Title: Adaptive Behavior - AssessmentPsychology.com
Headings: Adaptive Behavior Scales
Adaptive Behavior Scales
Content: Adaptive behavior assessment is also used to determine the type and amount of special assistance that people with disabilities may need. This assistance might be in the form of home-based support services for infants and children and their families, special education and vocational training for young people, and supported work or special living arrangements such as personal care attendants, group homes, or nursing homes for adults. Adaptive behavior assessments are often used in preschool and special education programs for determining eligibility, for program planning, and for assessing outcomes. Standardization is the process of developing a test that reliably and validly measures a specific dimension of behavior. It involves trying out items and analyzing them; revising or discarding those that don't work, adding items where there are gaps in difficulty, and reanalysis. It also involves developing standard testing procedures and materials. The result should be a test that reliably measures the same thing the same way each time, so that scores are comparable. A standardized test should also demonstrate validity, meaning that it actually measures what it portends to measure. A test score should correlate with something in the real world.