How to Administer Bayley Scales Inventory

The medical professionals who serve parents and their infants and toddlers often use the Bayley Scales Inventory to test for problems with normal development. After studying 1,700 children, Dr. Nancy Bayley designed a scale for assessing the developmental functioning between the ages of one month and 3½ years. The test helps identify development problems and disabilities early so appropriate interventions can be started. The test is intended to measure a child's level of development in five areas: mental, motor, language, social-emotional behavior and adaptive behavior. To properly use the tests and materials, the person doing the testing must be well-trained in the testing techniques and knowledgeable about child development in order to observe the child's responses and correctly interpret the results.

Instructions

• 1

  Prepare the test materials before starting any testing. Each of the test areas have age-related objects that will be shown or handed to the child. These objects include items such as a bank, a bear, a bracelet, a connecting block set, a lacing card, memory cards and a set of seven ducks. The reaction to these objects and answers to questions you pose to the toddlers are the data you use to measure their responses to the norms that the test has established. The mental development index, evaluates several types of abilities including sensory/perceptual acuity, discrimination, and response, memory learning and problem solving, the beginning of abstract thinking and mathematical concept formation. The motor index assesses the degree of body control, large muscle coordination, finer manipulation skills of the hands and fingers, dynamic movement and the ability to recognize objects by sense of touch.

• 2

  Prepare the parents and child for the examination. Before giving the test to a child, explain to the parents what will happen during the test procedure. You need to establish a focused rapport with the child once the procedure starts and avoid diverting your attention from the child to the parents during the test. To gain an accurate assessment of the infant or toddler's performance and to prevent negative reactions to separation, encourage at least one parent to remain in the room for the duration of the Bayley testing. You must warn the parent not to talk to the child, try to encourage her or interfere with the testing process so that standardization procedures are violated.

• 3

  Establish and maintain rapport with infants, toddlers and parents. Successful appraisal of a child's developmental functioning depends on your ability to do this. You should have completed relevant graduate-level training and specific training in administering the Bayley test procedures. Differences in administering the test depend on the age of the child. To be aware of the significance of those differences and to correctly assess the resulting data, you need extensive knowledge in child development. The testing procedure doesn't permit re-administering any part of the test, so you need to keep a constant focus on the child.