Perceptual-Motor Attributes of Mental Retardates: A Factor Analytic Study

Abstract

19 items of the Purdue Perceptual-motor Survey were administered to 99 mentally retarded children and young adults of mean IQ 52.3. Factor analyses of the item scores of the total sample, and of a subgroup of 66 non-mongoloid Ss, led to the definition of 7 factors: A, postural dimensionality; B, shoulder-arm movement factor; C, laterality; D, ocular control; E, intelligence; F, developmental factor; and G, possibly cultural sex bias factor. Similar factor structures emerged for the total sample, and for the non-mongoloid subgroup, with the exception of Factor E, intelligence. The results generally agree with previous correlational analyses of comparable samples and tend to support the construct validity of the Purdue Perceptual-motor Survey methodology as applied to the mentally retarded.