PEAK Pre-Assessments: Preliminary Evidence Establishing Internal Consistency and Construct Validity

Brandon K May; Lisa Flake

doi:10.1007/s40617-018-00318-1

PEAK Pre-Assessments: Preliminary Evidence Establishing Internal Consistency and Construct Validity

Behav Anal Pract. 2019 Jan 14;12(3):627-631. doi: 10.1007/s40617-018-00318-1. eCollection 2019 Sep.

Authors

Brandon K May¹, Lisa Flake¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, 4444 Forest Park Ave. Suite 2600, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA.

Abstract

Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge (PEAK) is a behavior-analytic tool that assesses and teaches language and cognitive abilities. PEAK preassessment total scores showed statistically significant correlations with measures of intelligence (r = .703, p = .023) and adaptive behavior (r = .618, p = .018), whereas no significant correlations were found between PEAK and age, autism diagnostic instruments, or aggression scales in a sample (N = 18) receiving behavior-analytic assessment in an autism clinic. Statistically significant correlations were found between all modules within the PEAK system (p ≤ .001). Results provide preliminary evidence of the construct validity and internal consistency of the PEAK preassessments.

Keywords: Autism; Construct validity; Language assessment; PEAK.