Reliability and validity of the new Tanaka B Intelligence Scale scores: a group intelligence test

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 6; p. e100262
• Main Authors: Uno, Yota, Mizukami, Hitomi, Ando, Masahiko, Yukihiro, Ryoji, Iwasaki, Yoko, Ozaki, Norio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 18.06.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Ability tests; Adolescent; Analysis; Area Under Curve; Biology and Life Sciences; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Children; Children & youth; Cognitive ability; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Criminals - psychology; Detention; Elementary schools; Female; Humans; Intellectual development; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual Disability - diagnosis; Intellectual Disability - psychology; Intelligence; Intelligence tests; Intelligence Tests - statistics & numerical data; Japan; Juvenile offenders; Likelihood ratio; Linguistics; Male; Mandatory Programs - ethics; Mandatory Programs - legislation & jurisprudence; Mathematical analysis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental disorders; Mental health; Middle schools; Psychology; Reliability analysis; ROC Curve; Screening; Teenagers; Validity; Variance analysis; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100262

The present study evaluated the reliability and concurrent validity of the new Tanaka B Intelligence Scale, which is an intelligence test that can be administered on groups within a short period of time. The new Tanaka B Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition were administered to 81 subjects (mean age ± SD 15.2 ± 0.7 years) residing in a juvenile detention home; reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and concurrent validity was assessed using the one-way analysis of variance intraclass correlation coefficient. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic analysis for screening for individuals who have a deficit in intellectual function (an FIQ<70) was performed. In addition, stratum-specific likelihood ratios for detection of intellectual disability were calculated. The Cronbach's alpha for the new Tanaka B Intelligence Scale IQ (BIQ) was 0.86, and the intraclass correlation coefficient with FIQ was 0.83. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated an area under the curve of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.85-0.96). In addition, the stratum-specific likelihood ratio for the BIQ≤65 stratum was 13.8 (95% CI: 3.9-48.9), and the stratum-specific likelihood ratio for the BIQ≥76 stratum was 0.1 (95% CI: 0.03-0.4). Thus, intellectual disability could be ruled out or determined. The present results demonstrated that the new Tanaka B Intelligence Scale score had high reliability and concurrent validity with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition score. Moreover, the post-test probability for the BIQ could be calculated when screening for individuals who have a deficit in intellectual function. The new Tanaka B Intelligence Test is convenient and can be administered within a variety of settings. This enables evaluation of intellectual development even in settings where performing intelligence tests have previously been difficult.