Final answer:
Not establishing a basal in the PPVT means the difficulty level of the initial items may be too high, or other factors are affecting performance; it does not mean the student is unable to answer any questions correctly. The tester may need to adjust the starting point to find the student's accurate vocabulary level.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you cannot establish a basal in the first set on the PPVT (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), it does not mean that the student is unable to answer any questions correctly. Instead, it means that the student has not met the criterion for establishing a starting point or baseline level of performance for the test. In the PPVT, a basal is established when the test-taker answers a specified number of questions correctly in a row, indicating that the test can proceed from that point.
The inability to establish a basal suggests that the difficulty level of the initial items may be too high for the individual's current vocabulary ability, or there might be other factors affecting the student's performance such as test anxiety or misunderstanding instructions. Consequently, the tester may need to start at an earlier point in the test to accurately assess the student's vocabulary level. Furthermore, the score from the PPVT is used to place individuals in percentile rankings, where a higher percentile indicates a better performance on the test relative to a norm group.