An Aspergers Ability Test is Needed

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Has anyone else noticed a problem with the existing set of Asperger tests that are available? I don't know about you, but I certainly noticed that the majority of the existing valid Aspergers tests are essentially self-assessments instead of ability tests. Basically, this introduces the possibility of self-assessment biases as the inherent subjectivity of it means one could misinterpret the meaning of a word, misinterpret the meaning of a question, misinterpret the events in their life, misinterpret the way they think and basically have quite a bit of room for misinterpretation. An ability test, on the other hand, would significantly reduce the subjectivity of it allowing for a "truer assessment" of ones possession of aspergian traits, regardless of whatever subjective biases they might possess about themselves.

So, to this end, I'm looking to create an aspergers ability test.

So, what kind of questions would an aspergers ability test likely have?

I noticed that in my previous study of the existing tests on the internet that could potentially be used for self-assessment, the most highly correlating test that had an "ability" component was the Emotional Intelligence Test from Queendom. This is telling me, possibly, that the emotional intelligence test questions on queendom.com might be suitable for an aspergers ability test -- of course, the results of the test questions' answers would be statistically analyzed to choose the questions that are most predictive of aspergers, and to retain the best questions in the final version of the test. What other kind of questions would be suitable for an ability test? We can cull or gather questions from any other tests on the internet for this project and so the more suggestions there are, the merrier!

Also, the test would have the required aspergers test questions, as well.

What kind of deficits are posited to exist in aspergers? Maybe we can think of types of test questions from these deficits, and search the internet for tests that have these kinds of questions and then "borrow" them.

I'm thinking of "social skills" tests.

And also "emotional intelligence" tests.

And also "empathy" tests.

And also "How cool are you?" tests.

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NORMING STRATEGY
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So, this is the "norming strategy" part of the proposed asperger ability test which is basically finding people to take the test in order to create an appropriate scoring rubric and to make the test as effective as possible at detecting aspergian traits meaning we need a known group of people with aspergers and a known group of neurotypicals to take it. I'm proposing that it would be branded as an "Aspergers test" on the Wrong Planet forums in order to get as many people who've been officially diagnosed with aspergers as possible for the "aspergers group". Then, on other forums on the internet, I would look for neurotypicals and brand it as an... "Emotional Intelligence Test" or "Social Skills Test" because there are many neurotypicals that are far more concerned about their social and emotional skills and abilities then whether or not they have aspergers. In order to control for the generally increased levels of introversion, social anxiety and IQ that one might expect of test takers online, the test would include questions used for testing for introversion, social anxiety and IQ. What other traits do you think an online test-taking population would likely possess that'd make them different from the 'general population'?

Anyway, that's the idea for now. Let me know what you think!

Last edited by swbluto on 28 Apr 2011, 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think a test to help determine where your strengths and weaknesses are in regards to work, socializing etc would be a great idea and could help a lot of people.

I am not trying to be rude, but perhaps this obsession with creating all of these tests and calculators is a sign of AS....

Lol, I was thinking the same thing. But, I figure if indulging in my obsessive nature makes me happy and the products of those obsessions help out others, it's a win-win situation, whether I have AS or not.

On the "It's probably not a sign of AS" side, though, there's a ton of people online that make quizzes/tests as a hobby. Of course, many of them just might happen to have AS!

I agree. Anyone can answer self assessment tests how they like. If they don't think they have AS their result would be that they probably don't have it. Not everyone can objectively answer a test about their behaviour no matter how hard they tried. People can also misinterpret questions.

I love those Queendom tests. My first EQ was 60 then it moved up to 80 two years after taking the first test.

This seems like a good idea.

That could help out a lot of people. That way, people could be put in the right jobs.

i'd suggest you get the tests nailed down first here with your built in audience (us!).. then worry about the marketing later. if the tests are really solid they won't need marketing.

A problem (or perhaps not) is that today AS is defined by behavioral traits, not by the reasons of the behavior; they are much teories about the underlying causes of autism/AS, and these theories propose diferent deficits.

- "Theory of Mind"

For these, the better will be the "Communication" questions of AQ (or what some factor analysis of AQ had indentified as the "Communication/Mindreading" factor), probably the "Emotional Inteligence" and the cognitive empathy questions of the "Empathy" tests

- Empathizing/Systemizeing
The same as above

- Weak Central Coherence

For this, probably these visual tests where you have to say if you see first the triangle or the square (a problem with these tests - if you know what the test is testing, you can "cheat" even unconsciously)

- Problems with Executive Function

A test like this

http://www.brainfitnesscentersofflorida.com/quiz.php

- Intense World

Not make any ideia how tis can be put on a test

I think the DISCO test for AS is supposed to have a practical element, they give you practical puzzles to solve etc........you're right that the usual tests are way too subjective and self-assessed....at least a test of various skills ought to prevent a few false negatives from people who are in denial, though it might not really help with the false positives, as people who are motivated to get the AS label could deliberately flunk the tests. I think the main hope for all this may come from brain scans.

I used to worry that my DX could be a false positive because I was aware of a motive for me to cheat - my employer was trying to push some pretty horrendous work onto me, and I saw the DX as my only way of escaping it. Luckily I started reading my old diaries, which contain many statements about classic Aspie traits in me.....and as I knew nothing about autism at the time of writing, I have no reason to suspect bias, so I trust what I said about myself back then, and I'm not worried about a false DX.

Thanks for the test suggestions! I'll have to take a look at them.

I'm really thinking that Queendom's questions would be *the* best 'objective' questions out there because of the high correlation that it showed with the official AQ test, but the copyright issues makes it seemingly dangerous to "borrow". If I were to directly copy the test data, it'd obviously be detectable by anyone who has taken queendom's test before, and they'd undoubtedly get wind of it and then there'd be a legal threat being sent my way. I wonder if there's a mechanism for hosting content on the internet anonymously, without legal risks or risks of "getting it shut down"?

The other option would be to gather a bunch of volunteers to recreate the pictures and to ask new questions that are similar, but that seems like it'd be a little difficult for me to organize the volunteers, lol. I suppose for $50, I could probably round up a rag-tag crew.

Until then, though, I think I'll just look for other test questions on the internet that seem to be "as good" as Queendom's.

Last edited by swbluto on 28 Apr 2011, 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Isn't the ADOS an ASD ability test? As in, takes objective measures of behaviors?

Looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_Dia ... n_Schedule , it appears it is! Too bad it requires a licensed examiner who charges $200+ per hour with a 2 hour minimum.

Last edited by swbluto on 28 Apr 2011, 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Um, I didn't pay that for mine. I wanted to be in a study, so they did it to see if I met their parameters. Or go to a university. Or insurance. Or... basically, there are ways around that price, a lot of times.

Look into the size of working set and short term memory, I believe they both may have a bearing, as well as executive function.

I remember taking an emotional intelligence test that tested ability. I did really poorly on it, despite trying.