Discriminative Validity of the Motor-Free Visual Perceptual Test Revised in Children with and without Learning Disabilities

Children who encounter difficulties in the major childhood occupation of academic learning are often identified as having learning disabilities. The Motor-Free Test of Visual Perception Revised (MVPT-R) is a standardized assessment frequently used by occupational therapists to measure a child's visual perceptual skills that contribute to successful learning. Although the MVPT-R has been revised with additional normative data and test items, no validity studies using different populations have been reported. The present study investigated the ability of the MVPT-R to differentiate between children with learning disabilities and matched control children. Two groups of 38 children (7–10 years of age) were compared on their MVPT-R scores. Results of t-test analyses showed children with learning disabilities: 1) scored significantly lower on MVPT-R raw (p = 0.01), perceptual quotient (p = 0.005), and perceptual age (p = 0.02) scores, and 2) had a significantly greater percentage of children scoring below criterion cutoff than control children.