Abstract
Analysis of difficulties of the McCarthy Scales ítems for different ages and socieconomic status. The purpose of the present study was to carry out the analysis of difficulty of the McCarthy Scales items for different ages and taking into account the socioeconomic status. With it, we wanted to detect those items which prolong the tests unnecessarily: those which discriminate through the ages and those which differenciate according to the socioeconomic status. The Scales were administered to 193 subjects, of whom 120 were mean age 4 y 6 mo. and 73 were mean age 7 a. 6 mo., corresponding to different socioeconomic status: upper-middle class and working class. The results show that the items of the subtests exhibit indexes of difficulty whose differences discriminate in a range of 63% between the 2 ages. 20% don't show differences because of case of the items and 11% because of difficulty of them. With regard to the discriminatory capacity between the different socioeconomic status, the results indicate that at 4 y, 6 m., 55% of the subtests don't discriminate and at 7 y. 6 mo. the range reaches 62%.
