What is the Beery VMI? The visual-motor integration test explained

The Beery VMI, formally the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Sixth Edition, is a brief standardized test in which the test taker copies a series of geometric forms arranged in order of increasing difficulty. Published by Pearson, it measures "visual-motor integration," which is the degree to which visual perception and finger-hand movements are coordinated with each other. According to Pearson, the test is normed for ages 2 years 0 months through 99 years 11 months, takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and can be given individually or to groups. It is a staple of school occupational therapy evaluations, handwriting referrals, and developmental assessments. This article explains what the Beery VMI measures, how it is scored, who uses it, and how it differs from an intelligence test.

The core task is deliberately simple. The examinee sees a printed geometric form and copies it in a space below with a pencil, without erasing. The forms begin with a vertical line and a circle and progress through crosses, triangles, and increasingly complex three-dimensional figures. Pearson describes the item set as "drawings of geometric forms arranged in order of increasing difficulty that the individual is asked to copy."

Copying a shape accurately requires several things to happen at once. The eyes must analyze the form, the brain must translate that visual information into a motor plan, and the hand must execute the plan with enough control to reproduce the proportions and angles on paper. When this chain works smoothly, psychologists say visual-motor integration is intact. When it breaks down, the drawing may be rotated, distorted, or fragmented even though the person can see the form perfectly well and has normal hand strength.

The test comes in two versions. According to the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab's rehabilitation measures database, the Full Format contains 30 items and the Short Format contains 21; Pearson notes the Short Format is typically used with children ages 2 to 7. In both versions, each correctly imitated or copied form earns one point, and testing stops after three consecutive failures. Because the earliest items can be imitated rather than copied, the test reaches down to toddlers who cannot yet follow drawing instructions.

A weak copying score, by itself, is ambiguous. It could reflect a visual analysis problem, a motor control problem, or a genuine integration problem in combining the two. The Beery VMI addresses this with two optional follow-up measures that use the same sequence of geometric forms.

• Visual Perception test: the examinee simply points to the exact match for a target form among several similar choices. Almost no motor skill is required, so the score reflects visual analysis in relatively pure form. It is timed, with about 5 minutes of testing.

• Motor Coordination test: the examinee traces the forms with a pencil inside printed paths, with starting dots and guides provided. Because the visual analysis is essentially done for the examinee, the score isolates fine motor control. This test also takes about 5 minutes.

According to Pearson, the supplemental tests are designed to be administered after the main test when results indicate a need for further testing. The logic is diagnostic. A child who scores low on copying but performs well on both supplemental tests likely has a true integration difficulty. A child who also struggles on the Motor Coordination test may need a motor-focused evaluation instead, and a low Visual Perception score points toward the visual side. A 2020 study in PLoS One by Findlay and colleagues used this same three-test structure to show that even mild visual blur can lower performance, a reminder that examiners should confirm a child's vision is corrected before interpreting scores.

The Sixth Edition was published by Pearson in 2010, authored by Keith E. Beery, Norman A. Buktenica, and Natasha A. Beery. Its unusually wide age range, 2 through 99 years, means the same instrument can track visual-motor skills from toddlerhood through late adulthood. Pearson reports updated norms for ages 2 through 18, adult norms for ages 19 and above, and approximately 600 age-specific "Stepping Stones" developmental markers from birth through age 6 for very early screening.

Administration is flexible. The Short and Full Format tests can be given one-on-one or to an entire classroom at once, which is rare among standardized developmental measures and makes the Beery VMI practical for school screening. The publisher lists 10 to 15 minutes for the main test and about 5 minutes for each supplemental test, so a complete three-test battery still fits inside half an hour.

Scores are reported as "standard scores," a norm-referenced metric with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, the same scale used by major IQ tests. Percentiles and age equivalents are also available. On this scale, roughly two thirds of people score between 85 and 115, so a standard score below 85 falls more than one standard deviation below the average for the person's age and usually prompts closer investigation. The test is sold at Pearson's qualification level B, meaning purchasers need relevant graduate training or certification in assessment; in practice it is administered by occupational therapists, school psychologists, and related professionals.

The Beery VMI shows up in several distinct settings.

• School occupational therapy: handwriting referrals are among the most common reasons children see a school OT, and visual-motor integration is a foundational handwriting skill. In a study published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Daly, Kelley, and Krauss found strong positive relationships between Beery VMI scores and kindergartners' ability to legibly copy letter forms, and children who could copy the first nine geometric forms wrote significantly more legible letters than those who could not.

• Psychoeducational evaluations: school psychologists often include the Beery VMI alongside intelligence and achievement measures to check whether weak written work reflects a visual-motor bottleneck rather than a learning or reasoning problem. The Texas Education Agency's assessment resource pages describe it as a screener for visual-motor deficits that may underlie learning and behavior difficulties.

• Developmental and medical assessment: pediatric teams use it to monitor development in conditions such as prematurity, cerebral palsy, and developmental coordination disorder, and researchers use it as a standard outcome measure. A 2025 study in Frontiers in Pediatrics by Tang and colleagues used the full three-test battery with preschoolers and noted that visual-motor integration relates to later academic performance in mathematics and reading.

• Neuropsychological batteries: because form copying is sensitive to certain kinds of brain injury and developmental difference, the Beery VMI or similar copying tasks often appear within a broader workup. Our guide to what neuropsychological testing involves explains how narrow measures like this fit into a full battery.

It is easy to misread a Beery VMI score because it uses the familiar mean-100 scale. The number describes a specific perceptual-motor skill rather than general cognitive ability. Intelligence tests sample reasoning, knowledge, memory, and processing efficiency across many formats. The Beery VMI samples one narrow chain of skills: see a form, plan a movement, draw it.

The distinction matters in both directions. A child with strong verbal and fluid reasoning can earn a low Beery VMI score because of immature pencil control, and that child's messy handwriting says little about their thinking. Another child may copy forms beautifully while struggling with the reasoning tasks on a cognitive measure. This is why evaluators pair the Beery VMI with a full intelligence test such as the WPPSI for preschoolers or the WISC for school-age children instead of treating either instrument as a substitute for the other.

Research supports keeping the constructs separate. Visual-motor integration relates to early academic skills such as reading and mathematics, yet the relationships are far from perfect, and the test was designed to assess a specific developmental skill rather than reasoning. A low copying score is a flag for follow-up, never a verdict about a person's intellect.

The Beery VMI answers a narrow question about how well the eyes and hands work together, and it requires a qualified professional to administer and interpret. Measuring general cognitive ability is a different job that calls for a different instrument.

For adults who want a rigorous measure of reasoning ability, the Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test, developed by RIOT IQ with psychometrician Dr. Russell T. Warne, offers a normed online option for ages 18 and up. The RIOT IQ test includes 15 subtests across six cognitive indices (verbal reasoning, fluid reasoning, spatial ability, working memory, processing speed, and reaction time), takes about 52 minutes, and reports scores on the same mean-100, standard-deviation-15 scale described above. Like any online measure, it does not replace an individually administered diagnostic evaluation, and it is designed to measure reasoning rather than pencil control. You can take the RIOT IQ test at riotiq.com.

No. It measures visual-motor integration, the coordination of visual perception with hand movements. It uses the same standard-score scale as IQ tests (mean 100, standard deviation 15), which invites confusion, but it does not assess reasoning or general cognitive ability.

According to Pearson, the Sixth Edition is normed from age 2 years 0 months through 99 years 11 months, with a Short Format typically used for children ages 2 to 7 and a Full Format for older children and adults.

Pearson lists 10 to 15 minutes for the Short or Full Format and about 5 minutes for each supplemental test, so even the complete battery usually finishes within 30 minutes.

The Visual Perception test (matching forms with minimal motor demand) and the Motor Coordination test (tracing forms within guided paths) help an examiner determine whether a low copying score reflects visual analysis, motor control, or the integration of the two.

Scores between 85 and 115 fall within one standard deviation of the mean of 100, where roughly two thirds of people score. A standard score below 85 is more than one standard deviation below average for the person's age and typically prompts further evaluation.

Pearson sells it at qualification level B, which requires graduate training or certification in assessment. In practice, occupational therapists, school psychologists, and similar professionals administer and interpret it.

1. Pearson. (2010). Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Sixth Edition (Beery VMI). Pearson Assessments. pearsonassessments.com

2. Daly, C. J., Kelley, G. T., & Krauss, A. (2003). Relationship between visual-motor integration and handwriting skills of children in kindergarten: A modified replication study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(4), 459-462. atinternetmodules.org

3. Findlay, R., Black, J., van der Werf, B., Chelimo, C., Grant, C. C., & Anstice, N. (2020). The effect of induced blur on the Beery-Buktenica developmental test of visual-motor integration and its supplemental tests. PLoS One, 15(9). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

4. Tang, X., Xu, X., Wang, C., & Ao, L. (2025). Clinical value of Beery visual-motor integration and Beery VMI supplemental tests in Chinese preschoolers: A modified replication cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 13. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

5. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. (n.d.). Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration. Rehabilitation Measures Database. sralab.org

6. Texas Education Agency. (n.d.). Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Sixth Edition. Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism Training. txautism.net

Hero photo: Overhead view of a child's hands at a table with colored pencils, fibre pens, and a watercolor tray, working above a worksheet printed with simple shape outlines. Photo by Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).