GAMAT (General Ability Measure for Adults)
Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D.
George Mason University
Achilles N. Bardos, Ph.D.
University of Northern Colorado
(1997)
The General Ability Measure for Adults (GAMA) test is a brief, self-administered, nonverbal measure of intelligence that was normed on a census-based sample of 2,360 adults. The GAMA IQ score provides an estimate of an individual's general intellectual ability, can be administered in a variety of settings and may be especially useful in situations that requires an assessment of general ability using nonverbal means. It is designed to be accessible to a wide variety of people with diverse cultural, language, and educational backgrounds and is most appropriate when: a quick estimate of general cognitive ability is needed; an individual speaks English as a second language or reads at a low level; for neuropsychological and forensic evaluations; in counseling and psychotherapy settings to help choose interventions that match a client's intellectua ability and for large-scale assessment, e.g. with prison or military populations
The GAMA test uses four types of test items and subscales:
Matching: Requires examination of the shapes and colors of stimulus to determine which response option is identical.
Sequences: Requires the analysis of the interrelationships of designs as they move through space.
Analogies: Involves the discovery of the relationships in a pair of abstract figures and the recognition of similar conceptual relationships in a different pair of figures.
Construction: Involves the analysis, synthesis, and rotation of spatial designs to construct a new figure.
Click here to download a Powerpoint with lecture notes on the GAMA.