BEERY VMIDEVELOPMENTAL TEST OF VISUAL-MOTOR

INTEGRATION

Dayna Reilly

Purpose of the Test

The main purpose of this test is to identify children who have significant difficulties integrating, or coordinating, their motor abilities and visual-perceptual abilities.

It is believed that if identified early on, teaching methods and materials can be used to help prevent and remediate visual-motor problems.

An assessment of eye-hand coordination, of how well a child (or adult) can copy developmentally sequenced geometric shapes

How to use this test

The Beery VMI can be used by psychologists, learning disability specialists, schools counselors, teachers, and other professionals to help: Identify individuals who may be

encountering difficulties in visual-motor integration

Make appropriate referrals for needed services

Test the effectiveness of educational and other interventions

Conduct research

Population

The Beery VMI remains strongly focused upon early childhood education.

This test can be administered to individuals from age two through young adulthood and can also be used to test adults of all ages, particularly those who have been disabled by stroke, injury, or Alzheimer’s Disease.

Reliability

The Beery VMI has shown to be very reliable through adequate consistency in these three areas: The Content of it’s items Individuals’ performance on the test when

it is re-administered Scoring performed by different examiners`

Validity

The Beery VMI can be considered as a valid measure because of its reliability.

To prove its validity, The Beery VMI Handbook examines: How it is comparable with other

assessment tools that measure visual-motor integration.

The content enhances the test’s validity Predictive validity

Strengths

Assesses the effectiveness of educational and other intervention programs

Can be administered as either a group or individual assessment

Serves as a Research tool If identified early, offers tons of resources to

help children get to the level they need It is a culture-free, non-verbal assessment which

is useful with individuals of diverse environmental, educational, and linguistic backgrounds.

Limitations

Appropriate for Ages 0-6 yrs old Child’s behavior can affect results No single test score is sufficient for

making a diagnosis Children with physical limitations are

less able to learn or perform

How the test was normed

The VMI was originally normed in 1964 on 1,030 Illinois children

It was cross-validated in 1981 with 2,060 Californian children and again in 1989 with a national sample of 2, 734 children

It also has been normed in other countries The VMI and its supplemental Visual and Motor

tests were normed in 1995 and 2003 as well. Samples were selected from classes with representative ranges of learning abilities in eight states; a total of 23 childcare, preschool, public, and private schools participated.

The Beery VMI was standardized on a national sample of 1, 737 individuals age 2 to 18 years (2010) and 1,021 adults age 19-100 (2006)

Author – Publisher - Date

Keith E. Beery and Natasha A. Beery Published and Distributed Exclusively By

NCS Pearson, Inc. 2004