Vineland Social Maturity Scale Report

Psychological Assessment

Bhakti Kataria 23223209

Department of Psychology, Christ University- Delhi NCR

Masters in Psychology (Counselling)

Dr. Saswati Bhattacharya

26th February 2024

 Vineland Social Maturity Scale

The Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) is a standardized test to assess an

individual's social maturity. The test was created by Edgar A. Doll in 1935. Doll was an

American psychologist known for his developmental psychology and intelligence testing work.

The primary purpose of the VSMS is to measure an individual's adaptive social behavior and

social competence. It was initially developed to assess children's social maturity, although it has

since been adapted for use with individuals across the lifespan.

In its early years, the VSMS was considered a valuable tool for evaluating social

development and maturity, providing insights into an individual's ability to function effectively

in various social situations. It was widely used in educational and clinical settings to identify

areas of strength and weakness in social skills. Over time, the field of psychology has evolved,

and new measures and assessments have been developed. While the VSMS was once a

prominent tool, its usage has declined in recent years, with more contemporary assessments

taking its place.

In the Indian context, the test was first used by Rev. Fr. Dr. A. J. Malin while working at

the Nagpur Child Guidance Center. In the context of mental retardation, the VSMS has

historically been employed to assess adaptive behavior in individuals with intellectual and

developmental disabilities. Adaptive behavior refers to the individual's ability to carry out

everyday activities necessary for personal and social sufficiency. This includes skills related to

communication, daily living, socialization, and motor abilities. In the present study, we are using

the Indian adaption of the test given by Dr. Bharat Raj.

Areas of social development

While the test measures social maturity it does so by looking into 8 areas of social development:

● Self-help skills: This area includes an evaluation of the individual's ability to perform

basic self-care tasks, such as dressing, feeding, and grooming.

● Communication skills: Communication skills encompass the individual's ability to

express themselves effectively through verbal and non-verbal means, including language

development, comprehension, and social communication.

● Occupational skills: Occupational skills pertain to an individual's capacity to engage in

age-appropriate activities and tasks, both at home and in community settings, reflecting

their independence and functional abilities.

● Locomotion skills: This area focuses on the person's mobility and movement abilities,

such as walking, running, and coordination of motor skills.

● Socialization skills: Socialization skills assess the individual's capacity to interact with

others, form relationships, and participate in social activities, reflecting their social

competence and interpersonal abilities.

● Emotional adjustment: Emotional adjustment involves evaluating the individual's

emotional well-being, coping mechanisms, and the ability to regulate emotions in various

social situations.

● Self-direction skills: Self-direction skills assess the person's ability to make independent

decisions, set goals, and manage their behavior in different contexts.

 ● Responsibility skills: Responsibility skills involve evaluating the individual's sense of

responsibility for themselves and others, as well as their ability to contribute to the

well-being of the family or community.

Demographic details

Name/Initials: R.G.

Age: 12

Sex: M

Domicile: Urban

Socioeconomic status: Middle class

Education: Passed till 5th grade, currently in 6th grade

Ethnicity: Indian

Languages: Hindi and English (basic)

Family size: 5 members (parents, grandfather, elder sister)

Administration

The test was administered in the presence of the child and his mother. It was a

semi-structured interview. The initial phase was rapport building with the kid and the parent, this

helped us to also gauge the kid’s ability to converse and describe themselves when asked basic

questions about their day. The kid under consideration is 12 years old. Hence the assessment was

taken for the age category of +3 and -3 of child’s chronological age. So we took from the age

level of 8 to 9 tears and went on till age level of 12 to 15 years. For every milestone that the kid

has achieved we added “+” for that category and for every item missed, we added a “-”. When
we found that a particular item was not portraying its complete absence or presence and there

were discrepancies, for the benefit of doubt we assigned a half credit for that item.

Precautions

● I ensured that the parent is aware of the purpose and aim of this test

● The room was well-facilitated with the necessities and privacy was maintained

● It was made sure that the answers given by the parent are crosschecked with the real-time

observation we had of the child in the room.

● They were informed about the gourd rules of withdrawal, expected time and disclosure of

results.

Scoring

Chronological age: 12 years or 144 months

Social age: 172.8 months

Social Quotient: 172.8/144 *100= 120

Scores of individual categories:

Code Value

SHG 88

SHE 112

SHD 156

SD 168

OCC 144

COM 156
LOC 112

SOC 168

Social functioning scatter plot

Interpretation

SQ Range Category

Greater than 100 Above Average

100 Appropriate
70 - 99 Below Average
50 - 69 Mild
35 - 49 Moderate
20 - 34 Severe
Below 20 Profound

As per the scoring, the child has a social quotient of 120. Hence the kid falls under the

category of above-average child. Their social age is 172.8 months and their chronological age of

144 months or 12 years. At the same time under individual categories as well, the child has

scored the highest possible in each category, with the exception of just being in the category of
Occupational skills. So we can categorize the child’s social maturity to being appropriate to their

age.

Discussion

While the index child is 12 years old, as per their social maturity they fall under the

category of 12 to 15 years. Looking at the domain-specific items, we see that for self-help

general the child has attained the highest level being attained at age 7, where they can perform

tasks like understanding time and can use the toilet by themselves. Under the category of

self-help eating as well, they attained the highest item that feels at the age category of 10 and

they can independently perform tasks like serving meals to themselves and eating independently

without help. For the domain of Self-help dressing as well the child has attained the highest item

where they can bath themselves unaided and dress themselves up as well. For the domain of

Self-direction as well the child attained all items and can perform tasks like choosing clothes to

buy for themselves and can be left to care for themselves and others. Under Occupational skills,

they had fallen short by one item where they are capable of doing small remunerative work but

unable to indulge in regular responsible chores. Under communication skills, they can

understand what they read and answer in a comprehensible way. For their movement skills, the

child is capable of going around a place freely and reaching school unattended. Lastly, for

socialization skills as well the kid attained the highest item on the list they can engage in

adolescent group activities like being a part of a club or a hobby group.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, we see that the index child into consideration had attained the social

maturity level at par with their chronological age, their social quotient score showed that they

performed above average on the scale. At the same time they attained the highest item on 7 out
of 8 domains and in the 8th domain as well, the child just fell short by an item. Hence, we can

conclude that the child is developing on the right path at the right pace. The parents can stay

consistent with their current practices and activities.