Description: The Mullen Scales
assess the cognitive functioning of young children from birth
to 68 months. The assessment is based on the child’s
responses to activities prepared by the examiner. Believing
that a global intellectual performance measure may mask uneven
cognitive development, the Mullen Scales measure five distinct
skills, Gross Motor and four “cognitive” skills—Fine
Motor, Visual Reception, Receptive Language, and Expressive
Language. The gross motor scale is administered to children
from birth to 33 months and the four “cognitive”
scales are administered to children from birth to 68 months.
The “cognitive” scores can be summarized into
an Early Learning Composite (ELC) score.
Uses of Information: Mullen
scale scores can be used to identify children with special
education needs who are eligible for further evaluation. The
normative scores can also provide an objective means to identify
weaknesses and strengths that underlie a child’s learning
style for the purpose of designing individualized instructional
plans that capitalize on the child’s strengths.
Reliability: (1) Internal consistency
reliability: the median internal consistency split-half coefficients
(Guilford’s formula) for the five Mullen scales range
from .75 to .83 and for the composite, .91. (2) Test-retest
reliability (with a 1- to 2-week interval between tests):
for the Gross Motor Scale of the original Mullen scales, the
correlation between tests was .96, and the median correlations
on the “cognitive” scale were .84 (with a range
of .82 to .85) for children ages 1 to 24 months and .76 (with
a range of .71 to .79) for children ages 25 to 56 months.
(3) Inter-rater reliability: correlations among raters ranged
from .91 to .99 for age groups between 1 and 44 months.
Validity: (1) Concurrent validity:
tests showed the Mullen scales to have stronger correlations
with instruments that measured similar skills than those measuring
different skills. The correlations of the Mullen ”cognitive”
scales with the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI) were
higher (.53 to .59) than their correlations with the Bayley
Psychomotor Development Index (PDI; .21 to .52). The ELC also
was more strongly correlated with the MDI (.70) than with
the PDI (.43). Conversely, the Mullen Gross Motor scale was
more strongly correlated with the Bayley PDI (.76) than with
the MDI (.30). Similarly, the Mullen Receptive Language scale
had a higher correlation with the Preschool Language Assessment
Auditory Comprehension (.85) than with Verbal Ability (.72),
while the converse was true with the Mullen Expressive Language
Scale (.72 for auditory and .80 for verbal). Finally, the
Mullen Fine Motor scale was strongly correlated with the Peabody
Fine Motor Scale, across four age groups of children between
the ages of 6 and 36 months (correlations ranged from .65
to .82). (2) Predictive validity: no information available.
Method of Scoring: The Item
Administration Book provides instructions for scoring the
items on the scales. Scoring is done on a record form containing
a list of tasks or stimuli of possible responses for each
assessment item. In most cases, the child receives a “1”
for correct responses and “0” for incorrect responses.
In some cases, the tester must sum the task scores to obtain
the item scores. There are also cases where the item score
can range from anywhere between 0 and 5. Scoring software
(ASSIST) is available for purchase.
Interpretability: The raw scores
for each scale can be converted into age-adjusted normalized
scores. The four “cognitive” skills T score can
be further converted into a normalized ELC score, which has
a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. In addition,
the scores can be used obtain the child’s percentile
rank and age equivalent score, the age at which the child’s
raw score is the median score. The manual provides instructions
for interpreting these scores, taking into account variables
that may influence them. The ASSIST software program converts
raw scores into the normalized scores and provides interpretative
information.
Training Support: A training
videotape can be purchased for $104.95.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for
Individuals with Disabilities: None.
Report Preparation Support:
The manual provides three case studies as examples of how
the Mullen Scales can be used and reported. The Mullen ASSIST
computer software program provides an optional narrative report.
References:
Mullen, Eileen M. Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Circle
Pines, MN: American Guidance Services, Inc., 1995.
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