The effects of verbal approval and disapproval upon the performance of third and fourth grade children on four subtests of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of three modes of test administration upon the performance of third and fourth grade boys and girls on four subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Ninety Ss were randomly assigned to three groups, two experimental and one control. Each of the three groups was subdivided to enable two examiners to administer the same treatment. The Approval group was given verbal approval after the first response in each subtest and between subtests. Verbal disapproval was given in the same sequence for the Disapproval group. The Neutral group received the standard test administration without any intended approval or disapproval. For both examiners the Approval group performed significantly higher (p < .05) than the Disapproval group; the Neutral group performed higher than the Disapproval group and lower than the Approval group, although the differences were slightly less than significant at the .05 level.