Bender performance and socioeconomic status in Mexican children: a cross-cultural study

Normative data are presented for Bender test performance, following the system of Koppitz, of 695 Mexican students between 5.0 and 12.1 yr. old (M = 8.7, SD = 2.01) and belonging to different socioeconomic status. The data are compared with the normative group of U.S. students used by Koppitz and with a representative sample of children from Barcelona, Spain. The results indicate that the total number of Bender errors decreased with increasing age of the children and that significant differences existed with respect to socioeconomic status. The comparison of these data with U.S. and Spanish children shows significant differences in all age groups, with the Mexican children scoring lowest. Differences in quality of schooling and in other aspects of education could explain the variability in Bender test performance.