Factor Structure of the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills—Revised (TVPS-R)

BackgroundVisual perceptual skills of school-aged children are often assessed by occupational therapists using the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills—Revised (TVPS-R). Tests like the TVPS-R need to exhibit adequate construct validity and unidimensionality.ObjectiveThe purpose of the study was to evaluate the factor structure and unidimensionality of the TVPS-R and its seven subscales.MethodsThe visual perceptual performance scores from a sample of 356 normally developing children (171 boys and 185 girls) ranging in age from 5 to 11 years were used to complete a factor analysis with orthogonal Varimax rotation on the TVPS-R and its seven subscales.ResultsAll seven of the TVPS-R subscales exhibited multidimensionality instead of the expected unidimensionality. The TVPS-R composite scale exhibited multidimensionality as well.ConclusionsThe TVPS-R and its seven subscales are not unidimensional. The findings do not indicate that factor structure of the TVPS-R is a unitary measure of visual perceptual skills. Practitioners need to be cautious using the composite TVPS-R scale, calculated by summing the subscale perceptual quotients together, to evaluate the children's overall visual perceptual abilities.