Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The Rapid Assessment of Problem Solving (RAPS) was created by Dr. Robert Marshall in order to assess an individuals’ problem solving abilities. This assessment is set up like the popular twenty-questions game and is used to assess adults with cognitive impairments. An administrator chooses a picture from a board of thirty-two pictures and the subject must ask yes or no questions in order to guess the target picture in as few questions as possible. Analysis assesses integration planning scores, question asking efficiency scores, and question types to determine a level of problem solving abilities.

Smith and Jones (2018) used the original RAPS to assess problem solving skills in neurotypical children and discovered many limitations such as the inability of children to recognize the pictures used and the number of pictures they were able to integrate. Perdew (2019) created a modified version of the RAPS called the Rapid Assessment of Problem Solving for Kids (RAPS-K) that addressed these limitations, in hopes it would be more valid and reliable when used with the child population. The RAPS-K consists of twelve total boards of varying sizes that fit into three levels of difficulty.

This capstone project aims to analyze data gathered through the piloting of the RAPS-K on neurotypical kids. From this research, any limitations of the new boards or of the original scoring system when used in conjunction with the new boards will be identified and modified for future use. Additionally, a protocol and administration manual will be created in order to make administration more uniform and valid.

Advisor(s) or Committee Chair

Janice Smith, Ph.D., CCC/SLP

Disciplines

Communication Sciences and Disorders | Education | Speech Pathology and Audiology

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