This paper attempts to offer a realistic and viable statistical procedure (paired comparisons or PC method) of identifying potential learning disabilities via the ITPA battery. Such a procedure is predicated on a variation of R.A. Fisher's least-significant difference method, which employs multiple pairwise comparisons, and the PC method attempts to be more sensitive than the methodology proposed by Kirk and Elkins, which employs the absolute average deviation as the critical parameter. Essentially, the PC method used a probabilistic model to ascertain learning discrepancies.
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References
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Kirk, S., Elkins, J.: Identifying developmental discrepancies at the preschool level.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 1975, 8, 417–419.
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Pataskevopoulos, J., Kirk, S.: The Development and Psychometric Characteristics of the Revised Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1969.
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Winer, B.J.: Statistical Principles in Experimental Design. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1971, pp. 199–200.
