Parallel-form reliability of the online Primary Measures of Music Audiation: A pilot study

Gordon’s Primary Measures of Music Audiation (PMMA) (1986) measures the developmental music aptitude of primary elementary students. The purpose of the current pilot study was to (1) determine if our procedures and analyses were feasible and (2) reveal preliminary results regarding the reliability of the online PMMA with kindergartners. Two teachers administered the PMMA across five weeks to participants ( n = 68). Overall, raw scores were higher for paper versions of the tonal (M = 28.12, SD = 4.86) and rhythm subtests (M = 27.54, SD = 4.95) than the online version subtests (M tonal = 26.28, SD = 5.16; M rhythm = 23.43, SD = 4.39). Using parallel-form reliability, we found that the paper and online versions of the PMMA were weakly to moderately associated ( r = 0.24–0.46). Regarding the feasibility of our testing procedures, we found that they were mostly appropriate, albeit problematic for kindergarteners and their teachers administering the PMMA. Our preliminary interpretation of the pilot study results indicated that the online version of the PMMA may not be a feasible alternative option for kindergartners due to problematic reliability and internal validity concerns including instrumentation and environment. The full study will include kindergarten, first- and second-grade children.