Predictive validity of the WISC-R with Mexican-American children

The reliability and predictive validity of the WISC-R was investigated with 46 Mexican-American children. Approximately a year and a half after the administration of the WISC-R, scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) were collected. Internal consistency estimates for WISC-R subtests and composites were found to be comparable to those reported in the WISC-R manual. Correlations between WISC-R subtests and those of the ITBS ranged from modest for verbal subtests to mild when performance subtests were used as predictors. The best single predictor proved to be that of Verbal IQ, which accounted for some 40% of the variance in future achievement when measured by the ITBS. It was concluded that the WISC-R meets minimum requirements of reliability and predictive validity with Mexican-American children.     

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.     

Exploring the Reliability and Validity of the DAT-K in Grade 11 Learners in a Historically Disadvantaged School in Johannesburg,South Africa

This study explored the reliability and validity of the Differential Aptitude Test—Form K (DAT-K) in a sample of 75 learners (mean age = 17.1 years, SD = 1.13) from a previously disadvantaged school in Johannesburg. Adequate reliability coefficients were obtained but coefficients were higher for nonverbal than verbal subtests. Face validity was judged to be adequate but construct validity was questionable. All subtests correlated within cluster (verbal, non-verbal) but all the subtests with the exception of the Comparison subtest loaded highly on a single factor. Examination of the influence of language as a variable suggested that learners whose home language was an African language did significantly poorer on all the DAT-K subtests except for the Comparison subtest. These findings lend support to the arguments that psychological testing in South Africa is problematic particularly in individuals who do not speak English as their first language.     

A longitudinal study of the predictive validity of the Bayley-III scales and subtests

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive validity of all scales and subtests from the Bayley-III. The sample consisted of 55 normal children who were assessed at six time points between 4 and 36 months. Significant correlations ranging from .28 to .79 were found for all ages and scales/subtests, but the three main scales differed with respect to predictive validity. The Cognitive Scale was predictive from 7–10, 7–13 and 10–13 months but not from 13 months and onwards. The Language Scale was predictive from 10 months and onwards and the Motor Scale was predictive at all ages, but only with respect to adjacent and not distant assessment points.     

Differential construct validity of intelligence as popularly measured: Correlations of age with raw scores on the WISC-R for Blacks Whites, males, and females

Raw scores on the 12 WISC-R subtests and the verbal, performance, and full scale IQ scales were correlated with age in years separately for 938 White males, 137 Black males, 927 White females, and 153 Black females. Highest and lowest correlations from the four groups were then contrasted for each of the 15 WISC-R variables to determine whether the magnitude of the relationship between age and performance on current tests of intelligence is constant across race and sex. Regression coefficients between age and raw scores were also contrasted across groups. None of the 15 comparisons of corrections yielded differences that were statistically significant. Regression coefficients differed only with respect to the Full Scale IQ, showing smaller incremental changes with age for Black males than for other groups. The results indicated that the relationship between age and intelligence test performance is relatively constant across race and sex and supports the construct validity of the WISC-R as a measure of children's intelligence for Blacks, Whites, males, and females, though some evidence was found to indicate slower development of “g” in Black males as compared to the other groups.     

Analysis of the piat with Anglo and Mexican-American children

This study analyzed the utility of the PIAT when administered to separate samples of Anglo and Mexican-American children using the WRAT and WISC-R as comparative measures. Thirty-one Mexican-American and 31 Anglo-American children were matched on the basis of sex, age, SES, educational placement, and reason referred for psychological assessment. All children were administered the PIAT, WRAT, and WISC-R. Partial intercorrelations (CA held constant) among the PIAT subtest raw scores and subtests of the WRAT purporting to measure the same construct were performed. Adequate concurrent validity was found for the PIAT Mathematics, Spelling, and Reading Recognition subtests for both Anglo and Mexican-American children. Analysis of subtest means and concurrent validity between ethnic groups showed general equivalence with the exception of WISC-R Verbal IQ means, which was significantly lower for the Mexican-American group. Implications for assessing Mexican-American children are discussed.     

Race, social class and ability patterns on the WISC-R

The national standardization sample of whites and blacks on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R) was the basis for a detailed analysis of the psychometric nature of racial and social class differences on the original 13 subscales of the WISC-R. The profiles of subtest scores of whites and blacks were compared directly and also after the racial groups were statistically equated on Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). Under the latter condition, the races differ only very slightly, although significantly, on some of the subtests, in ways generally contrary to popular expectations. The profile of white-black differences on the WISC-R subtests is markedly different, and negatively correlated with, the profiles of social class differences within each racial group, indicating that the pattern of racial differences is not explainable in terms of the difference in the average socio-economic status (SES) of blacks and whites. A Schmid-Leiman orthogonalized hierarchical factor analysis yields virtually identical factor structures and highly congruent factor loadings on the subtests for whites and blacks. Analysis of factor scores shows that by far the largest proportion of the variance between races is attributable to the general factor (g) common to all the subtests, whereas the group factors (verbal, performance and memory) contribute only minutely to the interracial variance. Hence the white-black differences on the diverse subtests of the WISC-R, and in the Full Scale IQ, are interpreted primarily as a difference in Spearman's g, rather than as differences in the more specific factors peculiar to particular content, knowledge, acquired skills or type of test. However, some slight but significant differences in patterns of ability also occur that are independent of g.     

Validity of college admission indices for Jews and Arabs in Israel

This study examines Israeli cultural group differences in scholastic aptitude and achievement indices as well as the differential construct and predictive validity of precollege admission indices for Jewish and Arab students in Israel. The sample was composed of 1778 Jewish and 1017 Arab student candidates applying for admission to a major university. The admission indices include five scholastic aptitude subtests appearing on both the Hebrew and Arabic versions of the college entrance test battery and matriculation certificate grades in three required subjects. The predictor battery shows comparable factor structure across cultural groups. The correlations between aptitude and achievement predictors and first-year college G.P.A. were homogeneous across the groups. A slight degree of intercept bias was evidenced with the predictive indices tending to over predict the scholastic achievement of Arab students and under predict that of their Jewish counterparts. The results are consistent with previous research in America showing negligible differences in the construct and predictive validity of college admission tests for different cultural and racial groups.     

Components of IQ Scores Across Levels of Measured Ability

Forty-three (43) students from the Talent Identification Program's Summer Residential Program living in North Carolina took the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R; Wechsler, 1974) during the program. The test was also administered to 50 other North Carolina Students who qualified for the SRP but did not attend, as well as 34 students who had not been identified as gifted. The scores were evaluated for normative and idiographic strengths and weaknesses on the 12 subtests of the WISC-R. The idiographic differences were calculated by comparison against the average score of only the 6 subtests in the same subscale of the test (Verbal or Performance) as well as against all 12 subtests on the test. It was found by means of the former comparisons that the gifted students showed significantly more idiographic strengths on the Verbal scales and weaknesses on the Performance scales than the academically competent sample.     

Stability of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children for a sample of Mexican-American children

Test-retest stability of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) was investigated over a 5$\text{1}\text{2}$-month interval for 42 Mexican-American preschool/kindergarten children. The results indicated that the stability coefficients for K-ABC Global scales and subtests were generally of adequate magnitudes (e.g., .70s and .80s), providing some evidence that the K-ABC is a relatively stable instrument for the sample. The results are discussed in the context of a test-retest study reported in the K-ABC Manual. Global scale stability coefficients were found to range from .76 to .90, and for the subtests the coefficients ranged from .26 to .89. The patterns of gain scores were very similar to the patterns reported in the stability investigation in the K-ABC Manual.     

Common variance among three measures of nonverbal cognitive ability: WISC-R performance scale,WJPB-TCA reasoning cluster,and Halstead category test

The relationships among two psychometric measures of nonverbal cognitive ability (1) the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Performance IQ and (2) the Reasoning Cluster score and two subtests, Analysis-Synthesis and Concept Formation, from the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJPB-TCA)- and a neuropsychological test of abstract reasoning and concept formation (Halstead Category Test) were examined for a population of 25 children referred for psychoeducational evaluation as a result of learning difficulty. The findings demonstrated that the WISC-R Performance IQ and the Halstead Category Test have a common variance and appear to be sensitive to nonverbal cognitive ability, particularly of a perceptual organization nature. In contrast, the Reasoning Cluster score and the individual subtests from the WJPB-TCA appear to have a substantial g loading, as well as significant language correlates.     

Comparison of black-white differences on the WISC-R and the K-ABC: Spearman's hypothesis

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revise (WISC-R) are compared with respect to the magnitudes of the average white-black differences in standardized scaled scores and in raw scores. The two test batteries were administered to a sample of 172 fourth- and fifth-grade children comprising 86 black-white pairs matched on age, sex, school, and socioeconomic status. The K-ABC and WISC-R are highly correlated, and the general factor, or g, of one battery is virtually identical to the g of the other. The high positive correlation between the size of the white-black difference on the various subtests of both batteries and the subtests' loadings on the g factor bears out Spearman's hypothesis that a test's white-black dicriminability is a direct function of the test's g loading. The lesser white-black discriminability of the K-ABC relative to the WISC-R is attributable to (1) the smaller g loadings of the K-ABC subsets and (2) the presence of other factors, particularly sequential short-term memory which, to some degree, offsets the white-black difference in g.     

An examination for construct bias in the WISC-R across socioeconomic status

The ten subtests comprising the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children —Revised (WISC-R) were independently factor analyzed for middle and low socioeconomic status children. Two factors described the structure of the test in both cases. These two factors corresponded quite closely to the Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Organization factors usually reported for the WISC-R. After testing for the equivalence of covariance matrices between the two socioeconomic status groups, coefficients of congruence between the factors were calculated. These coefficients indicated equivalence in the constructs being measured across the two groups.     

Reliability and validity of mothers' developmental estimates for children between 4 and 41 months

The feasibility of mothers estimating their own children's development is explored in this paper. Construction, reliability and validity of a mothers' developmental inventory for children from 4 months to 41 months is described. The inventory consists of six subtests: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Language Expression, Language Comprehension, Personal-Social Competence and Self Help. A preliminary version of the inventory was item analyzed on a sample of 105 mothers of 4 to 37 months old children. This reduced the inventory to 164 items with satisfactory reliability and age discrimination on half-year intervals. The list was cross-validated on a sample of 275 mothers, for which medians of alpha coefficients for the six subtests ranged from 0.69 to 0.96, with most (26 out of 36) coefficients being 0.77 or higher. Again, the age discrimination was satisfactory, although floor effects appeared on four subtests for children younger than 12 months and ceiling effects on two subtests for children older than 24 months.     

Examining the reliability of ADAS-Cog change scores

The purpose of this study was to estimate and examine ways to improve the reliability of change scores on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale, Cognitive Subtest (ADAS-Cog). The sample, provided by the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, included individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (n = 153) and individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n = 352). All participants were administered the ADAS-Cog at baseline and 1 year, and change scores were calculated as the difference in scores over the 1-year period. Three types of change score reliabilities were estimated using multivariate generalizability. Two methods to increase change score reliability were evaluated: reweighting the subtests of the scale and adding more subtests. Reliability of ADAS-Cog change scores over 1 year was low for both the AD sample (ranging from .53 to .64) and the MCI sample (.39 to .61). Reweighting the change scores from the AD sample improved reliability (.68 to .76), but lengthening provided no useful improvement for either sample. The MCI change scores had low reliability, even with reweighting and adding additional subtests. The ADAS-Cog scores had low reliability for measuring change. Researchers using the ADAS-Cog should estimate and report reliability for their use of the change scores. The ADAS-Cog change scores are not recommended for assessment of meaningful clinical change.     

II. The comparability of the WISC-R and WAIS among 16-year-old EMR children

Thirty 16-year-old EMR children were administered the WAIS and WISC-R in counterbalance order to determine the comparability of the two assessment instruments. The WAIS was found to yield significantly higher Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores. The comparisons of corresponding subtests indicate that all WAIS subtests were significantly higher than the WISC-R except Picture Completion. Correlations between corresponding WAIS and WISC-R IQ scales and subtests, however, were significant. The results suggest differences between the two instruments among children of subnormal intelligence, thus presenting the possibility that a child may be differentially classified based on the selection of the intelligence test.     

Concurrent validity of the Woodcock-Johnson psycho-educational battery with regular and learning-disabled students

A comparison of the WISC-R and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Educational Battery (W-J) was made for children with regular and learning-disabled (LD) class placement. The W-J and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) evidence low to moderate correlations and significant mean differences, indicating that the two tests are measuring somewhat different abilities to somewhat differing degrees. W-J—WISC-R correlations for the regular students exceed those of the LD students in the greater majority of the cases. Rank ordering of the WISC-R subtests and the W-J clusters indicate, as might be expected, that the LD students fare the worst in the WISC-R academic subtests (Arithmetic, Information and Vocabulary) and in the W-J academic clusters. More research needs to be conducted with the W-J before it should be adopted for use in the placement of exceptional children.     

A regression analysis of test bias on the WISC-R for Anglos and Chicanos referred for psychological services

Predictive validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised was investigated across race for 174 Chicano and 94 Anglo children referred for psychological services. Regression lines for the prediction of achievement were compared across race through the Potthoff analysis, which provides a simultaneous test of slope and intercept values. Results of these comparisons generally supported the predictive validity of the WISC-R across race with this referral sample of young children.     

WPPSI reliability and predictive validity with disadvantaged Mexican-American children

The reliability and predictive validity of the WPPSI was investigated with a sample of lower SES Mexican-American children. Reliability was determined using split-half procedures parallel to those reported in the test manual. Predictive validity was determined by correlating WPPSI scores with scores from the Metropolitan Reading Test. The results revealed that the WPPSI has high reliability, as determined by internal consistency procedures, but validity coefficients were not significant. These results suggest that the WPPSI may be inappropriate for special program placement purposes with this population.     

Validity of the similarities ratio as a predictor of violent behavior: data from a mentally-retarded sample

It has been proposed that a low WAIS Similarities subtest scaled score, relative to the other subtests, is associated with violent behavior. The validity of this ratio was investigated in a sample of 106 mentally-retarded Ss. The ratio of Similarities to the sum of all the subtest scores was correlated with the Violent and Destructive Behavior domain from the Adaptive Behavior Scale. A very small (r = -0.11) and statistically-nonsignificant coefficient was derived, making this the third failure to replicate or generalize the validity of this index.