Factor structure of shortened Children's Embedded Figures Test for different age groups

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Cognitive Development

Background:

• The Children's Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) is a tool used to assess field independence.
• Understanding the psychometric properties of the CEFT is crucial for its accurate application in research and clinical settings.
• Previous analyses have utilized the full scale, but examination of shortened versions is valuable for efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factor structure of a shortened version of the Children's Embedded Figures Test (CEFT).
• To determine the stability of factor loadings across different sample divisions (total, sex, grade).
• To compare the factor analysis results of the shortened CEFT with previous findings using the total scale.

Main Methods:

• Administered the full Children's Embedded Figures Test to 240 children in Grades K-4.
• Conducted factor analysis on a shortened version of the CEFT using various sample stratifications.
• Examined factor loadings for a randomly divided sample, samples divided by sex, and grade groupings.

Main Results:

• Stable factors were identified for the total sample of children.
• Factor analysis yielded stable results when the sample was divided by sex.
• The factor structure of the shortened CEFT was consistent with prior analyses of the full scale.

Conclusions:

• The shortened Children's Embedded Figures Test demonstrates a stable factor structure.
• The test's underlying factors are consistent across the total sample and when stratified by sex.
• These findings support the validity and potential efficiency of using a shortened CEFT in psychological assessments.