Cecil R. Reynolds

What I think and feel: a revised measure of children's manifest anxiety

The 1956 adaptation for children of Taylors Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Childrens Manifest Anxiety Scale, was revised to meet current psychometric standards. A 73-item revision draft was administered to 329 school children from grades 1 to 12. Based on item-analysis criteria for rbis≥.4 and .30≤p≤.70, 28 anxiety items were retained along with 9 of the original 11 Lie scale items. A cross-validation sample of 167 children from grades 2, 5, 9, 10, and 11 produced a KR20 reliability estimate of .85. Anxiety scores did not differ across grade or race. Females scored significantly higher than males. For the Lie scale, significant differences appeared by grade and race. No sex differences were obtained on the Lie scale. The resulting scale appears useful for children in grades 1 to 12 and may aid in future studies of anxiety as well as assisting the clinician in the understanding of individual children.

Critical Measurement Issues in Learning Disabilities

For many years (Chalfant & Scheffelin, 1969), but particularly since the passage of Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975), the diagnosis and evaluation of learning disabilities has presented major problems. The central one has been the problem of arriving at a workable definition of learning disability (LD). Education and psychology, the primary fields concerned with learning disabilities are low consensus fields, dealing with human behavior and theoretical constructs (of which LD is one). Much controversy has always existed regarding just what constitutes a learning disability. The rules and regulations for implementation of PL 94-142 provide a definition for use by multidisciplinary teams in deciding upon a diagnosis of LD. This definition states that a determination of LD:

The continuous performance test: a window on the neural substrates for attention?

Attention is a complex process whose disturbance is considered a core deficit in a number of disorders [e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia]. In 1956, Rosvold and colleagues [J. Consult. Psychol. 20 (1956) 343.] demonstrated that the continuous performance test (CPT) as a measure of sustained attention was highly sensitive to brain damage or dysfunction. These findings have been replicated with various populations and with various versions of the CPT. The CPT is now cited as the most frequently used measure of attention in both practice and research. Across studies, results are consistent with models of sustained attention that involve the interaction of cortical (frontal, temporal, parietal), subcortical (limbic, basal ganglia), and functional systems including the pathways between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal lobes. Right hemisphere involvement (asymmetric response) is also evident across multiple studies. As such, the CPT demonstrates sensitivity to dysfunction of the attentional system whether this is due to diffuse or more focal damage/dysfunction or in conjunction with any specific disorder. CPT performance can be viewed as symptom specific (attentional disturbance), but it is not disorder specific (e.g., ADHD). Implications for neuropsychological interpretation of CPT results are presented.

A Model of the Development of Frontal Lobe Functioning: Findings From a Meta-Analysis

Although past research has provided an initial examination of maturational trends of frontal lobe functioning, it has not yielded a unifying developmental model. The purpose of this study was to generate a model representing the maturation of frontal lobe function as determined principally through neuropsychological tests. A meta-analytic review of the literature on the development of frontal lobe functioning was conducted. Journal articles were identified through an initial search of PsycInfo, Medline, and ERIC for the years 1984-2004 using key words executive function*, frontal function*, development*, and age. Analyses of effect size differences across age groups assisted in determining the developmental patterns for commonly used measures of frontal functioning by providing a common metric of growth. Age-related increases across the different frontal functions were averaged providing overall age-related increases in performance. A plot was made of the development of frontal lobe functioning using the mean effect size of change in performance across age groups. The model of the development of frontal lobe functioning suggests a staging of development that begins in early childhood with the maturation of frontal functioning and continues, although at a decreased rate, into adolescence and early adulthood.

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 Spearmans 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.

Sex, race, residence, region, and education differences on the 11 WAIS-R subtests

The relationship of test performance on the 11 WAIS-R subtests to five background variables was examined by MANOVAs and univariate ANOVAs on standardization data. For all four broad age groups (16-19, 20-34, 35-54, 55-74), significant differences were found for sex, race, and education main effects. Geographic region produced significant main effects for three of the age groups, but residence yielded significant results only for the oldest group. The pattern of the relationships of subtest scores to each background variable was analyzed, interpreted, and integrated with previous research.

Forward and backward memory span should not be combined for clinical analysis

The practice of combining forward and backward memory span, as represented so prominently on the various Wechsler Scales, to arrive at a composite score for clinical interpretation is examined historically and actuarially using a large (N = 1,342) nationally stratified random sample of children from ages 5 years through 19 years. Past literature does not support the additive nature of forward and backward memory span as elements of a common process. Factor analyses of forward and backward recall using both digits and letters indicate that the two memory processes are distinct as well and should not be combined for clinical interpretation.

Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale

A modified multitrait multimethod validation matrix was generated to evaluate the construct validity of the newly revised Childrens Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). For both males (N = 49) and females (N = 37) a pattern of results occurred that was generally consistent with the use of the RCMAS as a measure of chronic, manifest anxiety levels in children. Large correlations occurred with other trait measures of anxiety but not with state anxiety measures or IQ. Smaller but consistently positive correlations occurred between childrens ratings of their anxiety and teacher observations of behavior problems.

Critical Issues in Response-To-Intervention, Comprehensive Evaluation, and Specific Learning Disabilities Identification and Intervention: An Expert White Paper Consensus

Developed in concert with the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA), this White Paper regarding specific learning disabilities identification and intervention represents the expert consensus of 58 accomplished scholars in education, psychology, medicine, and the law. Survey responses and empirical evidence suggest that five conclusions are warranted: 1) The SLD definition should be maintained and the statutory requirements in SLD identification procedures should be strengthened; 2) neither ability-achievement discrepancy analysis nor failure to respond to intervention alone is sufficient for SLD identification; 3) a “third method” approach that identifies a pattern of psychological processing strengths and weaknesses, and achievement deficits consistent with this pattern of processing weaknesses, makes the most empirical and clinical sense; 4) an empirically-validated RTI model could be used to prevent learning problems, but comprehensive evaluations should occur for SLD identification purposes, and children with SLD need individualized interventions based on specific learning needs, not merely more intense interventions; and 5) assessment of cognitive and neuropsychological processes should be used for both SLD identification and intervention purposes.

Demographic Characteristics and IQ among Adults: Analysis of the WAIS-R Standardization Sample as a Function of the Stratification Variables.

Abstract The goal of the present investigation was to analyze data from the standardization sample of the 1981 Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) to determine the relationships of WAIS-R IQs to the demographic variables upon which the sample was stratified. The sample included 1, 880 adults stratified according to sex and age (equal numbers of males and females within nine groups), race, occupation, urban-rural residence, geographic region, and education. There were 1, 664 whites, 192 blacks, and 24 from other nonwhite groups. Analyses of variance were conducted separately for Verbal (VIQ), Performance (PIQ), and Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). The differences in mean IQs due to sex, urban-rural residence, and geographic regions were nonsignificant. However, there were significant differences that were due to race and education level, and there were also sizeable differences noted for occupational groups. There was a 14 1 2 -point difference in favor of whites over blacks on FSIQ. Differences due to education and occupation were striking: College graduates earned FSIQs that were 32 1 2 points higher than the FSIQs of individuals with 7 years or less of schooling, and professional and technical workers outscored unskilled workers on the WAIS-R Full Scale by 22 points.