I find this statement in Wiki, regarding A.D.H.D.: “To be diagnosed with ADHD, symptoms must be observed in two different settings for six months or more and to a degree that is greater than other children of the same age”[Italics mine]. Given that settings and times change, to say nothing of society and children, this would seem to be a very precarious and unreliable measure. Who norms these instruments, who are the subjects, and how frequently are the standards evaluated?
What, no school psychs on the board? School’s out, you guys. Dig in.
Short answer is that 1) whomever owns that particular instrument, usually the researcher who created it, will update the normative standards as needed. Its pretty much on a case by case basis and some measures, once established, will later be normed for specific populations, 2) In order to achieve a high level of generalizibility, the norms wil be based on data compiled from the target population. If you know the particular measure that is being used, I can check on the last time the norms were established and what demographics of the sample.
I don’t know any specific instruments, but I imagine there are some that are widely used. Can you pick one that’s frequently used in, say, Chicago, and provide some information on the norming process?
I haven’t worked with children in years, so I haven’t kept up with the literature. But AFAIK there isn’t a specific measure for ADHD. The diagnostic criteria come from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the latest edition of which was released a few weeks ago. Off the top of my head, I think work on the new edition started in 1999.
As for ADHD, one of the requirements is the symptons cannot be better accounted for by another condition, such as depression, anxiety, etc. If you know a child who may have ADHD, the school psychologist should be trying to rule out other these other conditions, first before settling on a final diagnosis.
There are hundreds of psychological tests available and there’s a lot of resources available to find about them. The source that I use most often is the Mental Measurements Yearbook, which includes norming data. I can look up a few tests and tell you how they were normed, but it’ll take me a few days, since I’m trying to meet a project deadline next week.
Thank you, but you don’t need to do homework on my account. I will keep looking for the related information. However, I’m also leaning toward a belief that says that the observational instruments in common use are not sufficiently relevant or applicable to be valid, by virtue of the methodology of their standardization and norming.