McCarthy Scales Of Children’s Ability

McCarthy Scales Of Children's Ability (MCAS)

The McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities was intended to measure children from ages 2 to 8. The scale is very sound. The test produces both a pattern of scores as well as a variety of composite scores, which is a plus. This allows analyzing of both individual sections as well as the overall test. In fact, the concept of combining various subtests to form a composite score is such an important idea that it has become one of the main features in the 2003 fifth edition of the Stanford-Binet scale.

The essence of the test is based on a wide variety of functions that have been long held to be related to human intelligence. There are 18 tests in the battery that sample these different functions, 15 of which are combined into a composite score which is known as the general cognitive index (CGI).

The McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities breaks down into two main sub-parts.

General Cognitive Index (CGI)

Verbal Scale: Pictorial Memory, Word Knowledge, Verbal Memory I, Verbal Memory II, Verbal Fluency, Opposite Analogies.

Perceptual-performance: Block Building, Puzzle Solving, Tapping Sequence, Right-Left, Orientation, Draw-a-design, Draw-a-child, Conceptual Grouping.

Quantitative: Number Questions, Numerical Memory I, Numerical Memory II, Counting and Sorting

Additional Scales

Memory: Pictorial Memory, Tapping Sequence, Verbal Memory I and II, Numerical Memory I and II
Motor: Leg Coordination, Arm Coordination, Imitative Action, Draw-a-design.