Measures social competence, self-help skills, and adaptive behavior.

The Vineland Social Maturity Scale measures social competence, self-help skills, and adaptive behavior from infancy to adulthood. It is used in planning for therapy and/or individualized instruction for persons with mental retardation or emotional disorders. The Vineland scale, which can be used from birth up to the age of 30, consists of a 117-item interview with a parent or other primary caregiver. (There is also a classroom version for ages 3-12 that can be completed by a teacher.) Personal and social skills are evaluated in the following areas: daily living skills (general self-help, eating, dressing); communication (listening, speaking, writing); motor skills (fine and gross, including locomotion); socialization (interpersonal relationships, play and leisure, and coping skills); occupational skills; and self-direction. (An optional Maladaptive Behavior scale is also available.) The test is untimed and takes 20-30 minutes. Raw scores are converted to an age equivalent score (expressed as social age) and a social quotient. A Spanish-language edition is also available.

For Further Study

Books

McCullough, Virginia. Testing and Your Child: What You Should Know About 150 of the Most Common Medical, Educational, and Psychological Tests. New York: Plume, 1992.

Shore, Milton F., Patrick J. Brice, and Barbara G. Love. When Your Child Needs Testing: What Parents, Teachers, and Other Helpers Need to Know about Psychological Testing. New York: Crossroad, 1992.

Walsh, W. Bruce, and Nancy E. Betz. Tests and Assessment. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.

Wodrich, David L., and Sally A. Kush. Children's Psychological Testing: A Guide for Nonpsychologists. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co., 1990.

Wortham, Sue Clark. Tests and Measurement in Early Childhood Education. Columbus: Merrill Publishing Co., 1990.