The Kestenberg Movement Profile: Performance of Novice Raters

Whether for clinical evaluation or research purposes, the reliable assessment of movement behavior is central to the practice of dance/movement therapy. While few researchers have examined the rater training process for movement observation tools, this pilot study is an investigation of the agreement of novice raters on the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP). The novice raters were students who completed a basic KMP training of 45 hours. The five student raters constructed KMP ratings of four participants from a non-clinical, adult population for three of the nine KMP dimensions (tension-flow rhythms, bipolar, and unipolar shape-flow). Performance of the raters was assessed using generalizability theory (Cronbach, Gleser, Nanda & Rajaratnam, 1972). Results indicated rather inconsistent reliability for novice raters. Raters displayed particular difficulty with unipolar shape-flow, and more successful rating for tension-flow rhythms and bipolar shape-flow. The results are discussed in the context of using data analysis to investigate rater training issues pertinent to dance/movement therapy practice and research.