Familiar Figures Matching Test: what is it and how is it used?

This psychological assessment test is used to explore the cognitive style of boys and girls.

Impulsivity is a characteristic present in several disorders, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this article we will talk about the Familiar Figures Matching Test, a test to assess the cognitive style of children.a test to assess the reflexivity-impulsivity cognitive style in children and adolescents.

Kagan was the first to talk about the reflexivity-impulsivity style in 1965. The test is based on the errors made by the subject and the response latency (time it takes to respond). Let's know all its details and what it is used for.

Familiar Figures Matching Test: characteristics

The Matching Familiar Figures Test or MFFT (Matching Familiar Figures Test) was developed by E.D. Cairns and J. Cammock, although it was Kagan who first spoke in 1965 of the reflexivity-impulsivity cognitive style. The MFFT evaluates this style in children and adolescents.

The reflective-impulsive style is a continuum with two opposite poles at its extremes: reflexivity and impulsivity.. Between the two poles, the number of errors made by the subject will oscillate (ranging from imprecision to accuracy) as well as the response latencies (from fast to slow).

What does the test consist of?

The Familiar Figures Matching Test is a perceptual matching test. It consists of 12 items or trials.. Each one is characterized by the simultaneous presence of a familiar picture model for the child (e.g. glasses, bear,...) and six different options of this one.

The comparison stimuli are different from each other and from the model only in small details. Only one option is equal to the model. The subject must choose the one that is identical to the one in the drawing (he has six chances for each item). (he has six chances for each item). In case of error, the correct answer is indicated to the subject and he/she moves on to the next item.

What is recorded?

During the administration of the test, the following are recorded: the average response latency time and the accuracy of the answers (number of errors made). Thus, a short response latency pattern, together with a high error rate, is indicative of impulsivity..

Thus, the variables that serve to operationalize the reflexivity-impulsivity style are those mentioned above: the number of errors and response latency in tasks with uncertainty.

Technical characteristics

The scope of application of the test is children from 6 to 12 years old. It is of individual application, with a duration between 15 and 20 minutes.. It is divided into samples differentiated by sex and age. The material to be used is a notebook with the items, an annotation sheet, pencil and stopwatch.

Some authors question its reliability and the lack of adequate norms for adolescents. In addition to the original form, there is another longer one, with 20 items (MFFT 20), also developed by Cairns and Cammock.

Reflexivity-impulsivity style

As we have seen, the Familiar Figure Matching Test is intended to assess this cognitive style, defined by Kagan in the 1960s.

According to Kagan, this style refers to the characteristic way in which a child deals with tasks defined by uncertaintyThe answer to the question, that is, by the presence of several answer alternatives, one of which is the correct one. Let's see what each pole of this style consists of:

1. Reflective style

The person with a reflective style will spend more time answering and will make fewer errors..

2. Impulsive style

The impulsive style is characterized by a low response latency (they take little time to respond), and a high number of errors.

Types of subjects

On the other hand, according to Servera (1992), one third of the subjects that make up the sample used in reflexivity-impulsivity research are composed of two types of subjects (which also form opposite poles):

1. efficient subjects.

These are subjects who invest little time in the task and who make few errors.

2. Inefficient subjects

They spend a lot of time answering and still make many errors.

Areas explored

In addition to the cognitive styles discussed at a general level, at a more concrete level the Familiar Figures Matching Test explores visual pattern analysis and the subject's attention to detail, as well as the inhibition of impulsive responses.and the inhibition of impulsive responses.

Bibliographical references:

• Soprano, A. (2003). Assessment of executive functions in the child. Journal of Neurology, 37(1), 44-50.
• Cairns, E. and Cammock, J. (2005). Manual of the Familiar Figures Matching Test-20. Publications of Applied Psychology. TEA Ediciones: Madrid