COMPARISON OF STATIC AND DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES AND THEIR RELATION TO INDEPENDENT PERFORMANCE

Relationships between pretraining skills, ease of learning, and later posttest performance were assessed in both spatial (i.e., block design ) and verbal (i.e., similarities) task domains. Eighty-four preschool children (M = 4 years 11 months, range = 4 years 0 months to 5 years 6 months) were given pretests, training, and posttests on block design and similarities tasks. Two measurement models and four structural mod els were tested to determine (a) if pretest, learning and posttest per formances were domain specific, and (b) if paths from both pretests an d learning assessments were needed to predict posttest performance. Th e measurement model that fit the data maintained separate verbal and s patial domains. The structural model that best fit the data included p aths from both pretest and learning assessments to posttest performanc es within each domain. Thus, L. S. Vygotsky's (1978) claim that pretes t and learning assessments together are better indicators of an indivi dual's ability than either measure alone was supported.