USEFULNESS OF THE

MARIANNE FROSTIG DEVELOPMENTAL TEST OF VISUAL PERCEPTION

AND THE
FROSTIG PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL PERCEPTION
AT THE FIRST GRADE LEVEL
by
E l a i n e C o r n e l i a Friesen
B.A., U n i v e r s i t y of Waterloo, 1966

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
i n the Department
of
EDUCATION
We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the
required standard

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

May, 1969

In presenting

t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements

f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of

B r i t i s h Columbia, I

agree that the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r reference

and study.

I further

agree that permission f o r extensive copying of

t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the Head of my

Department or by h i s representatives.

I t i s understood that copying

o r p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed

without my w r i t t e n permission.

Department of
The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia
Vancouver 8, Canada

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this Investigation was to determine whether the
Marianne Frostig Program for the Development of Visual Perception i s
successful i n terms of increased reading readiness and visual perceptual
a b i l i t i e s , when used i n the regular classroom.

Thirty-two f i r s t grade

pupils were selected as subjects on the basis of below-normal scores on

the Marianne Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the
Clymer-Barrett Prereading Battery, Form A.

Both the experimental and

control groups were taught by the experimenter.

Three times a week for

six weeks the experimental group received fifteen to twenty minutes of

physical, three-dimensional and two-dimensional exercises according to
the Frostig Program for the Development of Visual Perception. The cont r o l group received instruction as prescribed by the course of study.
No significant improvement of the experimental group over the control
group was found at the .05 level of significance.

It was concluded that

much further Investigation into the suitability of this program for a

regular classroom should be done regarding the optimal age level and
class size; training, personalities and attitudes of the teachers
involved; and the optimal duration and concentration of the program.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.

II.
III.

PAGE

THE PROBLEM

The Problem

Purpose of the Study

Statement of the Hypotheses

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

PROCEDURE
Tests to be Used

6
11
11

Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l

Perception
Clymer-Barret Prereading Battery, Form A

IV.

V.

11
14

Subject S e l e c t i o n

16

Administration of the Program

17

RESULTS

20

Re t e s t i n g

20

A n a l y s i s of the Data

20

CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION

22

BIBLIOGRAPHY

24

APPENDIXES

27

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

That i t i s important

f o r a c h i l d to experience success i n school

i s a fact that no psychologist, physician, parent nor educator

dispute.

will

That many children do not experience this success because of

various p h y s i c a l , i n t e l l e c t u a l and emotional handicaps i s also an

accepted f a c t .

In recent years, investigators have begun to focus t h e i r

attention on disturbances of perceptual functions which might cause

f a i l u r e to achieve normally i n school.

The market i s being flooded by

tests purporting to measure various psycholinguistic and perceptual

functions.

Many of these t e s t s , because of the pressure exerted on

t h e i r authors, have been released prematurely.

Although they describe

elaborate standardization techniques and c l i n i c a l studies, authors

seldom c i t e studies which demonstrate the usefulness of the test nor the
subsequent remedial program i n the setting i n which they are l i k e l y to
be used most frequently.
One such test i s the Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental Test of
V i s u a l Perception which was designed

to be a t o o l for assessing def-

i c i t s i n v i s u a l perception i n children between the ages of four and

eight years.

The areas of v i s u a l perception which F r o s t i g attempts to

explore i n f i v e subtest areas are eye-motor coordination, figure-ground

perception, form constancy, p o s i t i o n i n space, and perception of s p a t i a l
relationships.

Although these were never thought to be the only v i s u a l -

perceptual a b i l i t i e s involved i n the t o t a l process of v i s u a l perception,

F r o s t i g believed them to be important

parts of the process and of par-

t i c u l a r relevance to school performance.*"

F r o s t i g , Lefever and

P h y l l i s Maslow, Marianne F r o s t i g , D.W. Lefever and

J.R.B. Whittlesley, "The Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l
Perception, 1963 standardization," Perceptual and Motor S k i l l s ,
19:463-99, 1964, Monograph Supplement 2-V9.

2
W h i t t l e s l e y developed t h e i r t e s t on the assumption that "adequate v i s u a l
perceptual s k i l l s are of c r u c i a l importance i n l e a r n i n g to read and

that

v i s u a l perceptual a b i l i t i e s must be viewed as d i s c r e t e e n t i t i e s which

2
develop, i n large measure, independently of one another."

Supported by

Piaget's theory that perception i s a major developmental task of

the

c h i l d between the ages of three and approximately seven and one-half

years, F r o s t i g also believed

that v i s u a l perceptual s k i l l s are develop-

mental i n nature and appear to mature most r a p i d l y between the ages of

four and seven and that these s k i l l s can be taught i n a

structured

program ( r e f e r r i n g to the F r o s t i g Program f o r the Development of V i s u a l

4
5
Perception ), i n the classroom.
To further support her assumptions,
the Marianne F r o s t i g School of Educational Therapy has c a r r i e d out
several studies both before and a f t e r r e l e a s i n g the t e s t .
With respect to r e l i a b i l i t y , F r o s t i g et a l c i t e t e s t - r e t e s t
r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s from .29 to .74 f o r the scale scores of
Kindergarten c h i l d r e n and from .39 to .69 f o r f i r s t grade c h i l d r e n ,

and

s p l i t - h a l f r e l i a b i l i t i e s ranging from .78 f o r c h i l d r e n eight and nine

years of age to .89 f o r c h i l d r e n of f i v e and s i x years of age.

With

respect to v a l i d i t y , the authors, by comparing the F r o s t i g t e s t w i t h the

Goodenough Draw-A-Man Test, have attempted to show that t h e i r t e s t does
not measure i n t e l l i g e n c e .
.460.

The

c o r r e l a t i o n s obtained were from .318

to

F r o s t i g et a l conclude from the scores of seventy-one abnormal

c h i l d r e n on the F r o s t i g t e s t that "the abnormal degree of s c a t t e r i n

James N. Jacobs, "An evaluation of the F r o s t i g v i s u a l perceptual
t r a i n i n g program," Educational Leadership, 25 (January, 1968), p. 333.
3
Paul Mussen, J . J . Conger and Jerome Kagan, C h i l d Development and
P e r s o n a l i t y , Second E d i t i o n (New York; Harper and Row, 1963), pp. 253-55.
4
Marianne F r o s t i g and David Home, The F r o s t i g Program f o r the
Development of V i s u a l Perception; Teacher's Guide (Chicago: F o l l e t t
P u b l i s h i n g Company, 1964).
^James N. Jacobs, op. c i t . , p.

333.

3
t h e i r various subtests suggests that d i s t i n c t functions of v i s u a l
perception can be disturbed independently and to varying degrees."*'

The

authors have n o t , however, attempted a f a c t o r - a n a l y t i c study to support

t h i s observation.

P r e d i c t i v e v a l i d i t y i s tested i n the U n i v e r s i t y

Elementary School Study where i t was demonstrated that out of twentyf i v e c h i l d r e n aged four and one-half to s i x and one-half years who were
exposed to reading m a t e r i a l but not required to read, eight c h i l d r e n d i d
not l e a r n to read and were l a t e r found to have perceptual quotients of
l e s s than 90, thus d i s p l a y i n g v i s u a l perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s .

Of those

who had perceptual quotients of over 90, only one showed any reading
difficulty.

Research i n t o other beginning reading s i t u a t i o n s i n which

c h i l d r e n were required to read showed a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of from

.4 to .5 between the v i s u a l perceptual t e s t scores and reading scores.
A p i l o t t r a i n i n g study attempting to assess methods of a l l e v i a t i n g the
perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s i n a c a r e f u l l y c o n t r o l l e d s i t u a t i o n at the
F r o s t i g School showed that c h i l d r e n w i t h perceptual quotients of 90 or
l e s s d i d gain s i g n i f i c a n t l y more than those l e f t I n the regular school
s i t u a t i o n when retested on the F r o s t i g Test.

Of a c l i n i c a l school

sample of f i f t y - t h r e e c h i l d r e n with IQ's of 76 or more who had severe

learning d i s a b i l i t i e s , 55 per cent had scores f a l l i n g below the 25th
p e r c e n t i l e on the F r o s t i g Test.

This observation was found to agree w i t h

a survey of perceptual scores on t e s t s p r e v i o u s l y administered to these

children.^

The authors propose f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o the r e l i a b i l -

i t y and v a l i d i t y of t h e i r s c a l e , but the r e s u l t s of t h i s work are not

yet a v a i l a b l e .
The ultimate proof of the e f f i c a c y of a diagnosis made on the
basis of a t e s t such as the F r o s t i g Test must l i e i n the improvement i n

Marianne F r o s t i g , D.W. Lefever and J.R.B. W h i t t l e s l e y ,

"A developmental t e s t of v i s u a l perception f o r evaluating normal and
n e u r o l o g i c a l l y handicapped c h i l d r e n , " Perceptual and Motor S k i l l s ,
12:392, 1961.
^Maslow, F r o s t i g , Lefever and W h i t t l e s l e y , op_. c i t . , p. 248.

4
achievement effected through the remediation of those perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s s p e c i f i e d by the t e s t .

The authors of the F r o s t i g Test and

Program have through t h e i r p i l o t study shown that t h i s i s so i n a c l i n i c a l setting.

However, one questions the c r e d i b i l i t y of the study where

the achievement of c h i l d r e n trained i n a c l i n i c a l s e t t i n g (the F r o s t i g

School) w i t h s p e c i a l l y - t r a i n e d teachers i s compared w i t h that of c h i l dren l e f t i n a regular classroom s e t t i n g .
The F r o s t i g Test and Program are being used i n many school d i s g
t r i c t s i n B r i t i s h Columbia.

Both, according to the author, are e a s i l y

u t i l i z e d i n a regular classroom s e t t i n g .
no s t a t i s t i c a l evidence to

At present, however, there i s

show that the F r o s t i g Program prescribed

the basis of t e s t performance has been e f f e c t i v e i n

on

ameliorating

perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s and promoting normal achievement when c a r r i e d

out i n the regular classroom.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of t h i s study i s to f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t e the u s e f u l ness of the Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception and
The F r o s t i g Program f o r the Development of V i s u a l Perception i n the
regular classroom s e t t i n g w i t h p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n to the

following

questions:
1.

W i l l c h i l d r e n diagnosed as having perceptual disturbances

according to the F r o s t i g Test and trained according to the F r o s t i g

Program i n a regular classroom s e t t i n g show a greater improvement i n
perceptual s k i l l s than perceptually

disturbed

children receiving

the

regular f i r s t - g r a d e language a r t s program?

2.

W i l l these c h i l d r e n trained on the F r o s t i g Program also show

a greater improvement i n reading readiness as measured by the ClymerB a r r e t t Prereading Battery than those r e c e i v i n g the regular

first-grade

program?

Some d i s t r i c t s include Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, Coquitlam,

West Vancouver, Prince George, Kamloops, Kimberley, Dawson Creek and
F o r t St. John.

5
Statement of the Hypotheses
1.

C h i l d r e n w i t h perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s t r a i n e d i n the regular

classroom on the F r o s t i g Program w i l l show s i g n i f i c a n t l y more improvement i n those perceptual s k i l l s measured by the F r o s t i g Test than those
c h i l d r e n w i t h perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s who have not been trained according to the F r o s t i g Program.
2.

C h i l d r e n with perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s trained i n the regular

classroom on the F r o s t i g Program w i l l show s i g n i f i c a n t l y more improvement i n reading readiness s k i l l s than c h i l d r e n with perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s who have not been given the program.
I t i s hoped that the f i n d i n g s of t h i s study, be they p o s i t i v e or
negative w i l l prove to be u s e f u l to school d i s t r i c t s who, while they
cannot make s p e c i a l c l i n i c a l p r o v i s i o n s f o r t h e i r p u p i l s e x h i b i t i n g
v i s u a l perceptual d e f i c i t s , w i l l be able to help classroom teachers to
f i n d methods most s u i t a b l e to the remediation of the l e a r n i n g and
adjustment d i f f i c u l t i e s these c h i l d r e n w i l l experience.

CHAPTER I I
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
I t has been s a i d :
Of the avenues by which the sense data, the raw m a t e r i a l of
perception, are received, the most important i s perhaps that
of v i s i o n . We probably depend upon our a b i l i t i e s i n v i s u a l
perception more than upon any other mode of perception t o
communicate with our environment. Our extreme r e l i a n c e upon
v i s u a l perception i s implied by the common metaphors of v i s i o n
used i n our d a i l y speech: we tend to say, "I'm looking forward
to seeing you" rather than "I'm a n t i c i p a t i n g meeting you" or
" l e t me see" when the more p r e c i s e verb might be "consider."
As these common usages imply, both d i r e c t experience and
thought processes depend g r e a t l y upon adequate v i s u a l percept i o n and t h i s i s nowhere more true than i n r e l a t i o n to school
learning.^
Visual

perception can be simply defined as "...the i n d i v i d u a l ' s

o r g a n i z a t i o n and i n i t i a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n or c a t e g o r i z a t i o n of what he
sees...."^

That i t i s a necessary c o n d i t i o n f o r reading i s s e l f -

evident f o r i t i s the " i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o r c a t e g o r i z a t i o n " of l e t t e r s

on a page which we c a l l r e a d i n g a n i n d i s p e n s i b l e s k i l l t o a l l areas
of l e a r n i n g .
Most t e s t b a t t e r i e s which are being developed

t o diagnose

l e a r n i n g problems include a t l e a s t one subtest or s c a l e aimed a t

measuring v i s u a l perceptual a b i l i t i e s .

The I l l i n o i s Test of

P s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c A b i l i t i e s f o r example, includes v i s u a l perception

both a t a representative l e v e l and a t an automatic-sequential l e v e l .
9
Marianne F r o s t i g , "Assessment of v i s u a l perception and i t s
importance t o education," The A.A.M.D. Education Reporter, 2
( A p r i l , 1962), p. 11.
^Mussen, Conger and Kagan, op. c i t . , p. 248.
"^Samuel A. K i r k and James J . McCarthy, The I l l i n o i s Test of
P s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c A b i l i t i e s , (Chicago: U n i v e r s i t y of I l l i n o i s Press,
1961).

an i n d i c a t i o n of the importance of v i s u a l perception to the major areas

12
of p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c f u n c t i o n i n g . The Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey
includes s e v e r a l subtests r e q u i r i n g v i s u a l perception: eye-hand coo r d i n a t i o n , temporal s p a t i a l t r a n s l a t i o n and form perception, a l l of
13
which Kephart

considers to be among the b a s i c s k i l l s needed to perform

b a s i c tasks and must be learned before the c h i l d can progress to more

complex experiences.

Getman stresses the importance of t o t a l i n t e g r a -

t i o n of v i s u a l processes f o r the s u c c e s s f u l adjustment of the i n d i v i d u a l

14
i n our s o c i e t y .

S i m i l a r l y , remedial programs f o r these l e a r n i n g d i s -

orders s t r e s s the importance of i n t e g r a t i n g a l l perceptual f u n c t i o n s ,

i n c l u d i n g the v i s u a l perceptual, i n t o an e f f i c i e n t whole.

In programs

such as the ones proposed by Fernald^"* and Monroe,

development of the

v i s u a l perceptual appears to be the ultimate goal.

Both programs empha-

s i z e a multi-modal

approach u t i l i z i n g the auditory and k i n e s t h e t i c

channels as w e l l as the v i s u a l and gradually narrowing i t down to the

v i s u a l channels only. F r o s t i g observed:
Disturbances i n v i s u a l perception were by f a r the most frequent
symptoms and seemed to contribute to the l e a r n i n g d i f f i c u l t i e s .
C h i l d r e n who had d i f f i c u l t y i n w r i t i n g seemed to be handicapped
by poor eye-hand c o o r d i n a t i o n , and c h i l d r e n who could not recognize
words often seemed to have disturbances i n figure-ground
12
Eugene G. Roach, and Newell C. Kephart, The Purdue PerceptualMotor Survey , (Columbus: Charles E. M e r r i l l Books, Inc., 1966).
13
Newell C. Kephart, The Slow Learner i n the Classroom,
(Columbus: Charles E. M e r r i l l Books Inc., 1960).
14
G.W. Getman, "The visuomotor complex i n the a c q u i s i t i o n of
l e a r n i n g s k i l l s , " Learning Disorders: S p e c i a l C h i l d P u b l i c a t i o n s of
S e a t t l e Seguin School, V o l . I , ( S e a t t l e , Washington: Bernie Straub and
Jerome Hellmuth Co-publishers, 1965), pp. 49-76.
^ G r a c e Fernald, Remedial Techniques i n Basic School Subjects,
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1943).
Marion Monroe, C h i l d r e n Who Cannot Read, (Chicago:
of Chicago Press, 1932).

University

8
perception. Other c h i l d r e n were unable t o recognize a l e t t e r or
word when i t was p r i n t e d i n d i f f e r e n t s i z e s or c o l o r s , or when i t
was p r i n t e d i n upper-case p r i n t and they were used to seeing i t i n
lower-case.
I t was postulated that these c h i l d r e n had poor form
constancy.
L i k e everyone e l s e who has worked with young c h i l d r e n , we
n o t i c e d that many c h i l d r e n produced l e t t e r s or words i n "mirror
w r i t i n g . " Such r e v e r s a l s or r o t a t i o n s i n d i c a t e d a d i f f i c u l t y i n
p e r c e i v i n g p o s i t i o n i n space, while interchanging the order of
l e t t e r s i n a word suggested d i f f i c u l t i e s i n analyzing s p a t i a l
r e l a t i o n s h i p s (as w e l l as i n d i c a t i n g the p o s s i b i l i t y of auditory
perceptual d i f f i c u l t i e s ) .
As a r u l e , these l a t t e r c h i l d r e n could n e i t h e r read nor s p e l l
longer words. I t was a l s o observed that many of the c h i l d r e n w i t h
evident d i s a b i l i t i e s i n v i s u a l perception had d i f f i c u l t y i n paying
sustained a t t e n t i o n and/or showed behavioral d e v i a t i o n s .
These observations lead t o her work i n developing the Marianne F r o s t i g
Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception and the F r o s t i g Program f o r the
Development of V i s u a l Perception.

Although F r o s t i g b e l i e v e s that v i s -

u a l perception i s probably the most important perceptual f u n c t i o n and

therefore emphasizes i t i n her assessment procedures and remedial
program, she by no means postulates that they are the only functions
important t o l e a r n i n g success.

Her e v a l u a t i o n of the developmental

status of the c h i l d includes measurement of sensory-motor a b i l i t i e s ,

language, perception, thought processes and emotional and s o c i a l

18
maturity.
Although i t s use i s wide-spread throughout the United States and
Canada, the F r o s t i g Test has been studied r e l a t i v e l y

little.

Questioning the lack of s i g n i f i c a n c e t e s t s w i t h respect t o the

statement of F r o s t i g e t a l that the greater degree of subtest s c a t t e r of
the c h i l d r e n w i t h l e a r n i n g handicaps "suggests that d i s t i n c t functions

^Maslow, F r o s t i g , Lefever and W h i t t l e s l e y , op. c i t . , p. 464

18
Marianne F r o s t i g , "The education of c h i l d r e n w i t h l e a r n i n g
d i s a b i l i t i e s , " Progress i n Learning Disorders, ed. H. Myklebust,
(New York: Grune and Statton Inc., 1967), p. 239.

of v i s u a l perception can be disturbed independently and to varying

19
degrees,"

Corah and Powell conducted a f a c t o r - a n a l y t i c study to

determine what common f a c t o r s d i d i n f a c t e x i s t i n the t e s t scores and

what proportion of the subtest variance was s p e c i f i c .

The r e s u l t s of

t h i s a n a l y s i s showed that two major f a c t o r s would account f o r most of

the variance.

They were general i n t e l l i g e n c e and developmental changes

i n perception.

The r e s u l t s a l s o suggested that the

Perceptual

Quotient has a good age s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n , a low r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h IQ and

20
may be a good measure of

perceptual development.

Working on Vernon's premise that c h i l d r e n who have reading problems show perceptual d i f f i c u l t y i n t h e i r i n a b i l i t y to recognize s i g n i f i c a n t d e t a i l s , d i s t i n g u i s h one l e t t e r from another and f e e l confusion
i n d i r e c t i o n of l e t t e r s and words, Olson conducted a study to determine
i f the F r o s t i g t e s t predicted s p e c i f i c reading d i f f i c u l t i e s , i . e . ,
paragraph comprehension, word r e c o g n i t i o n , hearing sounds i n words,
v i s u a l memory, using r e v e r s i b l e words i n context, w i t h a second-grade
population.

He found that the i n d i v i d u a l t e s t s on the F r o s t i g Test

appeared to have l i t t l e r e l a t i o n to e i t h e r Mental Age or Chronological

Age, and from these r e s u l t s concluded

that the F r o s t i g Test was

of

l i t t l e value i n p r e d i c t i n g the s p e c i f i c reading a b i l i t i e s of the

21
students tested i n t h i s study.
Jacobs, assuming that the F r o s t i g Test has construct v a l i d i t y ,
conducted a study with the purpose of determining whether c h i l d r e n r e s pond w i t h higher scores on the t e s t a f t e r completion of the perceptual
t r a i n i n g19 program, and whether the e f f e c t i v e n e s s of the subsequent
F r o s t i g , Lefever and W h i t t l e s l e y , op. c i t . , p. 392
20
Norman Corah and Barbara Powell, "A f a c t o r - a n a l y t i c study of
the F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception," Perceptual and
Motor S k i l l s , 16:59-63, 1963.
21
Arthur V. Olson, "The F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l
Perception as a p r e d i c t o r of s p e c i f i c reading d i s a b i l i t i e s with secondgrade c h i l d r e n , " Elementary E n g l i s h , 43:869-72.

10
program ( F r o s t i g Program f o r the Development of
might be r e l a t e d to age of i n t e r v e n t i o n .

V i s u a l Perception)

The study revealed that

experimental f i r s t graders gained most from the F r o s t i g Program over

c o n t r o l s , with prekindergarten c h i l d r e n gaining second most and k i n dergarten c h i l d r e n showing no gain on the F r o s t i g Test.

This was

con-

t r a r y to the p r e d i c t i o n that prekindergarten c h i l d r e n would gain most.

Again, contrary to p r e d i c t i o n , i t was found that no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r ences i n achievement on reading readiness t e s t s e x i s t e d f o r kindergarten
children.

Jacobs concludes that "while there i s s u f f i c i e n t evidence

that the F r o s t i g Program does increase F r o s t i g v i s u a l perceptual scores,

the question s t i l l remains whether these v i s u a l perceptual gains
22
favourably i n f l u e n c e reading achievement."
Test evaluators Anderson and A u s t i n disagree i n t h e i r e v a l u a t i o n
of the F r o s t i g Test.

Although they do agree that the a e s t h e t i c q u a l i t y

and d i r e c t i o n s f o r the t e s t are but mediocre, Anderson f e e l s that the

F r o s t i g t e s t has been prematurely o f f e r e d as a f i n i s h e d product i n that
i t s s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n i s incomplete and the t h e o r e t i c a l p o s i t i o n of the
authors inadequately s t a t e d or demonstrated.

A u s t i n , on the other hand

f e e l s t h a t i t i s indeed a v a l i d adequately standardized s c a l e f o r the

23
p r e d i c t i o n of l e a r n i n g d i f f i c u l t i e s .

22
Jacobs, op_. c i t . , pp. 332-40.
^^Mary A u s t i n and James Anderson, quoted i n The S i x t h Mental
Measurements Yearbook, edited by O.K. Buros, (New Jersey: Gryphon
Press, 1965), No. 553.

CHAPTER I I I
PROCEDURE
TESTS TO BE USED
The Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception
Standardization.

The most recent s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n (1963) i s based

on the responses of over two thousand p u b l i c school c h i l d r e n who

lived

i n Southern C a l i f o r n i a and who were between the ages of three and nine
years, who were tested on the 1961 e d i t i o n of the F r o s t i g Test.

The

authors recognize that the sample was f a r from p e r f e c t as most subjects

were from the middle c a l s s areas near to the Marianne F r o s t i g School of
E d u c a t i o n a l Therapy and included no Negro c h i l d r e n . The normative
curves drawn from the s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n sample i n d i c a t e that the maximum
p e r c e p t u a l growth measured occurred between the ages of four and seven
w i t h l e s s growth a f t e r the age of approximately seven and
24
years when c o g n i t i v e functions begin to predominate.
Items.

one-half

The c r i t e r i a f o r the f i n a l s e l e c t i o n of the items i n each

subtest area were good age progression and low contamination w i t h other
abilities.

The c h i l d i s required to attempt c a r e f u l l y graded tasks i n

25 26

the f i v e areas of v i s u a l perception.

1.

Eye-hand Coordination:

'

The c h i l d ' s task i s to draw s t r a i g h t

and curved l i n e s w i t h i n i n c r e a s i n g l y narrow boundaries or to draw a

s t r a i g h t l i n e to a target.

Poor performance i n d i c a t e s that w r i t i n g may

be d i f f i c u l t f o r the c h i l d and that k i n e s t h e t i c methods used i n

24
Maslow, F r o s t i g , Lefever arid W h i t t l e s l e y , op_. c i t . , p.

467.

25
I b i d , p.

466

26
Marianne F r o s t i g , "Testing as a b a s i s f o r educational therapy,"
The Journal of S p e c i a l Education, 2:19-20.

12
remedial reading are l i k e l y to have only l i m i t e d success.
2.

Figure-Ground:

The c h i l d i s asked to d i s c r i m i n a t e between

i n t e r s e c t i n g shapes and to f i n d hidden f i g u r e s .

D i f f i c u l t i e s i n this

area are p a r a l l e l l e d by d i f f i c u l t i e s i n s u s t a i n i n g and s h i f t i n g a t t e n t i o n and r i g i d i t y i n thought processes.

3.

Form Constancy:

The task here i s to d i s c r i m i n a t e d i f f e r e n t l y

shaded and s i z e d squares and c i r c l e s placed i n d i f f e r e n t p o s i t i o n s among

shapes.

Low scores on the Form Constancy subtest are claimed to p r e d i c t

problems w i t h the r e c o g n i t i o n and d i s c r i m i n a t i o n of l e t t e r forms and

t r a n s f e r of reading s k i l l s from one context or s i z e of p r i n t to another.
4.

P o s i t i o n i n Space:

of d i r e c t i o n a l i t y .

This subtest explores the c h i l d ' s concept

The c h i l d i s asked to d i f f e r e n t i a t e between f i g u r e s

i n an i d e n t i c a l p o s i t i o n and those i n a rotated p o s i t i o n .

A c h i l d with

d i f f i c u l t i e s i n t h i s area i s thought to have poor body awareness,

e s p e c i a l l y w i t h respect to the l e f t and r i g h t sides of h i s body.

He

might a l s o have problems with d i s c r i m i n a t i n g between l e t t e r s w i t h the

same form but d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n such as 'b' and 'd'.
5.
dots.

S p a t i a l R e l a t i o n s : The task i s to copy patterns by l i n k i n g

A d i s a b i l i t y i n t h i s area i s claimed to a f f e c t a c h i l d ' s a b i l i t y

to l e a r n to read and s p e l l .

I t w i l l be d i f f i c u l t f o r him to construct

words from l e t t e r s and s y l l a b l e s and to recognize the sequence of

l e t t e r s i n a word.
Materials.

'

The t e s t c o n s i s t s of a booklet of o u t l i n e drawings.

The examiner needs, i n a d d i t i o n , an a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and s c o r i n g manual,

a set of demonstration cards, coloured chalk (white, green and red) a
chalkboard, a set of coloured p e n c i l s (red, green, brown and blue)
along w i t h a black lead primary p e n c i l f o r each c h i l d , and a set of
s c o r i n g templates.
Administration.

E x p l i c i t d i r e c t i o n s f o r administering the t e s t

are given i n the manual and should be s t r i c t l y followed. Optimum

numbers f o r group t e s t i n g are:

Nursery School
Kindergarten

1 - 4
8-10

F i r s t Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade

12 - 16
10 - 20
20 - 40

Group a d m i n i s t r a t i o n should not be attempted u n t i l the c h i l d r e n have

been i n the classroom f o r a t l e a s t two weeks.

A proctor, i n addition
27

to the examiner, i s h e l p f u l but not necessary.

The time required f o r

group a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s l e s s than one hour; f o r i n d i v i d u a l administrat i o n , t h i r t y t o f o r t y - f i v e minutes.

Scoring and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . The manual also provides adequate
i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r scoring the t e s t .
following
1.

I n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s based on the

concepts:
Perceptual Age (PA):

This concept i s defined i n terms of the

performance of the average c h i l d i n the corresponding age group and

i n d i c a t e s the c h i l d ' s development i n each v i s u a l perceptual a b i l i t y .
Although i t i s c r i t i c i z e d on the same b a s i s as Mental Age (MA) because
c h i l d r e n with the same MA's but d i f f e r e n t Chronological Ages (CA) w i l l
perform d i f f e r e n t l y , i t does make e a s i e r an explanation t o the teacher.
For example, she w i l l understand b e t t e r , "Eight-year-old Johnny cannot
d i f f e r e n t i a t e p o s i t i o n i n space (Subtest 4) as w e l l as a s i x - y e a r - o l d
boy i s expected to do," than "Johnny's subtest score of 8 i n d i c a t e s a
28
need f o r s p e c i a l t r a i n i n g . "
2.

Perceptual Quotient

(PQ):

The PQ i s defined i n terms of

constant p e r c e n t i l e s above and below the median.

A PQ of 90 or l e s s

i n d i c a t e s low v i s u a l perceptual a b i l i t y and that help i s needed.

It is

a l s o important that the PQ not be used i n i s o l a t i o n from the s c a l e

scores obtained i n the f i v e subtests because these subtest scores are
Marianne F r o s t i g , W. Lefever and J.R.B. W h i t t l e s l e y ,
A d m i n i s t r a t i o n and Scoring Manual f o r the Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental
Test of V i s u a l Perception, (Palo A l t o : Consulting Psychologists Press,
1966) p. 8.
28

Maslow, F r o s t i g , Lefever and W h i t t l e s l e y , op_. c i t . , p. 479

based on the assumption that f i v e d i f f e r e n t and r e l a t i v e l y independent

a b i l i t i e s are tested and may be d i f f e r e n t l y t r a i n e d .

Using the PQ as a

u n i t a r y measure o f perceptual f u n c t i o n may suggest that i t expresses

29
some common trend or f a c t o r .
The manual f o r the F r o s t i g Test includes tables which allow the
examiner to e a s i l y convert raw scores t o s c a l e scores and the s c a l e
scores t o PQ f o r three-month age i n t e r v a l s from 4-0 t o 7-11, raw scores
to PA equivalents and PQ t o the equivalent p e r c e n t i l e rank.

These

tables are not s u i t a b l e f o r c h i l d r e n who are ten years o l d or over,

regardless of t h e i r raw scores and PA i n planning remedial porgrams on
the b a s i s of the F r o s t i g Test, the lowest and highest scores made by
the c h i l d are of major importance.

The a b i l i t i e s i n which the c h i l d i s

d e f i c i e n t w i l l be the focus of remediation.

30
be used to master new m a t e r i a l .

H i s perceptual assets can

The Clymer-Barrett Prereading Battery

Standardization.

The Clymer-Barrett was standardized using

5,565 Kindergarten and f i r s t - g r a d e c h i l d r e n .

I t has a s p l i t - h a l f

r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t of .96 f o r the short form and .97 f o r the long

form w i t h c o e f f i c i e n t s ranging from .90 t o .97 f o r the i n d i v i d u a l subtests.

The norms provided give both a p e r c e n t i l e rank and a stanine

31
equivalent f o r both the long and short forms.
Items.

The Clymer-Barrett i s designed f o r use a t the end of

Kindergarten o r the beginning of Grade One. I t c o n s i s t s of three subt e s t s each containing two s e c t i o n s .

29
Maslow, F r o s t i g , Lefever and W h i t t l e s l e y , op_. c i t . p. 481.
3 0

Ibid.

pp. 469-78

31
Theodore Clymer and Thomas B a r r e t t , Clymer-Barrett Prereading
Battery: P r e l i m i n a r y Manual Form A w i t h Norms, (Princeton: Personnel
Press, Inc., 1967), pp. 14-16

15
1.

Visual Discrimination:
L e t t e r Recognition:

The c h i l d i s required to f i n d the l e t t e r

of the alphabet given by the examiner.

Word Matching:

The task here i s to choose from four s i m i l a r

words the word which i s i d e n t i c a l to the stimulus word.

2.

Auditory D i s c r i m i n a t i o n :
Beginning Sounds:

The c h i l d must choose the p i c t u r e whose

name begins with the same sound as the one given by the
examiner.
3.

V i s u a l Motor Coordination:
Shape Completion:

The task here i s to add the missing

elements to make an incomplete f i g u r e look l i k e the completed f i g u r e .

Copy-a-Sentence:
32
from a model.
Materials:

The c h i l d must copy a sentence e x a c t l y

Each c h i l d needs a t e s t booklet and a p e n c i l :

the

examiner, an a d m i n i s t r a t i o n manual, the key and, i f d e s i r e d , a stopwatch.

Administration:

The t e s t i s so designed that i t can be admin-

i s t e r e d i n e i t h e r of two forms:
1.

Long Form:

This employs a l l s i x subtests, takes three

periods of about t h i r t y minutes each and y i e l d s three d i a g n o s t i c subtest

scores and a b a t t e r y t o t a l .
2.

Short Form:

This employs subtests 1 and 3 o n l y , takes one

period of about t h i r t y minutes and y i e l d s a s i n g l e score.

33

This form i s

the ttore s u i t a b l e f o r screening.

The test i s administered e i t h e r i n a group or to the i n d i v i d u a l
pupil.

The p r e f e r r e d procedure i s that of g i v i n g the e n t i r e battery at

Clymer and B a r r e t t , op. c i t . , pp.
'ibid,

pp.

3-4

5-11

one s i t t i n g observing the following schedule:

Period I

Letter recognition and word matching

Period II

Discrimination of beginning sounds and ending sounds

Period I I I

Shape completion and copy-a-sentence

A f t e r the f i r s t . t e s t i n each period a few moments of passive rest are

given i n the children's desks, and a f t e r Period I and Period I I , a few
minutes f o r active r e l a x a t i o n .
The manual includes e x p l i c i t instructions f o r administration.
Scoring and Interpretation. A scoring key i s provided which
gives the correct answers to each item and provides d i r e c t i o n s f o r scoring each of the battery subtests.

The norms provide a stanine equiv-

a l e n t f o r each subtest area and f o r the f u l l form and the short form.
Also given, are percentile,ranks f o r the t o t a l raw scores f o r each form.
Children whose p e r c e n t i l e ranks are 40 or below are considered to need
34
e x t r a attention.
The Clymer-Barret was chosen as the measure f o r reading readiness because i t has good p o s i t i v e correlations with end of f i r s t , 35 '

reading achievement,

because i t includes those s k i l l s commonly assumed

t o be good predictors of reading success and because i t i s widely used

i n the schools of B r i t i s h Columbia.
SUBJECT SELECTION
Subjects f o r t h i s study were taken from the Grade One population
of Prince George School D i s t r i c t .

Grade One was

chosen because previous

study has shown that the largest gains i n perceptual s k i l l s as measured

by the F r o s t i g , and reading readiness s k i l l s as measured by various
readiness b a t t e r i e s i n c h i l d r e n who have received the F r o s t i g Program
36
occur at the f i r s t - g r a d e l e v e l .

Three schools were involved i n the

34
35

Clymer and Barrett, op_. c i t . pp. 12-13

36
Ibid, p. 16, Table 7.
Jacobs, op. c i t . , pp. 339-40

17
experiment:

Quinson, Harwin and C e n t r a l Fort George.

These schools

were selected because of t h e i r proximity to each other.

During the l a s t

week i n September and the f i r s t week i n October, the F r o s t i g Test was

administered to a l l the c h i l d r e n i n the three c l a s s e s , e x a c t l y according
to i n s t r u c t i o n s , with no group l a r g e r than s i x t e e n .

Those c h i l d r e n who

obtained a PQ of 90 or l e s s on the F r o s t i g Test were then administered

the Clymer-Barrett (long form) as w e l l .

Those c h i l d r e n who scored 90 or

l e s s on the F r o s t i g and at the 40th p e r c e n t i l e or l e s s on the ClymerB a r r e t t then became subjects f o r the experiment. The t o t a l number of
p u p i l s involved was t h i r t y - t w o , w i t h ten a t Quinson, twelve a t Harwin
and ten at C e n t r a l Fort George.

These c h i l d r e n were assigned randomly

to the experimental or c o n t r o l groups.

The c o n t r o l group consisted of

f i f t e e n c h i l d r e n ; the experimental, of seventeen.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM
The experimenter went i n t o each c l a s s three times a week f o r s i x
weeks f o r a s i x t y to seventy-five minute session.

In an e f f o r t to main-

t a i n the semblance of a regular classroom s i t u a t i o n , the experimenter

worked w i t h the whole c l a s s , teaching both the c o n t r o l and experimental
groups.

The sessions were rotated on the f o l l o w i n g schedule:

Day/Time

9:15-10:30

1:00-2:10

Monday

Quinson

C e n t r a l Fort George

Tuesday

Harwin

Quinson

Wednesday

C e n t r a l F o r t George

Thursday

Harwin

Quinson

Friday

C e n t r a l Fort George

Harwin

Each c l a s s consisted of approximately three a b i l i t y groups which

c o u l d be taught together or separately as the lesson of the day
demanded.

In each session the experimental group was taught as a sep-

arate group w h i l e the c o n t r o l group was taught as part of whichever

a b i l i t y group they belonged t o . The classroom set-up was the convent i o n a l or with desks and a small space f o r group a c t i v i t y .

Each room

was provided w i t h a balance board, bean bags, p l a s t i c i n e , f e l t shapes

and other three-dimensional m a t e r i a l s a l l of which were r e a d i l y a v a i l able i n the school.

The s t e n c i l s f o r the two-dimensional work sheets

used i n the program were borrowed from the school d i s t r i c t ' s C e n t r a l

L i b r a r y and would be a v a i l a b l e to any teacher who wished to use them.
The lessons f o r the c l a s s , i n c l u d i n g the c o n t r o l group, were worked out
w i t h the teacher each day.

The F r o s t i g Program was administered accord37

ing to the F r o s t i g teacher's manual,

each lesson being c a r e f u l l y pre-

pared by the experimenter, a primary teacher of four years experience.

Experimental Group.

Each session the whole experimental group

received ten minutes of p h y s i c a l exercises f o r c o o r d i n a t i o n , balance,

body awareness and eye-movements.

They were given ten minutes of i n d i -

v i d u a l l y prescribed and administered two-dimensional exercises i n each

c h i l d ' s three lowest subtest areas.

Each c h i l d received three to s i x

worksheets per s e s s i o n , depending on the complexity of the tasks

involved.

These included a misture of areas so that

t r a i n i n g i n each area was received every day.

two-dimensional

The remainder of the

session was spent on such a c t i v i t i e s as c u t t i n g and p a s t i n g e x e r c i s e s ,

c o l o u r i n g , s t r i n g i n g beads, s o r t i n g shapes, b u i l d i n g p l a s t i c i n e o b j e c t s ,
drawing, b u i l d i n g with b l o c k s , a l l of which require a minimum of teacher
s u p e r v i s i o n but are suggested as s u i t a b l e i n the program.

To f o l l o w

F r o s t i g ' s philosophy that the program must be an i n t e g r a t e d one i n which

other s k i l l s than the v i s u a l perceptual s t r e s s e d by the F r o s t i g Program
38
a r e developed,

the c h i l d r e n followed the program of t h e i r a b i l i t y

group on days when there was no s e s s i o n .

C o n t r o l Group.

The c o n t r o l group received the regular reading

and reading readiness program as prescribed by the B.C. course of study

F r o s t i g and Home, op_. c i t .
F r o s t i g i n Johnson and Myklebust, op. c i t . , p. 249.

f o r the primary grades i n the Copp-Clark

or Language Experience

s e r i e s , w i t h t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r a b i l i t y group.

In each c l a s s , although

the Copp-Clark approach was followed, i t was supplemented w i t h ideas

from the Language Experience Programs.
low a b i l i t y :

The a c t i v i t i e s included:

nursery rhymes, story sequences, naming o b j e c t s ,

d e s c r i b i n g p i c t u r e s , f a i r y t a l e s , auditory and v i s u a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , rhyming, colour r e c o g n i t i o n , c a t e g o r i z a t i o n , drawing,

c u t t i n g and pasting and p r i n t i n g .
Middle and high a b i l i t y :

p i c t u r e d i s c u s s i o n and construction

of experience charts, word r e c o g n i t i o n , v i s u a l and auditory

d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , rhyming, l i s t e n i n g f o r story sequence,
c a t e g o r i z a t i o n , phonetic a n a l y s i s , o r a l and s i l e n t reading
s k i l l s , p r i n t i n g sentences and s t o r i e s .
During the session, there was u s u a l l y one group doing work w i t h
the teacher (experimenter) while two groups were working independently.

Barbara R. Mercer, Teacher's Manual to Accompany Off to

School, (Vancouver, Copp Clark, 1962).
40
Theodore Clymer, Bernice M. Christenson, David H. R u s s e l l ,
Manual For B u i l d i n g Pre-Reading S k i l l s , K i t A, Language, (Boston:
Ginn and Co., 1965)
41
E l i z a b e t h A. Thorn, Anne McCreary-Juhasz, Audrey C. Smith,
K.D. Munroe, M. Irene Richmond, Language Experience Reading Program:
The Teacher's Sourcebook, L e v e l I , (Toronto, W.J. Gage, L t d . , 1966).

CHAPTER IV

RESULTS

Re t e s t i n g
Within three days of the completion of the program, each subject
was retested on the F r o s t i g and Clymer-Barrett exactly according to
instructions.
Analysis of the Data
To test the hypothesis that children given the F r o s t i g Program i n
the regular class w i l l make s i g n i f i c a n t gains on the F r o s t i g Test over
children receiving the regular program, the difference between pretest
and posttest scores on the F r o s t i g Test was found f o r each c h i l d as
demonstrated i n the table on the following page.

The mean improvement

was found to be 17.25 f o r the experimental group and 14.2 f o r the

control group.

These were compared using the two-sample t-test and the

42

results were found to be i n s i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l .

To test the hypothesis that children, given the F r o s t i g Program
i n the regular c l a s s , w i l l make s i g n i f i c a n t l y greater gains i n the reading readiness s k i l l s , as measured by the Clymer-Barrett, over children
receiving the regular program, the difference between pretest and posttest scores on the Clymer-Barrett was found f o r each c h i l d .

The mean

improvement was found to be 14.235 f o r the experimental group and

13.267 f o r the control group.
t-test.

These were compared using the two-sample

43
The r e s u l t s were found to be i n s i g n i f i c a n t at the .05 l e v e l .

42
See the Appendix f o r c a l c u l a t i o n s .
43

See the Appendix f o r c a l c u l a t i o n s .

21
TABLE I
PRETEST, RETEST AND DIFFERENCE SCORES ON THE FROSTIG AND CLYMER-BARRETT
FROSTIG
Subject

Pretest

Re test

CLYMER-BARRETT
Difference

Pretest

Re test

Difference

Experimental
Donna
Bobby
Clive
Clifton
Laurie
Denise
Laurie
Wade
Allan
Jasper
Greg
Karla
Mac
Sharlyne
Kenneth
Steve
Michelle

87
87
70
87
85
66
89
83
76
87
80
42
85
89
85
85
85

87
110
80
102
110
82
120
100
96
83
99
70
102
103
104
121
102

0
23
10
15
25
16
31
17
20
- 4
9
28
17
14
19
36
17

38
12
26
32
28
5
14
13
5
8
19
1
23
39
13
35
28

36
29
53
31
44
9
30
23
12
9
23
2
51
61
30
75
53

- 2
17
27
- 1
16
4
16
10
7
1
4
1
28
22
17
40
25

82
87
87
89
81
72
87
82
83
70
'85
90
58
73
87

98
94
98
100
94
90
102
77
105
80
100
96
87
100
104

16
7
12
11
13
18
15
- 5
22
10
15
6
29
27
17

18
21
31
24
37
28
40
24
19
16
18
5
6
30
31

44
47
34
47
71
41
32
29
50
16
29
21
4
36
47

26
26
3
23
34
13
- 8
5
31
0
11
17
- 2
6
16

Control
Lincoln
Tony
D ebbie
Larry
Debora
Karen
Laurie
Wendy
Diane
Robert
Alan
Colin
Violetta
David
Gino

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND

DISCUSSION

According to the r e s u l t s obtained i n t h i s study, the F r o s t i g

Program was

not succesful i n s i g n i f i c a n t l y increasing perceptual s k i l l s

as measured by the F r o s t i g Test nor i n s i g n i f i c a n t l y increasing

reading readiness as measured by the Clymer-Barrett.
reading readiness i s the ultimate

As increased

goal i n developing the perceptual

s k i l l s , one could conclude that the t e s t and the program are of l i m i t e d

usefulness i n the regular classroom
except i n the c l i n i c a l s e t t i n g .

and,

therefore, should not be used

However, the r e s u l t s give r i s e to some

doubts and questions which point to further i n v e s t i g a t i o n before such a

conclusion i s drawn.
F i r s t of a l l , i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to note that i n a p i l o t t r a i n i n g
study done i n the Kindergarten classes of f i v e schools i n Hermosa Beach,
C a l i f o r n i a , the c h i l d r e n trained i n eighteen sessions of e i g h t y - f i v e
minutes each ( i n c l u d i n g a "milk break" and recess) gained s i g n i f i c a n t l y
more on the F r o s t i g Test than did c h i l d r e n i n the c o n t r o l group trained
44
according to prescribed

school curriculum.

The

c h i l d r e n i n t h i s study

received eighteen sessions of an average of s i x t y - e i g h t minutes each,

not i n c l u d i n g recess, but did not show a s i g n i f i c a n t improvement.

From

t h i s we could hypothesize that perhaps the f i r s t - g r a d e c h i l d r e n used

here had gone beyond the age of f a s t e s t development.
would not be supported by Jacobs who

This, however,

found the f a s t e s t rate of develop45

occurring at the f i r s t - g r a d e l e v e l .

I t would be i n t e r e s t i n g to see i f

Kindergarten c h i l d r e n taught i n the regular classroom would improve

s i g n i f i c a n t l y more.
Maslow, F r o s t i g , Lefever and W h i t t l e s l e y , op. c i t . p.
Jacobs, op. c i t . , p.

338.

496.

23
One might also hypothesize that the difference l i e s i n the fact
that the pilot-study children were taught by s p e c i a l l y trained
46
teachers.
was

The experimenter was

not s p e c i a l l y trained i n this area but

d e f i n i t e l y aware of the developmental sequence through which c h i l -

dren pass, and studied the test and program very c a r e f u l l y before
attempting to teach by i t , as would a regular classroom teacher.
difference could also be explained
children were removed from
F r o s t i g Center.

by the fact that the pilot-study

the classroom for intensive t r a i n i n g at the

I t would appear to the experimenter that t h i s i s prob-

ably the most pertinent explanation

i n that the intense t r a i n i n g could

be given without interruption from children i n other groups.

imenter observed that even when the time was

also apparent that these first-grade

I t was

children, most of whom had not

Kindergarten, had not yet developed the independence nor

to work on t h e i r own

The exper-

exactly planned, i t was

very rushed to complete the session's work with every group.

tions occurred.

The

had

self-discipline

for any length of time and that steady interrup-

Perhaps, i n order for the program to be successful i n

the regular classroom i t should be carried over a longer period of time

allowing for interruptions and a more relaxed approach.
I t may

be also

that s i g n i f i c a n t results were not obtained by

this p a r t i c u l a r experimenter.

If one could conduct a s i m i l a r experiment

with a random sample of teachers and classes, perhaps the results would
again be d i f f e r e n t because one would supposedly have a normal d i s t r i b u tion of teacher c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s as well as p u p i l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
I t would appear, then, that before drawing any conclusions

as to

the usefulness of the Marianne F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l

Perception

and the F r o s t i g Program for the Development of V i s u a l

Perception

i n the regular classroom, further investigation c o n t r o l l i n g

the variables of class s i z e , number of sessions and age of the

subjects

would be i n order.
Maslow, F r i s t i g , Lefever and Whittlesley, op. c i t . p.

496.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Children. S p r i n g f i e l d , I l l i n o i s : C C . Thomas, 1967.
Buros, O.K. (ed.). The Sixth Mental Measurements Yearbook.
New Jersey: Gryphon Press, 1965.
Clymer, Theodore and Thomas C. Barrett. Clymer-Barrett Prereading
Battery, Form A. Princeton: Personnel Press, 1965.
. Clymer-Barrett Prereading Battery, Form A, Key.
Personnel Press, 1967.

Princeton:

. Clymer-Barrett Prereading Battery Preliminary Manual, Form A.

Princeton: Personnel Press, 1967.
Clymer, Theodore, Bernice M. Christenson, David H. R u s s e l l . Manual
for Building Pre-reading S k i l l s , K i t A, Language. Boston:
Ginn and Co., 1965.
Corah, Norman L. and Barbara J . Powell. "A factor a n a l y t i c study
of the F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception,"
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Flower, Richard, Helen Gofman and Lucie Lawson (eds.). Reading
Disorders: A M u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r y Symposium. Philadelphia:
Davis Company, 1965.
F r o s t i g , Marianne. Administration and Scoring Manual f o r the Marianne
F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception. Palo A l t o :
Consulting Psychologists Press, 1961.
. "Developmental Evaluation and the i n s t i t u t i o n of remedial
programs f o r children with learning d i f f i c u l t i e s , " The Challenge
of Capacity, 7:20-23, 1967.
. "A treatment program." B u l l e t i n f o r the Hospital f o r Sick
Children, 15:46-50, 3rd and 4th quarters, 1966.
. "Visual perception i n the brain-injured c h i l d , " American
Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 33:665-71, July, 1963.
. "Education of children with learning d i s a b i l i t i e s , "
Progress i n Learning Disorders, ed. H. Myklebust, New York:
Grune and Statton, Inc., 1967.

25
. "The implication of developmental diagnosis of children with
learning d i f f i c u l t i e s , and applications i n the normal classroom,"
Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 3:10-19, 1963.
. "Testing as a basis f o r educational therapy," Journal of
Special Education, 2:15-34, 1967.
F r o s t i g , Marianne and Wilma Hart. "Developmental evaluation and the
i n s t i t u t i o n of remedial programs f o r children with learning
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F r o s t i g , Marianne and David Home. "An approach to the treatment of
children with learning d i f f i c u l t i e s , " Learning Disorders, 1:293-305.
. "Assessment of v i s u a l perception and i t s importance i n
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. The F r o s t i g Program f o r the Development of V i s u a l Perception:
Teacher's Guide. Chicago: F o l l e t t Publishing Company, 1964.
F r o s t i g , Marianne, D.W. Lefever and J.R.B. Whittlesley. The Marianne
F r o s t i g Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception, Third E d i t i o n .
Palo A l t o : Consulting Psychologists Press, 1964.
__. "A developmental test of v i s u a l perception for evaluating
normal and n e u r o l o g i c a l l y handicapped c h i l d r e n , " Perceptual and
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Hellmuth, Jerome (ed.). Learning Disorders. Special Child Publications

of the Seattle Seguin School, Inc., V o l . I. Seattle: Bemie Straub
and Jerome Hellmuth Co-publishers, 1965.
Jacobs, James, N. "An evaluation of the F r o s t i g visual-perceptual
program," Educational Leadership, 25:332-40, 1968.
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Kirk, Samuel A. and J . J . McCarthy. The I l l i n o i s Test of Psycholing u i s t i c A b i l i t i e s . Chicago: University of I l l i n o i s Press, 1961.
Maslow, P h y l l i s , Marianne F r o s t i g , D.W. Lefever and J.R.B. Whittlesley.
"The Marianne F r o s t i g developmental test of v i s u a l perception,
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26
Mcintosh, J.R.
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Personality, Second E d i t i o n . New York:

Chicago:

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Olson, Arthur V. "The Frostig Developmental Test of V i s u a l Perception

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Survey. Columbus: Charles E. M e r r i l l Books, 1966.
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M. Irene Richmond. Language Experience Reading Program:
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. Language Experience Reading Program, Just f o r Me, Level II-A.
Toronto: W.J. Gage, 1965.

27
APPENDIX I
CALCULATIONS FOR HYPOTHESIS I
1.

N u l l Hypothesis:

The experimental group did not improve s i g n i f -

i c a n t l y more than the control group when retested on the F r o s t i g

Test.
2.

S t a t i s t i c a l Notation of the N u l l Hypothesis:

H
l

3.

4f

= ^
:

-Af

= 0

^ c ^ e ^ ^ c - ^ e ^

I f H i s true, then
o
t

=
ob

(X - X ) - 0 ^-v> t, ,
(0 v
e
c
yte + Nc - 2)
jr.
*
'
v
2)
V'Sp 1/Ne + 1/Nc
T

where v = N. + N - 2
1
s
4.

Assumptions:

The variances are equal but unknown f o r the population.

The samples are random.
Independent observations, i . e . , every c h i l d worked on
his own.
The sample approximates

5.

the normal curve.

Decision Rule: tfC = .05

Reject the n u l l hypothesis i f t

i s less than 1.96 or more than

fe

+ 1.96.
6.

Data:

= 17.25

S = 53.7
e
S = 70.87
c
2

e
X = 14.2
c
t
=
'ob
=

(Xe - Xc) - 0

\] Sp /Nc +.;Sp/Ne
2

Sto = 3.05

where Sp = (Nc - 1)(Sc ) + (Ne - 1)(Se )

Nc + Ne
2

= 1.099

2.775
8.

Accept the n u l l hypothesis and reject the hypothesis that there i s

a significant

difference.

28
APPENDIX I I
CALCULATIONS FOR HYPOTHESIS I I
1.

N u l l Hypothesis:

The experimental group d i d not improve s i g n i f -

i c a n t l y more than the c o n t r o l group when retested on the ClymerBarrett.

2.

S t a t i s t i c a l Notation of the N u l l Hypothesis:

3.

See Appendix I .

4.

Assumptions:

5.

Decision Rule:

See Appendix I .

See Appendix I .
= .05

Reject the n u l l hypothesis i f t , i s l e s s than -1.96 or more

than +1.96.
6.

Data:

X
X

7.

= 14.235

- 13.267
c
= .986 = .225
4.38

143.441
163.638