Conceptual and psychometric issues in the assessment of adaptive behavior

This article discusses three issues in the assess- Vast improvements are noted in the standard-ment of adaptive behavior: the clarity of the ization properties of major adaptive behavior construct of adaptive behavior, the norm sam- scales. Finally, it is argued that adaptive be-ples for adaptive behavior scales, and the pre- havior assessment lacks clear evidence of pre-dictive validity of adaptive behavior scales. It is dictive validity. A research agenda aimed at concluded that while the concept of adap- improving adaptive behavior assessment is tive behavior is still too vague it is at least as well presented. defined as other constructs, such as intelligence. In preparing this article it became apparent that issues such as reliability and validity were inextricably linked to conceptual issues in adaptive behavior research and practice. One could argue that conceptual issues have hindered psychometric advances and, in turn, the lack of psychometric advances has hin-dered the refinement of the construct of adaptive behavior. The remainder of this paper addresses issues related to this dilemma. Unfortunately, easy solutions cannot be offered. In lieu of solutions a partial research agenda aimed at clarify