The Development of a New Zealand Adult Reading Test.

Abstract

The National Adult Reading Test (NART), developed in Britain is commonly used in clinical settings to estimate premorbid intelligence in New Zealand. Research suggests psychometric tests are more accurate if normed on the population they are used with. This study attempted to establish norms for the original NART based on a New Zealand population and develop a National Adult Reading Test for use with a New Zealand population (NZART). Sixty-four university students were administered the Wechslers Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), the NART and the New Zealand Adult Reading Test (NZART). A regression equation was developed to estimate premorbid intelligence in this sample. Results indicate fewer errors occur on the NZART than the NART suggesting it may be a better indicator of premorbid intelligence for a New Zealand sample. Furthermore, the NZART was more accurate at estimating premorbid WASI IQ across all three subscales of the WASI at a range of IQ levels. Analyses were also conducted to ascertain the impact of demographic variables. Little overall difference was found in test scores in relation to gender, age or income. Although future studies need to be conducted to validate this new measure, initial results suggest that the NZART may be a more accurate predictor of premorbid IQ in a New Zealand population.