Examining the Convergent Validity of the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills – Fourth Edition (TVPS-4) in the Australian Context

ABSTRACT

The Test of Visual Perceptual Skills – Fourth Edition (TVPS-4) is a recently revised assessment of motor-free perceptual abilities, that was standardized in the United States. The TVPS-4 is commonly used by pediatric occupational therapists, health professionals and educators, therefore it is important that its psychometric properties and use in cross-cultural contexts are investigated. The study aim was to examine the convergent validity of the TVPS-4 when completed by Australian children. Thirty typically developing children aged 6–12 years (17 females and 13 males; mean age 8.7 years; SD = 1.7) completed the TVPS-4, the Developmental Test of Visual Perception – Third Edition (DTVP-3) and the Motor-Free Perception Test – Fourth Edition (MVPT-4). Spearman Rho correlation analyses with bootstrapping were completed to examine the associations between the TVPS-4, DTVP-3 and MVPT-4. The TVPS-4 total scale raw score exhibited strong significant correlations with the DTVP-3 (rho = .745, p < .000) and MVPT-4 (rho = .791, p < .000) total scale raw scores, and moderate to strong significant correlations with all of the DTVP-3 subscales (rho = .540 to .717, p = .002 to .000) and three of the MVPT-4 subscales (rho = .536 to .695, p = .004 to .000). Several weak to moderate significant correlations were found between the TVPS-4 and DTVP-3 subscale raw scores (rho = .370 to .607, p = .044 to .001). The TVPS-4 and MVPT-4 subscale raw scores exhibited several weak to strong, positive and statistically significant associations (rho = .385 to .600, p = .036 to .001). Australian children appeared to complete the TVPS-4 without any cross-cultural issues. The study findings suggest that the TVPS-4 assesses some similar motor-free perceptual abilities as the DTVP-3 and MVPT-4. This study provides some preliminary insights about the TVPS-4’s convergent validity with the Australian context. The primary clinical implication is that the study findings add to the TVPS-4’s body of validity evidence. Further research studies are recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• children
• motor-free perception
• occupational therapy
• validity
• visual perception

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the children who volunteered their time to take part in this study by completing the three visual perceptual instruments.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors confirm that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethics Committee Approval

Deakin University’s Human Ethics Advisory Group – Health (HEAG-H) (approval number 85_2020) approved this project on June 23^rd, 2020.

Author’s Contributions

SC & TB: Conceptualization; Design; Data curation; Formal analysis; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Roles/Writing – original draft; Writing – review & editing; Approval of final submitted version.

Provenance and Peer Review

Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.