Frequently Asked Questions

What did past research on the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test reveal?

The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, now in its third edition (NNAT3) , has been shown to be a tool that can provide equity across race, ethnicity, and gender. In addition, several research papers have been published showing that males and females get remarkably similar scores on the NNAT. In addition, another publication written by Jack A. Naglieri and Donna Ford has found that similar proportions of Black, White, and Hispanic students earned scores high enough to be considered for gifted educational programs, which could address the problem of under-representation of Blacks and Hispanics. Although the NNAT is the third most widely used tool for the identification of gifted students, professionals in the field have also asked for verbal and quantitative tests which is why the Naglieri General Ability Tests were created. 

How were these tests developed?

Authors Jack A. Naglieri, PhD, Dina M. Brulles, PhD, and Kimberly Lansdowne, PhD developed tests that they thought would be equitable if they did three things. First, devise a way to show, rather than use verbal directions, students what they need to do to complete the test. Second, present test questions that could be solved in any language the student desires. Third, eliminate the need for students to answer the questions verbally by using the multiple-choice format. 

Is there any evidence that your goal of equitable assessment was achieved?

The answer is yes. Based on a research paper currently under review for publication entitled, “Achieving Equity: Race, Ethnic, Gender, and Parental Education Level Differences on Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative Naglieri General Ability Tests,” by Selvamenan, Paolozza, Solomon, Naglieri, and Schmidt (2020). This publication reported that there were little to no differences across race, ethnicity, gender, and parental education on the Verbal (N = 2,482), Nonverbal (N = 3,488), and Quantitative (N = 2,440) tests for public and private school students in K-12. The results support our expectation that the confounding impact of language and knowledge, particularly in the directions, test content, and response format, can be minimized to achieve an equitable way of assessing diverse populations of students for gifted educational programs.

Who is the publisher?

The Naglieri General Ability Tests is published by Multi-Health Systems Inc. (mhs.com). MHS is a leading publisher of scientifically validated measures for use in educational, clinical, corporate, public safety, government, military, and pharmaceutical settings. They have published Dr. Jack A. Naglieri's  Autism Spectrum Rating Scale, Comprehensive Executive Functional Inventory child/adolescent and adult versions, Rating Scale of Impairment, and the forthcoming Naglieri General Ability Tests: Verbal, Nonverbal, & Quantitative as well as the Kaufman Multidimensional Assessment of Creativity.

How can I learn more about this new product?

Webinars and handouts about The Naglieri General Ability Tests are available here at NaglieriGiftedTests.com under Webinars These resources describe why the tests were developed, the need that they address, what the items look like, how the tests can be used to identify a wide variety of gifted students and how to interpret the scores. 

What are some of the innovative aspects of these three tests?

The most innovative aspect of the Naglieri General Ability Tests is the way the authors have structured the interaction between the student and the test. 

For example, the authors asked the question, 

“How can we inform the student about the demands of the test without using oral or written directions?” 

The answer was to show the student what to do using an animated video of a ‘student’ in front of a computer. As the video plays, the avatar moves the mouse and the cursor moves accordingly. The video illustrates how to respond to the item and then how to advance to the next item. This format is used when the test is administered online and a four-frame pictorial version of the video is used when the test is administered on paper. 

Making the test questions for all three tests accessible regardless of what language the student speaks was accomplished by using pictures and diagrams to measure general ability within verbal, nonverbal, and quantitative contexts. 

To eliminate the need for the student to verbally explain the answers (as is typically done on traditional measures of IQ), the student selects a picture that indicates their response. These procedures allow students to solve the test questions regardless of what language(s) they know. 

What was the test modeled after?

This test was modeled after the neuropsychological work of A. R. Luria. The nonverbal test (Naglieri-NV; Naglieri, 2021) is like those published in the past, but with new kinds of items. The Naglieri-NV measures general ability using questions that require a student to carefully examine shapes presented in a matrix where sequences, spatial orientations, and other distinguishing characteristics must be analyzed to determine the answer. The Quantitative test that Jack A. Naglieri, PhD and Kimberly Lansdowne, PhD created (Naglieri-Q; Naglieri & Lansdowne, 2021) measures general ability using questions that require a student to closely examine the relationships among the numbers and/or symbols using basic math concepts. All three of these tests measure what is referred to as general ability, which is sometimes designated by the letter g.

How is this test administered? 

The Naglieri General Ability Tests are group or individually administered using online or paper formats (coming soon)  for students aged 4 to 18 years. The initial release will be based on local norms to identify students for gifted educational services using the Verbal, Nonverbal, & Quantitative versions of the Naglieri General Ability Tests (Naglieri, Brulles, & Lansdowne, 2021).