A Delphi survey-based development and validation of cognitive-communication assessment tool for Indian preschoolers

ABSTRACT Purpose To address the need for a standardized assessment tool for assessing cognitive-communication abilities among Indian preschoolers, the current study aimed at describing a Delphi based development and validation process for developing one such tool. The objectives of the research were to conceptualize and construct the tool, validate its content, and assess its feasibility through pilot testing. Methods The study followed a Delphi approach to develop and validate the tool across four phases i.e. conceptualization; construction; content validation; and pilot testing. The first three phases were performed with a panel of six experts including speech-language pathologists and preschool teachers while the pilot testing was done with 20 typically developing preschoolers. A literature review was also conducted with the Delphi rounds to support the developmental process. Results The first two rounds of the Delphi aided in the construction of a culturally and linguistically suitable story-based cognitive-communication assessment tool with the memory (free recall, recognition, and literary recall) and executive function (reasoning, inhibition, and switching) related tasks relevant for preschoolers. The content validation of the tool was continued with the experts till the revisions were satisfactory and yielded an optimum Content Validity Index. The pilot test of the finalized version confirmed its feasibility and appropriateness to assess developmental changes in the cognitive-communication abilities of preschoolers. Conclusion The study describes the Delphi-based conceptualization, construction, content validation, and feasibility check of a tool to assess cognitive-communication skills in preschool children.

A Delphi survey-based development and validation of cognitive-communication assessment tool for Indian preschoolers.

PURPOSE: To address the need for a standardized assessment tool for assessing cognitive-communication abilities among Indian preschoolers, the current study aimed at describing a Delphi based development and validation process for developing one such tool. The objectives of the research were to conceptualize and construct the tool, validate its content, and assess its feasibility through pilot testing. METHODS: The study followed a Delphi approach to develop and validate the tool across four phases i.e. conceptualization; construction; content validation; and pilot testing. The first three phases were performed with a panel of six experts including speech-language pathologists and preschool teachers while the pilot testing was done with 20 typically developing preschoolers. A literature review was also conducted with the Delphi rounds to support the developmental process. RESULTS: The first two rounds of the Delphi aided in the construction of a culturally and linguistically suitable story-based cognitive-communication assessment tool with the memory (free recall, recognition, and literary recall) and executive function (reasoning, inhibition, and switching) related tasks relevant for preschoolers. The content validation of the tool was continued with the experts till the revisions were satisfactory and yielded an optimum Content Validity Index. The pilot test of the finalized version confirmed its feasibility and appropriateness to assess developmental changes in the cognitive-communication abilities of preschoolers. CONCLUSION: The study describes the Delphi-based conceptualization, construction, content validation, and feasibility check of a tool to assess cognitive-communication skills in preschool children.

Pictures over words: a cross-sectional study reporting short term memory abilities in children.

Background: An impressive amount of research has been conducted studying modality-specific Short Term Memory (STM) skills in children differing in the type of tasks used. In the present study, we aimed to profile the STM abilities based on modality, in typically developing children using a story-based assessment. Methods: The study followed a cross-sectional design and comprised of 80 participants between the ages of 6 years to 9 years 11 months. An animated story was shown to the children, following which a word recall task was performed. In this task, children were asked to recall the words mentioned in the story from a pictorial array. Results: One-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in the overall recall abilities of children. The recall performance was strongly related to the modality of the presentation of words. A marginal difference was observed for the recall of auditory-visual words in comparison to recall of words in the auditory modality; wherein older children recalled better in comparison to younger children. The findings of the study could be attributed to the "visual superiority effect", "encoding specificity principle of memory" and "multimedia effect." Conclusion: STM abilities were observed to increase with age, with the existence of asynchrony in the auditory-visual and auditory recall scores indicating the firm reliance on the modality of presentation of word. The study implications emphasize on the use of visual stimuli for teaching new vocabularies, skills, and concepts in younger children. These findings also highlight the use of visual stimuli while assessing speech, language, and cognitive skills in younger children.