Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R)

Assessments
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised (PPVT-R)
Created variables
PPVTyyyy. PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST-REVISED FORM L (PPVT): TOTAL RAW SCORE
PPVTZyyyy. PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST-REVISED FORM L (PPVT): TOTAL STANDARD SCORE
PPVTPyyyy. PEABODY PICTURE VOCABULARY TEST-REVISED FORM L (PPVT): TOTAL PERCENTILE SCORE
PPV_ERRORyyyy. PPVT: TOTAL # OF ERRORS BETWEEN BASAL AND CEILING (available 2000 - current survey round)
PPV_BASALyyyy. PPVT: FINAL BASAL (available 2000 - current survey round)
PPVTMOyyyy. PPVT AGE OF CHILD (IN MONTHS) AT CHILD ASSESSMENT DATE
The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, revised edition (PPVT-R) "measures an individual's receptive (hearing) vocabulary for Standard American English and provides, at the same time, a quick estimate of verbal ability or scholastic aptitude" (Dunn and Dunn, 1981). The PPVT was designed for use with individuals aged 2½ to 40 years. The English language version of the PPVT-R consists of 175 vocabulary items of generally increasing difficulty. The child listens to a word uttered by the interviewer and then selects one of four pictures that best describes the word's meaning. The PPVT-R has been administered, with some exceptions, to NLSY79 children between the ages of 3-18 years of age until 1994, when children 15 and older moved into the Young Adult survey. In the current survey round, the PPVT was administered to children aged 4-5 and 10-11 years of age, as well as to some children with no previous valid PPVT score.
Description of the PPVT
The PPVT-R consists of 175 stimulus words and 175 corresponding image plates. Each image plate contains 4 black-and-white drawings, one of which best represents the meaning of the corresponding stimulus word. There are also 5 training words and image plates. Readers who wish to examine more than a single example of the actual images (or "plates") presented to the child, should access the PPVT-R Manual and materials (Dunn and Dunn, 1981) or contact NLS User Services. There are two parallel forms of the PPVT-R; Form "L" has been used by the NLSY79 Child at all assessment rounds. PPVT items are numbered in order of increasing difficulty.
In 1986, the PPVT assessment was administered only in English. A Spanish version of the PPVT-R, the Test de Vocabulario en Imagenes Peabody or "TVIP," was introduced into the child survey in 1988 and used through the 2000 survey round for a small number of children who preferred to answer the Spanish version. For this reason, post-1986 assessment results may be less culturally biased than the 1986 version. After 2000, the Spanish version of the PPVT was no longer administered.
Administration of the PPVT
Prior to 2000, the child viewed the images on the PPVT easel. Starting in 2000 the interviewer read from a laminated PPVT word list while the child matched the word by selecting one of four on-screen images designed to reproduce the pictures from the original PPVT easel.
Five training items are administered at the beginning of the PPVT assessment in order to familiarize children with the task. The first item, or starting point, is determined based on the child's PPVT age. Starting at an age-specific level of difficulty is intended to reduce the number of items that are too easy or too difficult, in order to minimize boredom or frustration. The suggested starting points for each age can be found in the PPVT manual (Dunn and Dunn, 1981).
Testing begins with the starting point and proceeds forward until the child makes an incorrect response. If the child has made 8 or more correct responses before the first error, a "basal" is established. The basal is defined as the last item in the highest series of 8 consecutive correct answers. Once the basal is established, testing proceeds forwards, until the child makes six errors in eight consecutive items. If, however, the child gives an incorrect response before 8 consecutive correct answers have been made, testing proceeds backwards, beginning at the item just before the starting point, until 8 consecutive correct responses have been made. If a child does not make eight consecutive responses even after administering all of the items, he or she is given a basal of one. If a child has more than one series of 8 consecutive correct answers, the highest basal is used to compute the raw score.
A "ceiling" is established when a child incorrectly identifies six of eight consecutive items. The ceiling is defined as the last item in the lowest series of eight consecutive items with six incorrect responses. If more than one ceiling is identified, the lowest ceiling is used to compute the raw score. The assessment is complete once both a basal and a ceiling have been established. The ceiling is set to 175 if the child never makes six errors in eight consecutive items.
Scoring the PPVT
A child's raw score is the number of correct answers below the ceiling. Note that all answers below the highest basal are counted as correct, even if the child answered some of these items incorrectly. The raw score can be calculated by subtracting the number of errors between the highest basal and lowest ceiling from the item number of the lowest ceiling.
As with PIAT Math and Reading Comprehension, it was possible, primarily in the pre-CAPI years, to improve the overall quality and completion level by utilizing information on the actual responses where "correct-wrong" check items had inadvertently been skipped by the interviewer. For a precise statement of the scoring protocol and the norm derivations, the user should consult the PPVT-R Manual (Dunn and Dunn, 1981, pp. 96-110, 126).
Age Eligibility for the PPVT
Variations in the patterns of administration are somewhat complex for this assessment so the user is encouraged to examine Table 4 in the Child Assessments--Introduction section in order to understand which samples of children took this test over the various survey years.
Users are reminded that the eligibility of children for the PIAT and PPVT-R assessments is based on their "PPVT age," which can differ from their calendar age (in months). In creating the PPVT age in months, a child's age is rounded up to the next month if he or she is more than 15 days through a given attained month as of the survey date. When working with the PPVT-R or PIAT assessments, the "PPVT age" variable (PPVTMOyyyy) should be used.
In 1986, all children age three and over were given this assessment. In 1988, all ten- and eleven-year-olds (our "index" population) as well as other children age three and over who had not previously completed the assessment in 1986 were given this assessment. In 1990, all children age ten and eleven as well as all other children age four and over who had not previously completed the assessment were eligible for the PPVT-R assessment. In the 1992 survey round, all children age three and over were eligible to be assessed. Thus, there are at least two survey points (1986 and 1992) in which all age-eligible children who were still being interviewed had a PPVT-R score. Of course, many of these children may also have had an intervening (at age 10 or 11) PPVT-R score. Starting in 1998, the administration of the PPVT-R was largely limited to 4- and 5-year-old children who had not been previously administered the test as well as the index group of children 10-11 years old. In 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2012, a small number of children outside of the age range for PPVT assessment but who did not have prior valid scores were administered the PPVT.
Norms for the PPVT
The PPVT-R was standardized on a nationally representative sample of children and youth. The norming sample included 4,200 children in 1979, and norms development took place in 1980 (Dunn and Dunn, 1981). For a comprehensive discussion of this norming procedure, researchers should refer to the PPVT-R Manual for Forms L and M (Dunn and Dunn, 1981). Age-specific standard scores (with a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15) and corresponding percentile ranks are provided in the PPVT-R Manual.
Beginning in 1990, the procedure used to create the NLSY79 Child PPVT-R normed scores was refined in two important ways. First, children with raw scores that translated into standard scores between 20 and 39 are now normed using the PPVT-R Supplementary Norms Tables (American Guidance Service, 1981). Second, raw scores that would translate to normed standard scores above the maximum provided are assigned standard scores of 160, and raw scores translating to standard scores below the minimum are now assigned standard scores of 20. Prior to 1990, children with these scores were assigned a standard score of zero. The revised 1986-1988 normed scores are available in the current public data release.
Users may note one important distinction between the PPVT-R and PIAT scores--a difference of particular interest to those who plan to use both assessments concurrently. Whereas the PIAT assessments show relatively high mean scores (see discussions of the PIAT in the PIAT Math and Reading sections of this users guide), the PPVT-R mean scores are more comparable to those of the norming sample.
Completion rates for the PPVT
Table 6 in the Child Assessments--Introduction section contains the completion rate for the PPVT in the current survey round.
Validity and Reliability of the PPVT
The PPVT-R is among the best-established indicators of verbal intelligence and scholastic aptitude across childhood. It is among the most frequently cited tests in Mitchell's (1983) "Tests in Print." Numerous studies have replicated the reliability estimates from the PPVT standardization sample. The NLSY Child Handbook: 1986-1990 synthesizes much of this work. This report also provides cross-year (1986-1990) reliability and validity evaluation using the NLSY79 Child data. The NLSY Children, 1992: Description and Evaluation contains an evaluation of the quality issues for the 1992 PPVT-R sample, which included the full spectrum of children age three and over. These analyses show strong associations between a full range of social and demographic priors and 1992 PPVT-R scores. The report also documents strong independent linkages between PPVT-R scores in 1986 and PPVT, PIAT Reading and Mathematics, and SPPC scores in 1992. Typically, stronger associations are found for white and Hispanic than for black children. Both of these documents are available on the Research/Technical Reports page.
Age and Racial Differences on the PPVT
The youngest children administered this test historically scored the poorest, probably reflecting their unfamiliarity with a testing environment. Their lower scores did not reflect lower status as these younger children have parents with more education than do the older children.
More than for any of the other assessments, substantial racial and ethnic variations exist for the PPVT, and these variations remain in multivariate analyses even with demographic and socio-economic controls. The reader is referred to The NLSY Children, 1992: Description and Evaluation for a more comprehensive evaluation of racial, ethnic, and socio-economic differentials in PPVT-R scores using the 1992 NLSY79 data which included PPVT-R assessment scores for all children age 3 years and over. This document is available on the Research/Technical Reports page.
PPVT Scores in the Database
Three types of PPVT scores are provided for each child: a raw score, a standard score, and a percentile score. Documentation of the PPVT scores for the current survey can be found in Table 1 in the Child Assessments--Introduction section.
Areas of Interest | ASSESSMENT [scores] ASSESSMENT ITEMS CHILD SUPPLEMENT [PPVT items] CHILD BACKGROUND [PPVT age] |
Cohorts
- NLSY97
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- I. Employment, Unemployment, and Job Search (age restrictions as of interview date)
- II. Schooling (age restrictions as of 12/31/96)
- III. Training (age restrictions as of interview date)
- IV. Income, Assets, and Program Participation
- V. Family Formation (age restrictions as of end of previous calendar year--12/31/96 in rd 1, 12/31/97 in rd 2, and so on)
- VI. Family Background (age restrictions as of 12/31/1996)
- VII. Expectations
- VIII. Attitudes, Behaviors, and Time Use
- IX. Health (age restrictions as of 12/31/96)
- X. Political Participation
- XI. Environmental Variables (in main data set)
- Education
- Employment
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- Asterisk Tables
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Introduction to the NLSY97 Created Variable Appendices
- Appendix 1: Education Variable Creation
- Enrollment Status and Highest Grade/Degree - Appendix 1
- Date Received Diploma or Degree - Appendix 1
- Number of Grades Repeated or Skipped - Appendix 1
- Number of Schools Attended - Appendix 1
- Credits Earned toward Bachelor's/Associate's Degree - Appendix 1
- Date Left High School and Highest High School Grade - Appendix 1
- Private or Parochial School - Appendix 1
- SAT/ACT Scores - Appendix 1
- Training: Receipt of Certificate or Vocational License - Appendix 1
- Appendix 2: Employment Variable Creation
- Appendix 3: Family Background and Formation
- Household Size as of Survey Date - Appendix 3
- Marital Status and Marital/Cohabitation History - Appendix 3
- Fertility and Child Status - Appendix 3
- Number of Residences since Age 12 - Appendix 3
- Current Citizenship Status - Appendix 3
- Mother's Age at First Birth/Respondent's Birth
- Relationship to Household Parent Figures (Round 1 Parent Interview) - Appendix 3
- Relationship to Household Parent Figures (Rounds 7-9 Childhood Retrospective) - Appendix 3
- Relationship to Household Parent Figures (Interview Date) - Appendix 3
- Appendix 4: Geographic Variable Creation
- Appendix 5: Income and Assets Variable Creation
- Appendix 6: Event History Creation and Documentation
- Appendix 7: Continuous Month Scheme and Crosswalk
- Appendix 8: Instrument Rosters
- Appendix 9: Family Process and Adolescent Outcome Measures
- Appendix 10: CAT-ASVAB Scores
- Appendix 11: Collection of the Transcript Data (High School)
- Appendix 12: Post-Secondary Transcript Study
- Attachment 1: Census Industrial & Occupational Classification Codes
- Geocode Codebook Supplement
- Introduction to NLSY97 Geocode Data
- Attachment 100: Census Bureau State and County Codes
- Attachment 101: Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)/Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) Codes
- Attachment 102: IPEDS Data and College Identification Codes
- Attachment 103: Migration Distance Variables for Respondent Locations
- Attachment 104: Codebook Pages for Geocode and Zipcode Variables
- Questionnaires
- Errata
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 17 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 16 Release
- Addendum: Additional NLSY97 Speech & Post-Secondary Variables Available
- Addendum: NLSY97 Post-Secondary Data and Transcript Data Files Now Available
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 15 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 14 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 13 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 12 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 11 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 10 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 9 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 8 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 7 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 6 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 5 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 4 Release
- Errata for NLSY97 Round 3 Release
- Tutorials
- Technical Sampling Report
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- Topical Guide to the Data
- NLSY79
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Asterisk Tables
- Education
- Employment
- Employment: An Introduction
- Work Experience
- Jobs & Employers
- Class of Worker
- Discrimination
- Fringe Benefits
- Industries
- Job Characteristics Index
- Job Satisfaction
- Job Search
- Labor Force Status
- Military
- Occupations
- Time & Tenure with Employers
- Wages
- Work History Data
- Employer History Roster
- Business Ownership
- Retirement
- Household, Geography & Contextual Variables
- Family Background
- Marital History, Childcare & Fertility
- Income
- Health
- Attitudes
- Crime & Substance Use
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- NLSY79 Attachment 3: Industrial and Occupational Classification Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 4: Fields of Study in College
- NLSY79 Attachment 5: Index of Labor Unions and Employee Associations
- NLSY79 Attachment 6: Other Kinds of Training Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 7: Other Certificate Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 8: Health Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 100: Geographic Regions
- NLSY79 Attachment 101: Country Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 102: Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)
- NLSY79 Attachment 103: Religion Codes
- NLSY79 Attachment 106: Profiles of American Youth (ASVAB Data/AFQT Scores)
- NLSY79 Appendix 1: Employment Status Recode Variables (1979-1998 and 2006)
- NLSY79 Appendix 2: Total Net Family Income Variable Creation (1979-2014)
- NLSY79 Appendix 3: Job Satisfaction Measures
- NLSY79 Appendix 4: Job Characteristics Index 1979-1982
- NLSY79 Appendix 5: Supplemental Fertility and Relationship Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 6: Urban-Rural and SMSA-Central City Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 7: Unemployment Rate
- NLSY79 Appendix 8: Highest Grade Completed & Enrollment Status Variable Creation
- NLSY79 Appendix 9: Linking Employers Through Survey Years
- NLSY79 Appendix 11: Round 12 (1990) Survey Administration Methods
- NLSY79 Appendix 12: Most Important Job Learning Activities (1993-94)
- NLSY79 Appendix 13: Intro to CAPI Questionnaires and Codebooks
- NLSY79 Appendix 14: Instrument Rosters
- NLSY79 Appendix 15: Recipiency Event Histories
- NLSY79 Appendix 16: 1994 Recall Experiment
- NLSY79 Appendix 17: Interviewer Characteristics Data
- NLSY79 Appendix 18: Work History Data
- NLSY79 Appendix 19: SF-12 Health Scale Scoring
- NLSY79 Appendix 20: Round 20 (2002) Early Bird and Income Recall Experiments
- NLSY79 Appendix 21: Attitudinal Scales
- NLSY79 Appendix 22: Migration Distance Variables for Respondent Locations
- NLSY79 Appendix 23: Revised Asset and Debt Variables and Computed Net Worth Variables
- NLSY79 Appendix 24: Reanalysis of the 1980 AFQT Data from the NLSY79
- NLSY79 Appendix 25: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale
- NLSY79 Appendix 26: Non-Response to Financial Questions and Entry Points
- NLSY79 Appendix 27: IRT Item Parameter Estimates, Scores and Standard Errors
- NLSY79 Appendix 28: NLSY79 Employer History Roster
- Geocode Codebook Supplement
- Appendix 7: Unemployment Rates
- Appendix 10: Geocode Documentation
- Attachment 100: Geographic Regions
- Attachment 101: Country Codes
- Attachment 102: State FIPS Codes
- Attachment 104, Part A: 1981 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part B: 1983 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part C: 1983 Consolidated MSAs and Associated Primary MSAs (CMSAs and PMSAs)
- Attachment 104, Part D: 1983 PMSAs and Associated CMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part E: 1988 MSAs, CMSAs, and Associated PMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part F: 2004 MSAs, CMSAs, and Associated PMSAs
- Attachment 104, Part G: 2006 Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs)
- Attachment 105: Addendum to FICE Codes
- Attachment 106: Codebook Pages for Geocode and Zipcode Variables
- Questionnaires
- Tutorials
- Errata
- Technical Sampling Report
- School & Transcript Surveys Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- Topical Guide to the Data
- NLSY79 Child/YA
- Topical Guide to the Data
- Intro to the Sample
- Using & Understanding the Data
- Other Documentation
- Codebook Supplement
- Appendix A: HOME-SF Scales (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix B: Composition of the Temperament Scales (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix C: Motor & Social Development (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix D: Behavior Problems Index (NLSY79 Child)
- Appendix D, Part 1: Composition of the BPI subscales
- Appendix D, Part 2a: BPI Anxious/Depressed Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2b: BPI Antisocial Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2c: BPI Dependent Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2d: BPI Headstrong Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2e: BPI Hyperactive Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2f: BPI Peer Conflicts/Withdrawn Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 2g: BPI Full Scale
- Appendix D, Part 3a: BPI Internalizing Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 3b: BPI Externalizing Subscale
- Appendix D, Part 3c: BPI Total Scores
- Appendix E: Sample SPSSx Program for Merging NLSY79 Child/YA & Mother Files
- Appendix F: Sample SAS Program for Merging NLSY79 Child/YA & Mother Files
- Appendix G: NLSY79 Child Assessment Scores, Reference Numbers (2010-2014)
- Appendix H: Identification Codes in the Child and Young Adult Database
- Attachment 100: Codebook Pages for Young Adult Geocode Data
- Questionnaires
- Errata
- Errata for 2014 Child/Young Adult Release
- Data Addition: New Work and School Status Variables Created
- Errata for 2012 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2010 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2008 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2006 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2004 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2002 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for 2000 Child/Young Adult Release
- Errata for NLSY79 Child Interview Dates 1986-1992
- Research/Technical Reports
- Codebook Supplement
- Get Data
- NLS Mature and Young Women
- NLS Older and Young Men