Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-70).

Το θέμα που προσπαθήσαμε να προσεγγίσουμε στην παρούσα εργασία ήταν η κατανόηση των βασικών εννοιών από τα παιδιά με και χωρίς αυτισμό, μέσα από την εφαρμογή του «Boehm Test of Basic Concepts- Preschool Version». Το ψυχομετρικό αυτό εργαλείο, όντας σταθμισμένο, μας βοήθησε να δούμε συγκριτικά τα αποτελέσματα που σημείωσαν τα τυπικώς αναπτυσσόμενα παιδιά σε σχέση με εκείνα που ανήκαν στο φάσμα του αυτισμού. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, σε αρχικό στάδιο, το τεστ μεταφράστηκε και εφαρμόστηκε σε παιδιά χωρίς αυτισμό. Τα αποτελέσματα φανέρωσαν πως τα τυπικώς αναπτυσσόμενα παιδιά που ερωτήθηκαν δεν παρουσίασαν ιδιαίτερη δυσκολία στην κατανόηση των εννοιών που εξετάστηκαν. Ωστόσο, ένας μικρός αριθμός παιδιών φάνηκε να μην κατανοεί πλήρως κάποιες συγκεκριμένες έννοιες, τις οποίες και θεωρήσαμε προβληματικές. Στη συνέχεια, ακολούθησε η εφαρμογή του τεστ και σε παιδιά με διαταραχές αυτιστικού φάσματος. Ωστόσο, όπως είχε αρχικά προβλεφθεί τα παιδιά αυτά αντιμετώπισαν σαφώς μεγαλύτερες δυσκολίες και οι προβληματικές γι’ αυτά έννοιες ήταν πολύ περισσότερες σε σύγκριση με τα τυπικώς αναπτυσσόμενα παιδιά. Συνεπώς, με βάση τα παραπάνω δεδομένα, οδηγούμαστε στο συμπέρασμα πως το εργαλείο αυτό θα μπορούσε να χρησιμοποιηθεί στη γενική εκπαίδευση ως διαγνωστικό εργαλείο δυσκολιών ως προς την κατανόηση εννοιών. Τέλος, οι δυσκολίες αυτές ανέδειξαν την ανάγκη σχεδιασμού ειδικών προγραμμάτων διδασκαλίας ή ένταξης με σκοπό την όσο το δυνατόν βαθύτερη αποσαφήνιση τέτοιων εννοιών από την προσχολική κιόλας ηλικία. / The subject that we tried to approach in this graduation thesis was the understanding of basic concepts by children with and without autism, through the application of «Boehm Test of Basic Concepts- Preschool Version». This psychometric tool, being standardized, helped us in order to see the comparative results of the typically developing children and those who belong to the autism spectrum. In particular, at an early stage, the test was translated and applied to children without autism. The results revealed that typically developing children showed no particular difficulty in understanding the concepts examined. However, a small number of children seemed not to fully understand some specific concepts, which we considered problematic. At the second stage, what followed was the implementation of the test in children with autism spectrum disorders. However, as we initially supposed, these children clearly faced greater difficulties and the problematic concepts for them were much more compared to typically developing children .Therefore, according to these data, we conclude that this test could be used in general education as a diagnostic tool for difficulties in understanding concepts. Finally, these difficulties have highlighted the need for designing specific teaching programs or integration ones with a view to possible deeper clarification of such concepts from preschool age.

The primary purpose of the investigation was to compare the responses of white, lower-class kindergartners and first graders with white, middle-class kindergartners and first graders on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC) in order to determine if a statistically significant difference existed between socioeconomic level and the number of concepts correctly identified on the BTBC. A secondary purpose was to determine is a significant relationship existed between concept development as measure by the BTBC and intelligence from an assessment of receptive vocabulary by using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). One hundred white, lower middle socioeconomic level children from two elementary schools in Portland were selected as subjects to be included in this study. Variable controlled were grade level, auditory acuity, emotional stability, and sooioeconomioc status. The BTBC consists of fifty pictorial items, arranged in approximate order of difficulty and divided evenly between two booklets. Included in the fifty items are twenty-three spatial concepts, four time concepts, eighteen quantity concepts, and five concepts classified as miscellaneous. The PPVT was used to provide an estimate of subject’s verbal intelligence though a measurement of his receptive vocabulary. On both tests, the subject was instructed to point to the picture representing the stimulus item. The results of this study revealed a relationship exists between socioeconomic status and the number of concepts correctly identified on the BTBC. This relationship was observed when the lower-class subjects were compared with their middle-class peers at each grade level, when all kindergarteners were compared to all first graders, and in a comparison of the fifty lower-class and fifty middle-class subjects. The subjects of the middle socioeconomic level tended to identify more concepts correctly than the subjects of the lower socioeconomic level, while the first grade subjects, generally, identified more concepts correctly than the kindergartners. An analysis of the conceptual areas of space, time, and quantity revealed that socioeconomic status was related to the number of concepts correctly identified when the fifty lower-class subjects were compared to the fifty middle-class subjects. The children of the middle-class identified more concepts correctly in each area than the lower-class subjects. Grade level also was related to the number of concepts correctly identified in each of' the concept areas. The first graders tended to identify more concepts in each area than the kindergarteners. When the scores of the lower- and middleclass subjects at the kindergarten level were compared, there was no relationship between socioeconomic status and the number of concepts correctly identified in each of the three areas. No relationship was observed between the scores of the two groups of first graders on the spatial concepts. Socioeconomic level, however, did effect the number of time and quantity concepts correctly identified. The subjects of the middle socioeconomic level, generally, identified more time and quantity concepts correctly than the subjects of the lower socioeconomic level. These results suggest a higher .degree of abstraction abilities may be found with increased age and a higher socioeconomic level. The findings also tend to support the views of many researchers in the field of conceptual development who have stated that the language of the disadvantaged child inhibits his ability to abstract. Results of a Pearson's Product-Moment correlation calculated between the subjects’ scores on each of the tests indicated no significant correlation between the children's I.Q. scores and the number of concepts correctly identified.

The purpose of this project was to measure and compare the language concept growth of two clients who utilized different response modes; client A utilized the expressive mode and client B utilized the receptive mode. A systematic management program was administered to each client for eighteen sessions. The specific questions posed were: 1. Did both clients demonstrate the ability to verbalize concepts on the post-test of the individualized programs? 2. Did client A learn more concepts in eighteen sessions than client B as measured by the post-tests of the individualized programs and the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts? 3. Did both clients tend to learn each concept in a similar number of trials?

The purpose of this study was to detect the amount of variability in performance among low, middle and high SES pre-kindergarteners on the entire Boehm Test of Basic Concepts. The study sought to answer the following questions. What is the distribution of BTBC scores among low, middle and high SES pre-kindergarteners? Do the scores of pre-kindergarten children vary significantly as to socioeconomic status?