Abstract

The Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), a subtest of the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), has been used for many years by US Dental Schools to evaluate the perceptual ability of incoming applicants of their program. Perceptual ability is broadly defined as the ability to accurately process and interpret visual sensory information. Perceptual Ability skills are important in the field of Dentistry, as they are critical to the applied use of various dental tools and in surgical skills. It is assumed that performance on the PAT is predictive of dental students’ surgical skill development. However, multiple studies have found that the PAT subtest scores had little to no role in predicting students' performance by the end of dental school, suggesting that PAT scores may have limited value in predicting clinical achievement. We examined whether the PAT, along with other DAT subtests similarly demonstrate no significant relationships with students’ performance scores at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. We found that the PAT scores significantly predicted performance in most Pre-clinical lab courses and some clinical exams, accounting for approximately 8 to 30 percent of the variance. This suggests the PAT maintains some utility in predicting both preclinical and aspects of clinical performance outcomes among Loma Linda University School of Dentistry students.

LLU Discipline

Psychology

Department

Psychology

School

School of Behavioral Health

First Advisor

Grace J. Lee

Second Advisor

Adam L. Aréchiga

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Degree Level

Psych.D.

Year Degree Awarded

2020

Date (Title Page)

9-2020

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Dental admission test

Type

Doctoral Project

Page Count

ix; 34 p.

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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