Nature and Purpose of the MAB-II (Indian Adaptation) Introduction The Multidimensional Aptitude Battery-I| (MAB-II) is designed to provide a convenient, objectively-scorable measure of general cognitive ability or intelligence in the form of a profile containing five verbal and five performance subtest scores. Historically, its origins extend back as far as the origins of intelligence testing—to 1905 when Binet and Simon published their findings on French school children. The work of Binet and Simon inspired the well-known formal standardiza! by Terman(1916). Italso inspired the development of nonverbal individual measures of intelligence, notably the work of Pintner and Anderson (1917) and of Healy (1921) who published picture completion tests, and of Kohs (1923) who published a block design test. Pintner and Paterson (1917) developed and standardized an early multitask n of the Stanford-Binet individual performance scale. The first large-scale implementation of modern group cognitive ability testing was by the psychologists who developed the U.S. Army's personnel classification battery, which contained both group and performance subtests. This work laid the foundation for much subsequent work, including the carefully standardized Performance Scale by Cornell and Coxe (1934) and the Wechsler- Bellevue Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1939). Multi-scale measures of intellectual abilities in the tradition of the U.S. Army Alpha and Betascaleshave beenextraordinarily successful for anumber of sound reasons: (a) they incorporate a diversity of tasks including not only verbal and school learned content, but performance and practical skills as well; (b) they contain content appropriate for adolescents and adults, as well as children; (c) the scores on these tests reflect fresh conceptions of the nature of intelligence in which psychotic processes, neurological damage, or emotional disturbances may be present; (d) many of them have been very carefully normed and standardized; (e) they have stimulated a very substantial body of research— articles using measures of intelligence number in the tens of thousands; (f) many intelligence tests have demonstrated high levels of psychometric quality; and (g) substantial validity data for intelligence tests have been published over the years,ee sng from predictions of academic gradesto studies of 1ob performan FO oie ostasi & Urbina, 1997). In fact, standardized inte sence heeriterion against which we appraise intellectual funct 3 become the 1 rating of a student's intelligence disagreed with a s if a teacher most psychologists would question the teacher's jud Tete However, there is at least one serious drawback aly intelligence tests even more widely, namely, that the rani © and wor adjustment (Ano scales ning. rica Tudent's measureg Sment (Cronbach ' applying certajy Y require indivi . ; + id iinitrotion and scoring by ospecially-trained professional.ltistruethatance ‘al o ray gecasins, clinical observations of a respondent’s test-taking behavior is helpty A well, the mentally challenged and some psychotic patients require in vidi vJaministration. But for the majority of examinees for whom one Fequires estimates o intellectual functioning, individual administration is costly and unnecessary. indecs when group tests of intellectual ability have been compared withthe Wechsler seole for predicting such criteria as academic achievement, individually edministered texy have, in general, shown no advantage in yielding higher predictive validities (Matarazzo, 1972). This then leads to the question of whether it is possible tg incorporate some of the widely acknowledged positive features of individually administered multi-scale tests into a structured format permitting group administration, automated administration, and convenient hand or machine scoring. was the author's intent in designing the MAB to evaluate the degree to which this was possible. The Multidimensional Aptitude Battery-I! MAB-II (Indian Adaptation) is de: igned asa convenient, objectively- scorable measure of intelligence. The features include re- usable item booklets, hand scorable answer sheets and easy to administer. The manual provides scale descriptions and suggests occupations that may be relevant to high scoresoneachsubscale. ies General Characteristics of the MAB-II Intended Uses The MAB-II (Indian Adaptation) is designed for wide-range assessment of intellectual abilities of both adults and adolescents age 16 and older. As with other measures of intellectuala variety of contexts. These ity, it may be used for a variety of purposes a i ings clude, for example, educational and career counseling setting ; ; e . For business and industry, clinies and mental health facilities, and basic laeeaie é a adequate assessment it presupposes language sl Ir is not It is understand written directions and to comprehend spoken directions. a pa Sia cave! Fcommended for use in ascertaining level of intellectual functioning in $@ wal ei es mi fed mental retardation, nor for individuals whose psychotic proces suspectseverely interfere with understanding or complying with instructions. The author's experience, however, is that the majority of psychotic patients are capable of purposefully completing the MAB-II. Nature of the Scales Like the scales from many other measures of intellectual abilities dating back to the U.S. Army Alpha and Beta tests and before, the MAB-II consists of verbal and nonverbal groups of scales. Five “Verbal” subtests are contained in one booklet and five nonverbal, “Performance,” subtests are presented in a second booklet. Separate answer sheets, which may be either hand or machine scored, are provided for Verbal and Performance sections. | sections separately, or the two together to obtain a comprehensive assessment of ies. In addition to ten subscale scores, the MAB-II yields a VerballQ,a Performance IQ, and a Full Scale IQ. Alternatively, standard scores may be used in place of Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs. Descriptions of each scale are presentedinFigure 1. The tensubscales of the MAB-II are presented below, listed under the bookletin which they are contained. 's thus possible to administer either Verbal or Performance intellectual ab’ VERBAL PERFORMANCE Information igit Symbol Comprehension Picture Completion Arithmetic Spatial Similarities Picture Arrangement Vocabulary Object Assembly Although the scale names for nine of the ten subtests are the same as those used for certain other tests, including the Army Alpha and Beta, and the Wechsler scales, among others, the MAB-Il employs a different format and shares no items in common with any otherinstrument. Question Format The MAB-Il employs multiple-choice items for all subtests. Although item content ranges over verbal, numerical, pictorial, and figural content, in every case the task of the respondent is to identify, among five choices, the one best or most nearly correct onswer. This item format lends itself readily to recording by respondents of their answers, to structured scoringnot requiring professional judgment, andto scoring, and interpretation.Figure 1: MAB-II All MAB-II (Indian Adaptation) 5 consistently found 10 be imp might be helpfulincounseling or placing individualsinjobsthat enable them. interpretive aids, providing descriptions and suggesting a few of the man: oneachsubscale, VERBAL (Indian Adaptation) Scale Descriptions ubscales are substantially related to general ortant for job performance in virtually all occupation: intellectual ability, which has s. However, patterns ofhigh and ow seq 10 realize their potential. The following aresg occupations that might be relevant tohigh seg, Information The Information score reflects the degree to which on individual hos eccumuloted 0 fund of knowledge about diverse topics. This fund of informetionisinfluenced by enindividual'slevelof curlasity, extensiveness of reeding, ond motivation to learn new things. Long-term memory is requiredtorahightcore onthelnformationtest High scores on information are likely to be found emong perseq cccupetions thot require @ wide knowledge bate, Examples of seh include, journalist,profastor, teacher librarian, and researcher Comprehension Comprehension assesses heability to evaluate socialsiuationste identity behavior that is more socially desirable, and fo give the reasons why certain lows and social customs are practiced. Itrequites nat only general verbolobility,buta degree of social acculturation, socialintelligence, and knowledge of conventional standards formoral endethicaljvdgment High scores on this subscale will be found in persons In a verity ‘ccupetions but particularly in thore that require social skill fearoning abilities Examples of such jobs Include: prycholosis, x ‘worker teacher lawyer, police officer, ondhumon resource worker, Arithmetic This test, requiring the solution of numerical problems, reflects reasoning ond problem solving abilities High zcorers have the capacity te ab:tract those elements of a problem necessary for it olution and to arrive ot © correctanswer quickly. | = Similarities Similorities requires an individual to conceptualize end ronk ikenesre® and differences as properties of an abject and tocompore these abstract likenesses to thore of another object, identifying the one that fs most ‘eppropriate, Such otask requires flexibility and edjustment torovelty es well as en eppreciation or and comprehension of properties of abjcts, long-term memory, and the capacity for abstract thought. Unlike certain other verbal tests, Similarities requires more than simply retrieving knowledge fromlong term memery;it is olzo a meature of how effectively one canusethisknowledge. Vocabulary High scores on this section may be linked to occupations thet requte bility to gener Immediotely obvious. Exemples of such occupations include: detec lowyer, writer, social scientst,engineer,and artist lize, ebstract, and find relationships thot ate Inits narrow interpretation, Vocabulary is an indication of the number of swords ar verbal concepts thet have been learned and stored. Sut more broadly, it indicates the individual's openness 10 new information and concopts end reflects the capacity to store, categorize, ond retrieve this Information appropriately. Persons scoring high on Vocobulary con be expectednot only tobe abletouse words effectively, butte demonstrate a higher level of subtlety and depth of thought processes, and of conceptucl icatory skills inthe verbel damatn ondelass High scores in this section may be linked to occupations thet (el © extensive knowledge of the English language. Examples of occupations include: English teacher, journalist and writer. Moreoveill” vocabulary is found among persons hat have achieved distinction in)" escupations, including business executives, particulerly those occupatlonsrequireuriversity and graduote degrees. I.Figure 1: MAB-II (Indian Adaptation) Scale Descriptions (cont.) PERFORMANCE git Symbol Digit Symbol requires the learning of a new coding system ond its ue ino context in which visuel-motor activity is Important. Thus, like ether Performance subtests but unlike most of the Verbel Scale, it imvelves edoptation 10 @ novel set of demands. The application of @ novel combination of obiliies—visual acuity figurel memery,motor sil speed of information processing, ond motivation and persistence-—is o further task requirement, Its markedly effected by age ond by Impcirment af ‘vinwal-moterperformance High scores inthis section may be linked to occupations requiring care and) high levels of motor behavior. Exemples af such jobs include air traffic contrller, dentist, surgeon, drottsperson, designer, and electronic technician, Picture Completion. The identification of important missing elements in a picture requires knowledge of everiety of common objects and he ulesused forsimplitied sketches. Other task requirements are the perceptvcl sills necessory fo Interpret © percept meaningfully, the analytical silt required to Aistingvishimportont, critical detoilsfromunessentiolomission,the bility to.ovoid he competition of irelevant detai in ariving ta solstion, and, the verbal ability to identify quickly the first letter of the nome of the missing detail Spatial High scoresin ths section moy be linked to eceupotions characterized by the skills described on the left. Examples of such jobs include loboretory technician, ol rafficcontolier, marketing specialist, and Indeed, a wide vorietyof ccupationsthatrequire analyticelfigural skills The Spatial subtest requires the ability to vivalize abstract objects in ifferent positions in two-dimensional space and 19 be renitve ta critical differences among olternatives. More generally, it requires reasoning In the figurl-spotiel domain combined with visual and imagine! procestes, processes which forhigh scorers must be evoked quickly and avtomoticelly, for the toskis timed. An excessive degre of checking responses os aresult of covtiousness vill impair speed of performance, Age also offects Performance substantiolly,o fact that is incorporated into MAB-I indian Be rictios| nora Picture Arrangement High scores inthis section may be linked to occupations chorecterized by sof suchiob designer, mechanical enginaer, heavy equipmenttransport worker, machine operater,andmechanie {ebstracthought ond creativity inthe spatial domain. xem! Include: architect, Picture Arrangement requires the respondent to identify @ mecningful sequence from a random sequence, where the meaningful sequence often hhos a humorous Interpretation. Az wc, it requires on ability to decode perceptually number of drawings,t0 abstract theirintent and meaning, 10 erate those soparate perceptions in a mecningful temporal pattern, tolocate the letter sequence corresponding 1 the correct sequence, and 9 follow thesestepsas quickly as possibleinracogritionof the timed nature ot the task, Thus, the tosk requires both perceptual abilities and sufficient Social Invelligence to have insight intoothers’ behavior, permitting [eveluctionof alternative outcomes. Object Assembly High scores inthis section may be linked to occupations thot require high visual perception and the obi iy 10 see cause-effect relationships Exomples include the numerour occunetions for which inferring other peoples’ mativations and intentions | Portam!, such os a salesperson, ‘advertising specilis,andmarketing representative. ObjocrAuembly requir thatthe respondentidentity ameoningfulebject {rom a left-to-right sequence of diserranged segments. For such a tesk, [Perceptual analytical skills ore required to vitvolize how the separcte 811s might be reassembled, or, alternatively, fits to identify elements of amilar objectsinthe disarronged segmentsond oformajudgment about he integration of the segments into.a whole. Becoure the parts r= printed, ether thon Ing manipulable form, visualization skills are also required to Imagine he formof he figure whenpartsare rearranged. High cores inthis section may be linked to occupations characterized by Perceptual enalytical skills. Examples of occupations in whichhigh scorers clvilenginoer architect,andbuilder,