Effects of test administration order on children's neuropsychological performance: Emerging one-word expressive and receptive language skills

Differences in neuropsychological performance associated with specific test presentation sequences have been reported in adults. However, these effect s have received little attention in children. The EOWPVT-R, a measure of on e-word expressive language, and the PPVT-R, a measure of receptive language , were administered to 6- to 14-year-olds (control [n = 17] and experimenta l [n = 22] groups) in a counterbalanced fashion to investigate the potentia l effects of test presentation sequence on neuropsychological performance. Group findings were not evidenced subsequent to variation in test administr ation sequence. In contrast, order of test presentation revealed difference s in performance. Administration of the PPVT-R prior to the EOWPVT-R result ed in enhanced EOWPVT-R expressive language scores in both groups of partic ipants. Presentation of the PPVT-R after the EOWPVT-R did not affect perfor mance. Applied and theoretical implications associated with these findings are discussed.