New Zealand based norms for the Peabody picture vocabulary test - revised

Abstract

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R is widely used in New Zealand in educational and clinical settings but so far no New Zealand norms for it have been developed. The present study is concerned with the development of such norms, for the five years and no months to nine years eleven months (5.0-9.11) age group. The PPVT-R was administered to 500 children in the Nelson area. The norms were calculated from the raw scores and compared with the U.S. data on this test. The results indicate that the Nelson sample did slightly better than those in the U.S. At ages 6.0 - 6.5, 7 - 7.11, and 8 - 8.11 this difference is significant. The issue of how generalisable the Nelson data are for the rest of New Zealand is discussed in relation to the Progress and Achievement Test scores of the pupils in Nelson schools. New Zealand norms have been developed for this test.