The Primary Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (PTONI) is a standardized test designed to assess the nonverbal reasoning abilities of young children. The test is appropriate for children ages 3 to 9 years old. It is appropriate for use with culturally and ethnically diverse populations and is unbiased, quick, accurate, and cost-efficient. The test takes approximately 5 to 15 minutes to complete. The minimal oral directions and pointing-response format make it one of the simplest and easily understood nonverbal intelligence tests for young children. The nonverbal format of the PTONI is especially appropriate for testing children who may not have developed their verbal or motor skills. directions in eight alternative languages are provided for the PTONI making it an appropriate assessment of intelligence for children from diverse language backgrounds. The PTONI is composed of an examiner's manual, a picture book with an easel back, and an examiner record form. The test format requires a child to look at a series of pictures on each page in the picture book and point to the one picture that does not belong with the others. Items are arranged in order of difficulty. Early items measure lower-order reasoning (e.g., visual and spatial perception), while later items measure higher-order reasoning abilities (e.g., analogical thinking, sequential reasoning, and categorical formulation). A child's performance is recorded as a standard score (called the Nonverbal Index), a percentile rank, and an age equivalent.
The complete PTONI kit includes an examiner's manual, a picture book with an easel, and 25 examiner/record forms, all in a sturdy storage box. The test is normed on a culturally and ethnically diverse demographic sample of 1,010 children, residing in 38 states. It is a valuable tool for psychologists, diagnosticians, special educators and speech-language pathologists, and can help estimate future school success based on family history, educational background, and personality trait
