Abstract:
A comparative study was undertaken to assess the reliability of the MVPT-3 when the
instructions were translated into Afrikaans and the scores were then compared to the
normative data obtained during the standardization process on a normal population of
American children. The study was undertaken by testing 80 randomly selected, normally
distributed, Afrikaans first language speaking eight year old children from the eastern
suburbs of Pretoria, South Africa. The study confirmed that the MVPT-3 is reliable when
the instructions are given in Afrikaans with a Chonbach’s alpha score of 0.79 compared
to 0.83 obtained for the American population.
The item analysis revealed some anomalies that suggest that the test may have a cultural
bias as many items had a negative sign in the item analysis. Afrikaans girls and boys
performed differently on the test, suggesting that the test may need to be adjusted for
differing skills in the visual perception. There were a high number of non-contributing
items that suggest that some items in the test may not be valid for South African
Children.
