Maria J. Avitia

Creativity and Intelligence

The relationship between creativity and intelligence is a frequent topic of research and debate in the social sciences. In this chapter, we use Sternberg’s framework for examining the definitions of creativity and intelligence and how they may be related. Sternberg’s model suggests five possible relationships: Creativity as a subset of intelligence; intelligence as a subset of creativity; creativity and intelligence as overlapping sets; creativity and intelligence as coincident sets; and creativity and intelligence as disjoint sets. In the following sections, we provide examples of each type of relationship. The last two categories, coincident and disjoint sets, are quite rare and are not described in this chapter.

Exploratory Factor Analysis of Reading, Spelling, and Math Errors.

Norm-referenced error analysis is useful for understanding individual differences in students’ academic skill development and for identifying areas of skill strength and weakness. The purpose of the present study was to identify underlying connections between error categories across five language and math subtests of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3) through exploratory factor analyses (EFAs). The EFA results were supportive of models with two or three factors for each of the five subtests. Significant inter-factor correlations within subtests were identified in all subtests, except between two factors within the Math Concepts and Application (MCA) subtest. There was also consistency in the covariance patterns of some error categories across subtests, particularly within the Nonsense Word Decoding (NWD) and Spelling (SP) subtests. This consistency was supportive of the proposed factor structures. The factor structures yielded by these analyses were used as the bases for the other articles in this special issue.

Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses on the WISC-V, DAS-II, and KABC-II and Their Relationship to Students' Errors in Oral Language, Reading, Writing, Spelling, and Math.

This study investigated the relationship between specific cognitive patterns of strengths and weaknesses and the errors children make on oral language, reading, writing, spelling, and math subtests from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3). Participants with scores from the KTEA-3 and either the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fifth Edition (WISC-V), Differential Ability Scales–Second Edition (DAS-II), or Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children–Second Edition (KABC-II) were selected based on their profile of scores. Error factor scores for the oral and written language tests were compared for three groups: High Gc paired with low processing speed, long-term memory, and/or reasoning abilities; Low Gc paired with high speed, memory, and/or reasoning; and Low orthographic and/or phonological processing. Error factor scores for the math tests were compared for three groups: High Gc profile; High Gf paired with low processing speed and/or long-term memory; and Low Gf paired with high processing speed and/or long-term memory. Results indicated a difference in Oral Expression and Written Expression error factor scores between the group with High Gc paired with low processing speed, long-term memory, and/or reasoning abilities; and the group with Low Gc paired with high speed, memory, and/or reasoning.

Achievement Error Differences of Students With Reading Versus Math Disorders

The purpose of this study was to understand and compare the types of errors students with a specific learning disability in reading and/or writing (SLD-R/W) and those with a specific learning disability in math (SLD-M) made in the areas of reading, writing, language, and mathematics. Clinical samples were selected from the norming population of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3) as well as matched controls. Although the authors expected to find overall differences between the groups in their area of difficulties, the study revealed that the two clinical samples were more similar than different. In particular, the SLD-M clinical group performed lower on some errors that were not related to their area of disability compared with the SLD-R/W group. Implications of the study show the importance of error analysis especially when creating goals for individual education plans. Although a student may have an SLD-R/W, he or she may still need support in certain mathematic areas, and vice versa.

Differences in Errors Between Students With Language and Reading Disabilities

Children with a specific learning disability in reading/writing (LDRW) and/or language impairment (LI) are likely to have difficulties across all areas of academic achievement, as a great deal of teaching and learning depends on intact reading skill and linguistic communication. Despite a large number of studies examining academic difficulties among these groups, there has been minimal research investigating types of errors made on tests of academic achievement. The present study compared academic error types of children with LDRW (Group 1) and children with LI (Group 3) to two distinct demographically matched control groups (Groups 2 and 4) using the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3) error analysis system. Findings indicate that children in the LDRW group or LI group, on average, made a greater number of errors than their matched counterparts. Statistically significant differences, with moderate effect sizes, were found between examinees in the clinical groups and their respective matched control groups across several error categories. Some of the largest differences were found in the Written Expression and Oral Expression subtests. Most importantly, the patterns of errors made by LDRW and LI samples differed notably on the various tasks, providing new insights about these clinical samples.

Do the Kinds of Achievement Errors Made by Students Diagnosed With ADHD Vary as a Function of Their Reading Ability

A large body of research has documented the relationship between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading difficulties in children; however, there have been no studies to date that have examined errors made by students with ADHD and reading difficulties. The present study sought to determine whether the kinds of achievement errors made by students diagnosed with ADHD vary as a function of their reading ability. The participants in this study were 91 students in the ADHD clinical validity standardization sample of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement–Third Edition (KTEA-3), as well as a control group of 63 students selected from the larger standardization sample. Students with ADHD and reading difficulties demonstrated a statistically significant greater amount of errors across tests of academic achievement. Findings from the study are discussed within the context of past research, as well as implications for the field of school psychology and practitioners.

Psychologically Based Therapies to Improve Lung Functioning in Students with Asthma.

Asthma is a common, chronic respiratory disease that can be costly to both society and the individual. In addition to increased absenteeism, children with asthma may also be at a greater risk for developing comorbid anxiety and depression. Various complementary psychological treatments have been effective at reducing both asthmatic symptoms and psychological distress. Although the research in the area of mind-body treatments as it pertains specifically to persons with asthma is still developing, this article will describe several promising alternative treatment methods, many of which have already been, or could be easily be applied for use in a school setting.

Gifted and learning-disabled: A study of strengths and weaknesses in higher-order processing

ABSTRACT Students who exhibit giftedness alongside a learning disability (GLD) often display asynchronous academic development, and a combination of strengths that mask areas of struggle. Early identification and intervention may offset students experiencing low self-confidence and motivation, ineffective self-efficacy, or a loss of love for learning (Reis, McGuire, & Neu, 2000). It is essential to understand the unique patterns of strengths and weaknesses that gifted students (GTs) with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) display in order to develop interventions that leverage strengths while targeting weaknesses. In this study, we compared GLDs’ performances to those of GTs and SLDs on the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3). While GTs outperform GLDs and GLDs outperform the SLDs across all of the academic subtests, the analysis of the academic error scores indicate GLDs only differ from GTs for basic phonic decoding and math calculation. GLDs had fewer errors than SLDs across all error scores with the exceptions of intermediate letter-sound knowledge, basic phonic decoding, and addition. Consequently, GLDs have a unique profile of errors that indicates that their ability to decode is comparable to the SLD sample, and their error patterns in other areas suggest academic difficulties.

Relationship between reading and long-term storage and retrieval (Glr) in college students

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to (a) identify the relationship between specific types of reading ability, different forms of learning, and long-term memory and retrieval (Glr); and then (b) to determine the degree to which self-assessed reading ability and a Glr measure could predict objective reading ability. College students were administered three different reading assessments from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition (KTEA-II): word reading, reading comprehension, and nonsense word decoding. They were also given two pairs of Glr subtests that consisted of immediate and delayed versions from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II). One set was embedded within context, whereas the other was not. Results showed that although overall reading ability and reading comprehension correlated the highest with Glr measures that were embedded in context, word reading, and nonsense word decoding were correlated the highest with delayed measures of Glr. Second, the self-assessment accounted for 23% of the variability in overall reading ability. Not only do these results show the strength of the relationship between Glr and reading, but also the ability to use these measures along with self-assessment to screen for reading disabilities.