Norms

Statistical concepts
Types of norms
Developmental norms
Within group norms

DEFINITION
Norms mean standardized score. Scores on

psychological test are most commonly

interpreted by reference to norm that represents
the test performance on standardization sample
a) The descriptive definition of norms is what
people in general do.
b) The prescriptive definition is what people
should do
c) The proscriptive definition is what people
should not do.
) Sir Francis Galton at the first time developed
the logic for norm based testing in the
18thcentury

Purpose of norms
First they indicate the individuals

relative standing in the normative

sample and thus permit an
evaluation of her or his
performance in reference to other
persons
Second they provide comparable
measures that permit a direct
comparison of the individuals
performance on different tests

Norms Examples
The reciprocity norm suggests that we should

helppeople who have helped us.

Saying "thank you" is another example of a
norm.
It may be a norm to express empathy when
hearing about another person's difficulty

Statistical
Statistical concept
concept

Frequency distribution:A major object of

statistical method is to organize and

summarize quantitative data in order to
facilitate their understanding.
we form class intervals/tellies to order raw
scores
Graphical representation:The information
provided by a frequency distribution can also
be presented graphically in the form of a
distribution curve
It can be histogram(adjacent bars) or polygon
(dotted representation)

Normal curve: bell shaped curve that

indicates that larger number of cases cluster in

the centre of the range and that the number
drops off gradually in both direction as
extremes are approached

Central Tendency:Suchmeasuresprovideasingle,most

typicalorrepresentativescoretocharacterizethe
performanceofentiregroup.Ithas3ways
1. Mean
2. mode,ormostfrequentscore
3. medianormiddlemostscore
)Variability:theextentofindividualdifferencesoccurs
aroundthecentraltendency.
1. Rangeismeasurebetweenthehighestandlowestscore.
2. InterQuartilerangedividingscoresinto4equalparts
3. Standarddeviationsquarerootofvariance
4. Meandeviationscoresdeviatefrommean

Types of norms:
Developmental norms
Within group norms

Developmental norms
One way in which meaning can be attached

to test scores is to indicate how far along the

normal developmental path the individual
has progressed
Developmental systems utilize more highly
qualitative descriptions of behavior in
specific functions, such as sensorimotor
activities or concept formation.
It is further divided to 3 main branches:
1. Mental Age
2. Grade Equivalents
3. Ordinal Scales

Mental age
The term mental age was widely

popularized through the various

translations and adaptations of the BinetSimon scales,
In age scales such as the Bind and its
revisions (prior to 1986), items were
grouped into year levels.
For example, those items passed by the
majority of 7-years olds in the
standardization sample were placed in the
7-year level, and so forth.

In actual practice, the individual passed some

tests below their mental age and passed some

above it. For this reason, it was customary to
compute the basal age,

A child mental age on the tests was the sum of

basal age and additional months of credit

earned at higher age levels

Mental age norms have also been employed

with tests that are not divided into year levels.

The mean raw scores obtained by the children in

each year group within the standardization

sample constitute the age norms for such a test.
The mean raw score of the 8-year old children,
for example, would represent the 8-year old raw
score then her or his mental age on the test is 8
years.
Mental age units do not remain constant with
age
Intellectual development increases rapidly at
earlier age.

Grade Equivalents
Scores on educational achievement tests are

often interpreted in terms of grade equivalents

this is applied mostly in school settings.
Grade norms are found by computing the
mean raw score obtained by children in each
grade.
Intermediate grade equivalents, representing
fractions of a grade, are usually found by
interpolation,
grade norms tend to be incorrectly regarded as
performance standards.

Ordinal Scales:
Another approach to developmental norms

derived from research in child psychologof

specific behaviour functions.
It is the description of behavioural
development in children in such functions as
locomotion, sensory discrimination, linguistic
communication and concept formation,
y
Ordinal scales are designed to identify the
stage reached by the child in the development

Gesell developmental schedules

The Gesell developmental schedules show

the approximate developmental level in

each of four major areas of behaviour
namely motor, adaptive ,language and
personalsocial.
he done it by just observing child for 3 or
4 weeks to 36 months
For example the child reaction toward the
small object placed in front of her or him
exhibit a characteristics sequence in
visual fixation and in hand and finger
movements

PIAGET DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY

1n 1960 there was a sharp interest in

developmental theories of Swiss child

psychologist Jean Piaget,
his research focus on the development of
cognitive processes from infancy to midteens
,he was concerned about schemas, identity
awareness, self awareness, conservation
Piaget use instruments that are ordinal scales
in which one stage contingent with completion
of earlier stage of development
The ordinarily of such scales refers to the
uniform progression of development through
successive stages