Barbara A. Rothlisberg

How Education Should Respond to Students with Traumatic Brain Injury

This article focuses on the educational implications of traumatic brain injury (TBI). It details the conceptual issues surrounding TBI and discusses how assessment of this group differs from that of other groups with disabilities. Finally, the article offers suggestions for an integrated intervention approach based on the idea of bringing order to the life experiences of these students. The S. O. S. (Structure, Organization, and Strategy) Approach offers a framework from which to consider the variable needs of these learners.

Use of Brief Intelligence Tests in the Identification of Giftedness.

Schools often administer brief intelligence tests as the first step in the identification of students who are cognitively gifted. However, brief measures are often used without consideration of underlying constructs or the psychometric properties of the measures and without regard to the links between screening decisions and educational programming. This article provides an overview of these issues and offers recommendations for using brief intelligence measures particularly when screening children who are cognitively gifted.

Utilizing a Neuropsychological Paradigm for Understanding Common Educational and Psychological Tests

The field of psychology has long been marked by philosophical diversity and theoretical movements devoted to the investigation of individual differences (D’Amato & Rothlisberg, 1992). Scores of single paradigm assessment approaches designed to provide appropriate diagnosis and treatment of individual difficulties have come to the forefront, only to be eclipsed later by rival viewpoints or theoretical perspectives (e.g., psychoanalysis, behaviorism). Throughout this procession of philosophies and theories, countless numbers of educational and psychological tests have been administered and interpreted in an effort to better understand the abilities and needs of the individuals in question. The purpose of this chapter is to help consolidate available information and provide an integrative approach to the neuropsychological interpretation of common measures.

Profile Analysis of Deaf Children Using the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test

This study was conducted to determine whether children who are deaf perform similarly to hearing children on the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT; Bracken & McCallum, 1998). The children classified as deaf demonstrated a hearing loss of 60 dB or more, were prelingually deaf, and did not exhibit co-morbidity. They were matched on age, gender, race/ethnicity, and highest combined parental education level with hearing children from the UNIT standardization sample. Profile analysis found that both groups displayed similar patterns of performance on the six UNIT subtests. This consistency supports the UNIT as a viable measure of cognitive abilities when deaf children must be assessed for educational decision making.

The prediction of intelligence in preschool children using alternative models to regression

Statistical prediction of an outcome variable using multiple independent variables is a common practice in the social and behavioral sciences. For example, neuropsychologists are sometimes called upon to provide predictions of preinjury cognitive functioning for individuals who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Typically, these predictions are made using standard multiple linear regression models with several demographic variables (e.g., gender, ethnicity, education level) as predictors. Prior research has shown conflicting evidence regarding the ability of such models to provide accurate predictions of outcome variables such as full-scale intelligence (FSIQ) test scores. The present study had two goals: (1) to demonstrate the utility of a set of alternative prediction methods that have been applied extensively in the natural sciences and business but have not been frequently explored in the social sciences and (2) to develop models that can be used to predict premorbid cognitive functioning in preschool children. Predictions of Stanford–Binet 5 FSIQ scores for preschool-aged children is used to compare the performance of a multiple regression model with several of these alternative methods. Results demonstrate that classification and regression treesprovided more accurate predictions of FSIQ scores than does the more traditional regression approach. Implications of these results are discussed.

Processing Styles, Reading Performance and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Prescriptive Reading Performance Test, and a modification of the Analytic Reading Inventory were administered to a sample of nonexceptional, elementary-aged children to determine whether performance on the subscales of the K-ABC was associated with decoding and comprehension scores on the reading measures. While the Sequential Scale was found to be related significantly to decoding and even to comprehension of text written in standard form, the Simultaneous Scale showed no relation to any of the reading tasks. These findings suggested that caution must be exercised in presuming that variations in K-ABC performance, especially on the Simultaneous Scale, will predict reading skills in normal readers.

Performance of a referred sample on the Stanford-Binet IV and the K-ABC

Abstract The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SBIV) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) were administered to a sample of 40 referred children. Since both scales were purportedly designed to measure the theoretical view of intelligence proposed by Horn and Cattell (i.e., fluid and crystallized ability) it was deemed appropriate to evaluate the degree to which the subscales of the instruments were related. Correlation coefficients computed between the two tests were strong, suggesting consistency in the underlying global construct being measured; however, no compelling evidence supporting the theoretical structure of the two scales was apparent, raising questions as to the feasibility of using the fluid-crystallized model to describe subscale differences.

Factor Stability of the Lateral Preference Schedule

The stability of the factor structure of the Lateral Preference Schedule (LPS) was investigated with a sample of 568 preadolescents to determine whether the original factor structure displayed with the adult standardization sample would be maintained. Instead of the six laterality factors initially reported, this preadolescent samples factor analysis exhibited four factors. The findings suggested that care must be taken if the six factor solution of the LPS is presumed to exist when studying preadolescent samples.

Lateral Preference and Processing Style

Lateral preference, as measured by the Lateral Preference Schedule, was related to the Simultaneous, Sequential and Achievement Scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) for a sample of 44 normal elementary school children. The results showed that, as eye preference and general laterality became more mixed, children tended to score lower on all three scales of the K-ABC. This relationship was strongest for tasks related to classroom achievement.