Relationship between WAIS-R and wide range achievement test in a sample of mixed patients

Correlations between the WAIS-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs, WAIS-R subtest scaled scores, and Wide Range Achievement Test Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic standard scores were computed for a sample of 60 patients at a V.A. medical center who were referred for routine psychological evaluation. The Full Scale IQ and Verbal IQ yielded large correlations with the three achievement area standard scores (rs of .60 to .76). However, Performance IQs correlated moderately with reading and spelling scores (rs of .41 and .42), but a larger correlation obtained with arithmetic scores (r = .66). The results support the concurrent validity of the WAIS-R.     

I. Validity of WISC-R factor scores in predicting achievement and attention for four sociocultural groups

The predictive validity of WISC-R factor scores was examined with samples from the four sociocultural groups of Anglo, Black, Chicano, and native American Papago. The Full Scale IQ and Verbal Comprehension (VC) factor scores were significantly better predictors of achievement as measured by teacher ratings and the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The Perceptual Organization and Freedom from Distractibility (FD) factor scores were also significantly related to achievement, but at a lower level than Full Scale and VC. The correlations of the WISC-R and achievement measures were nearly the same for three of the four groups (exception was native American Papago). The relationship of the FD factor score to ratings of attention was statistically significant, but relatively low. Cautions in interpreting FD as a measure of attention were recommended due to overlap of distributions and low proportion of variance in attention accounted for by FD.     

Relationship of the WISC-R factors to the adaptive behavior scale-school edition in a referral sample

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) factor deviation quotients (DQ) were calculated for Verbal Comprehension (VCDQ), Perceptual Organization (PODQ), and Freedom From Distractibility (FDDQ) factors for 83 referred children aged 7 years, 5 months to 16 years, 2 months who received a psychoeducational evaluation. The DQs were then compared to the factor domain and Comparison scores of the Adaptive Behavior Scale-School Edition (ABS-SE) by separate stepwise regression analyses. The results indicated that the two significant models were Community Self-Sufficiency (F(3, 76)=6.67,p<.001,R²=.208) and the Comparison Score (F(3, 76)=7.30,p<.001, R²=.223). The VCDQ and Verbal IQ scores were essentially equal predictors of adaptive behavior, but the PODQ and Performance IQ scores were not predictive. It is suggested that practitioners using the ABS-SE consider the differential predictive characteristics of the Verbal IQ/VCDQ and Performance IQ/PODQ when making placement decisions and when predicting success in various programs. Verbal comprehension is presented as being a common construct that underlies the WISC-R and ABS-SE. The suggestion that cognitive processes enable persons to acquire skills that make performance of adaptive skills possible also is discussed.     

Correlations for the Stroop Color and Word Test with measures of reading and language achievement

The present investigation examined the relationships for scores on the Stroop Color and Word Test with measures of reading and language achievement within an adult population. The Stroop Color and Word Test, Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised, and Wide Range Achievement Test-3 were administered to 99 men ranging in age from 18 to 27 years. Pearson product-moment correlations indicated that the Stroop Word task was positively associated with scores on the WRAT-3 Spelling task, the Woodcock-Johnson Basic and Broad Reading tasks, and the Nelson-Denny Rcading Rate and Comprehension tasks. These and other significant relationships were discussed in terms of possible implications regarding the assessment of reading achievement.     

Conceptual tempo as a moderator variable in predicting first grade achievement test scores

This study examined the utility of a set of tests for predicting the academic achievement of separate samples of impulsive and reflective first graders. The predictor tests were the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale, Wepman's Auditory Discrimination Test, the ITPA Sound Blending Subtest, the WISC Digit Span Subtest, and Kaufman's WISC-R Verbal Comprehension Factor (Comprehension, Information, Similarities, and Vocabulary). The criterion measures were drawn from the Stanford Achievement Test and included scores for Total Auditory, Total Mathematics, Total Reading, Vocabulary and Listening Comprehension. Multiple regression analyses revealed that (a) for three of the five criterion variables, the optimal equations for predicting the achievement test scores differed for impulsives and reflectives, and (b) given the same predictor scores, the predicted achievement of impulsive and reflective children different considerably. It was concluded that conceptual tempo is an important moderator variable in predicting academic performance.     

Construct validity of Wechsler factor scores.

The construct validity of the Verbal Comprehension. Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility factor scores was examined in a sample of school-aged referred children. Examination of correlations between factor scores and neuropsychological and achievement tests generally supported the construct validity of the factors. The Verbal Comprehension factor was associated with verbal, quantitative, and concept-formation abilities. The Perceptual Organization factor was related to nonverbal concept formation, tactual performance, and visual attention. The Freedom from Distractibility factor demonstrated a complex pattern of correlations and appeared to reflect a range of abilities including quantitative, language, attentional, and concept formation.     

Normative data for the selective reminding test: a random digit dialing sample

Healthy control participants (46 women, M age=44.3 yr., SD=7.6; 29 men) were recruited to undergo a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and serve as a comparison group in a study of cognitive functioning in patients with Lyme isease. Participants were selected using Mitofsky-Waksberg random digit dialing. The Buschke 12-word, six-trial Selective Reminding Test was administered as part of the neuropsychological battery and normative data are presented stratified by age and sex. Performance on alternate forms of this measure were examined. Mean education, intelligence quotient, and Wide Range Achievement Test-3 Reading scores are reported.     

The development of handedness and dichotic ear listening asymmetries in relation to school achievement: A longitudinal study

To assess the development of dichotic ear asymmetries and handedness, 208 male school children were evaluated in kindergarten and at Grades 2 and 5 (ages 66, 92, and 130 months of age, respectively) with a dichotic listening task and a hand preference test. The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) also was administered at each of the three grade levels. There was significant variability in handedness scores over time only for those subjects whose scores at initial testing, that is, in kindergarten, identified them as non-right-handers. Both right and left handers had a significant increase in dichotic listening scores over time; however, only right handers had a significant right ear advantage at each evaluation. Regression analyses showed that combined hand preference scores and ear recall scores at each probe when combined accounted for almost 44% of the variance in WRAT achievement scores at Grade 5. Ear asymmetry scores, however, were not predictive of school achievement.     

The Factor Structure of the WAIS-R: Replicability Across Age-Groups

This article examines the factor structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale- Revised across nine age groups using several methods of factor analysis, including reliable component analysis (RCA). RCA defines orthogonal components which have maximum reliability, and has several desirable properties which are discussed. Although the one- factor model (General Intelligence, or g), and the two-factor model (Verbal and Performance) of the WAIS-R are fairly well established. no such consensus has been reached regarding the three-factor model (Verbal Comprehension. Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility). In the present study, g and Verbal and Performance factors were consistent across age groups for most methods of extraction, although somewhat different from the usual division. The three-factor model, however, was not consistently identified across age groups by any method, particularly with respect to Freedom from Distractibility. Meaningful interpretation of scores on this factor is therefore tenuous. RCA performed well, relative to most other methods, in identifying factors consistently across age groups and can provide useful and unique information.     

Discrepancies between premorbid and current IQ as a function of progressive mental deterioration

The declining cognitive functioning typically found in patients with Alzheimer's disease presents an opportunity to study that decline. The changing magnitude of ever widening discrepancies between premorbid estimators of IQ and observed IQ increases as severity of the disease increases. Premorbid IQs estimated by these scores (the National Adult Reading Test-Revised, the reading tests of the Revised and Third Editions of the Wide Range Achievement Test, and a demographically based regression index for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised) had relatively similar discrepancies from obtained WAIS-R Full Scale IQs in samples of normal elderly (n = 30), and elderly patients diagnosed with mild (n = 30) and moderate Alzheimer's disease (n = 30) dementia. The discrepancies became larger, regardless of premorbid estimator, as disease severity progressed from none to mild to moderate across the samples.     

Similarity among common measures of academic achievement: implications for assessing disabled children

Four commonly used measures of academic achievement were administered in counterbalanced order to 32 elementary and middle school-aged children enrolled in exceptional education programs for the learning disabled. Measures chosen were the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, KeyMath-R, Test of Written Spelling 2, and the Gray Oral Reading Test-Revised. Analysis suggested corresponding measures of reading, mathematics, and spelling were highly correlated, although in some instances generated significantly different mean standard scores. Implications for practitioners are discussed.     

Attention deficits in children with sickle cell disease

Previous research has suggested that children with sickle cell disease may exhibit cognitive deficits even in the absence of direct cerebrovascular involvement (stroke). This study was designed to assess specific attentional deficits in children with sickle cell disease. 12 children with sickle cell disease (Hb SS) with a prior history of stroke, 14 children with sickle cell disease (Hb SS) without evidence of stroke, and 13 similar aged siblings (Hb AA or Hb AS) were compared on measures of attention, intellectual functioning, achievement, and adaptive functioning. Significant differences were found between children with sickle cell disease (with or without stroke) and healthy controls on a timed test of visual scanning, the Coding subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, and subtests of Reading, Arithmetic, and Spelling from the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. The differences between children with sickle cell disease and their healthy siblings appear to be the result of strokes rather than sickle cell disease itself as children with sickle cell disease without strokes did not significantly differ from controls. Implications for the effects of sickle cell disease and stroke on academic performance are discussed.     

Relationship between the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement--Brief Form and the Wide Range Achievement Test--Revised Level 2 with incarcerated juvenile delinquents

The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement--Brief Form and the Wide Range Achievement Test--Revised Level 2 were administered in counterbalanced order to 50 male incarcerated juvenile delinquents. The analyses showed the similar subtests on the two tests, i.e., Kaufman Reading test and WRAT-R Reading, were highly correlated. The mean standard scores of th e similar subtests were not significantly different from each other. These results contrast with the significantly lower WRAT-R scores found when scores on the WRAT-R Level 1 are compared with those on the Kaufman test.     

Psychosocial functioning of children: Relations between personality subtypes and academic achievement

Five hundred children from ages 6 to 12 who had been referred for neuropsychological assessment were clustered into six subtypes using a kmeans technique applied to 10 PIC scales. Five of the six subtypes were virtually identical to subtypes identified in previous research (viz., normal, somatic concern, mild anxiety, externalized psychopathology, and internalized psychopathology). A sixth subtype (conduct disorder) was also found. Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) Reading and Spelling scores discriminated between normal, somatic concern, and conduct disorder subtypes on the one hand vs. the more disturbed externalized and internalized psychopathology subtypes on the other;the latter groups scored higher on these measures. The internalized psychopathology subtype also showed large discrepancies between reading vs. arithmetic and spelling vs. arithmetic. The results support the view that psychosocial functioning is related to assets and deficits in cognitive/academic functioning in children, and that particular patterns of such assets and deficits are related to particular forms of psychopathology.     

Joint factor analysis of the K-ABC and WISC-R with normal children

This study investigated the factor structure of the WISC-R and K-ABC for a group of 212 normal children who were tested on both instruments in counterbalanced fashion. Separate factor analyses and a joint analysis consistently produced three factors. The various analyses led to the conclusion that there is a clear-cut correspondence between the WISC-R and K-ABC factors. WISC-R Verbal Comprehension corresponded closely to K-ABC Achievement; WISC-R Perceptual Organization resembled K-ABC Simultaneous Processing; and WISC-R Freedom From Distractibility was similar to K-ABC Sequential Processing. The g factors from both instruments also correlated substantially.     

Validity of the Woodcock-Johnson tests of achievement for learning-disabled students

Two independent samples of 40 and 32 elementary-aged, learning-disabled (LD) pupils were administered the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJTA), the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT), and the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) following seven instructional months in an LD self-contained class. Concurrent validity coefficients between W-J achievement clusters and corresponding WRAT and PIAT subtests ranged between .64 and .93. Results from both samples were convergent, thus allowing corroboration of findings. Discrepancies among WJTA, WRAT, and PIAT grade equivalents and standard scores are discussed, as are possible limitations of the WJTA for use with learning disabled pupils.     

The WISC-R and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement: correlations for exceptional children

The present study concerns correlations of scores on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement with those on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC--R). Correlations between WISC--R Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQ and the Reading Aptitude Cluster, the Mathematics Aptitude Cluster, and the Written Language Aptitude Cluster of the Woodcock-Johnson were expected to be high and support the contention that conventional measures of ability do predict achievement for children. Results confirm the hypothesis. The Verbal IQ was the best one-variable predictor of each aptitude cluster, with R s ranging from .32 to .78.     

Evaluating socioeconomic status bias in the WISC-R

The use of intelligence tests in making special education placement decisions for children has come under repeated scrutiny in recent years. Arguments for and against the use of IQs have centered around the issue of test bias. In California a permanent moratorium on the use of intelligence tests in placing minority group children into classes for the educable retarded has been handed down by the court. One defense proposed by advocates of mental testing has been that the tests are biased against socially and economically disadvantaged groups irrespective of race. According to Clarizio (1978), if a test predicts equally well for two groups it can not legitimately be described as biased. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the test bias of the Verbal IQ as measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised in relation to predictions of academic achievement in two different socioeconomic status groups. The results indicated that Verbal IQs are not biased with respect to socioeconomic status. Derived regression equations are presented along with an analysis to inspect the statistical power of the original tests.     

Concurrent and predictive validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children with a Navajo sample

The aim of this investigation was to examine the mean scores and predictive validity coefficients obtained from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT). The K-ABC and the WISC-R were administered 1 week apart in counterbalanced order to 35 Navajo children aged 6–12$\text{1}\text{2}$ years (mean 8–9 years), followed 10$\text{1}\text{2}$ months later by administration of the PIAT. The K-ABC yielded an overall mean of 95.0, which is significantly higher than the WISC-R Full Scale IQ mean of 86.9. All WISC-R and K-ABC global scores correlated significantly except the WISC-R Verbal and K-ABC Nonverbal scales. The WISC-R Verbal and Full Scale IQs and all five K-ABC scales correlated significantly with the PIAT Total Test standard scores. However, the K-ABC Achievement scale correlated significantly higher with the PIAT Total Test than with the WISC-R Verbal and Full Scale IQs. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Content validity of the wrat and grade level achievement of primary grade students

The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) arithmetic and reading performance of randomly selected primary grade children in a suburban school district was compared to grade placement in reading and math, and text placement in reading. WRAT scores overestimated actual achievement in all grades tested. Because of differences in curriculum, the WRAT may not adequately identify significant underachievement in suspected learning-disabled students at kindergarten and grades 1 and 2.