Test performance and imprisonment
| DOI | 10.1177/000486586800100106 |
| Published date | 01 March 1968 |
| Author | David Biles |
| Date | 01 March 1968 |
Test performance and imprisonment
DAVID
BILES·
The
suitability
of
administering
a
battery
of
tests
to prisoners
very
soon
after
their
arrival
at
Pentridge
was
examined
by
retesting
agroup of 45
prisoners
at
later
stages
in
their
sentences.
For
four
out
of
the
five
tests
in
the
battery
it
was
found
that
retesting
resulted
in
improved
performance
which
was
significant
at
very
high
levels of probability,
and
it
was
found
that
this
improvement
was
not
related
to
the
length
of
time
between testings.
The
tendency
towards
improvement
ror
the
fifth
test
was
not
statistically
significant.
Attempts
to
relate-
the
improved
test
performance
to
other
variables
(age,
participation
in
education
programme
and
previous prison
experience) were
not
successful.
The
implications of
the
present
system
of
testing
at
Pentridge
are
discussed
in
the
light
of
these
findings.
THE need
for
an
investigation
into
the
relationship
between
test
per-
formance
and
imprisonment
was
suggested
by
the
fact
that
on
several
occasions
the
writer
(while
working
as
an
education
officer in
various
country
prisons)
had
noted
that
some
individual
prisoners
displayed ability
in academic
or
vocational
training
which
was
superior
to
that
suggested
by
the
test
results
recorded
in
the
case
history
files.
These
results
are
obtained
from
a
battery
of
tests
administered
in
the
Classification
Centre
at
Pentridge
to
newly
arrived
prisoners.
All
men
in
Victoria who
are
sentenced
to
serve twelve
months
or
more
in
prison,
or
who
are
given a
minimum/maximum
sentence,
or who
are
under
twenty
one
years
of age
are
individually considered by a classification
committee
which
decides
the
institution
and
particular
work
or
training
best
suited
to
the
prisoner. A
part
of
the
evidence available
to
this
committee
is
the
results
of
the
battery
of
tests
which
is
usually
administered
during
the
first
week of a
man's
imprisonment.
The
tests
given
in
the
Classification
Centre
are
all published by
the
A.C.E.R.
and
comprise
the
Otis
Higher
(Form
B),
the
revised
Minnesota
Paper
Form
Board
(Form
DA), Tool Knowledge, Mechanical Reasoning,
and
Speed
and
Accuracy.
The
results
of
these
tests
are
entered
in
the
case
history
file of
each
man
and
are
thus
available
when
decisions
regarding
education
and
training
have
to be
made
at
any
time
during
the
prisoner's
sentence.
This
investigation
was designed to
examine
the
suitability
of
administering
these
tests
on admission to prison, as
this
time
may
be
assumed
to be
one
of considerable
personal
crisis
for
the
individual
men
concerned.
The
general
aim
was to compare
the
test
results
obtained
*Former Education Officer at H.M. Prison Pentridge, Melbourne, now
lecturer
in Criminology
University of Melbourne. '
46
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