A Review of the Bender Gestalt Test as a Screening Instrument for Brain Damage With School-Aged Children of Normal Intelligence Since 1970

Abstract

The authors review recent literature regarding the effectiveness of the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test in screening for brain damage in school-aged children of normal intelligence who display learning problems. Problems with research of this type and various administrations and scoring methods are discussed. All methods reviewed significantly discriminate between groups of brain-damaged and unimpaired children. No method, however, provides successful predictive rates high enough to warrant the use of the Bender as the sole diagnostic instrument in individual cases.