It has been proposed as an evaluation tool with the objective of observing whether the development of a boy or girl is within the standardized parameters regarding his or her age.
Denver Test Table
Below we see a summary table of the Denver test screening table of acquired functions according to usual motor development.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
Bibliography
- Frankenburg, W.K., and Dodds, J.B. The Denver Developmental Screening Test. J. Pediat. Treatise on Pediatrics, Nelson Vaughan Mc Kay.
- González, RR, Sánchez, C., Guille, IC, Olea, MF, Limón, KS, Vázquez, IM, … & Martínez, MO (2013). Age of presentation of the Denver Test II items in Children from 0 to 4 years of age in the State of Morelos. Mental Health, 36(6), 459-47.