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Probing the Validity of Intelligence Tests for Preschool Children: A Smallest Space Analysis

This study investigates the intra- and inter-test associations between subtest scores on two preschool intelligence measures using Guttman's smallest space analysis (SSA). A sample of 168 Israeli preschoolers from both upper- and lower-class background from nine different kindergartens were tested under controlled conditions on two intelligence test batteries, purporting to assess similar abilities. Notwithstanding the fact that group means on the two test batteries were highly comparable, correlations between subtests across batteries were surprisingly moderate. Instead of points in the SSA-I configuration representing subtests that should have occupied similar regions, the projections of the subtests of the two batteries were in widely separated regions. However, separate projections of subtests in the two batteries onto the smallest space resulted in highly similar spatial configurations, indicating that there are indeed some underlying intrinisc relationships among the abilities tested. Moreover, the points representing subtests of verbal, numerical, and geometric language occupied distinct regions of the smallest space. The similarity of the projections for the two intelligence test batteries that emerged in this study indicates that, despite surface impressions, the ability constructs measured by the two batteries tapped the same areas of competence and apparently have the same meaning for our sample of Israeli preschoolers. The implications of this study for intelligence assessment among preschool children were discussed.