Nicholas Benson

Independent examination of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV): what does the WAIS-IV measure?

Published empirical evidence for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) does not address some essential questions pertaining to the applied practice of intellectual assessment. In this study, the structure and cross-age invariance of the latest WAIS-IV revision were examined to (a) elucidate the nature of the constructs measured and (b) determine whether the same constructs are measured across ages. Results suggest that a Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC)-inspired structure provides a better description of test performance than the published scoring structure does. Broad CHC abilities measured by the WAIS-IV include crystallized ability (Gc), fluid reasoning (Gf), visual processing (Gv), short-term memory (Gsm), and processing speed (Gs), although some of these abilities are measured more comprehensively than are others. Additionally, the WAIS-IV provides a measure of quantitative reasoning (QR). Results also suggest a lack of cross-age invariance resulting from age-related differences in factor loadings. Formulas for calculating CHC indexes and suggestions for interpretation are provided.

The Use of Group Contingencies for Preventing and Managing Disruptive Behaviors.

257 Disruptive behaviors requiring intervention occur across multiple school systems, including individual students and classrooms (Hendley, 2007; Simeonsson, 1991). Such behaviors, including talking aloud in class, getting out of one’s seat, or more serious behaviors, can be frustrating for other students as well as teachers, who are trying to help students meet everincreasing academic expectations. Although some behaviors are the result of an individual child who has difficulty complying with a teacher’s classroom expectations, other behavior problems may be because of entire groups of students in the classroom whose behaviors are judged by school personnel as problematic. Although disruptive behavior can be directly observed in isolation, getting a general sense of the frequency of disruptive behavior in classrooms is much more difficult. Researchers observing four elementary school classrooms found that behaviors that interfered with the flow of classroom instruction occurred two times every 10 minutes (Reinke, Lewis-Palmer, & Merrell, 2008). Teachers report that acting-out behaviors are sources of significant distress and relate to teacher burnout in a variety of class settings (Axup & Gersch, 2008; Evers, Tomic, & Brouwers, 2004; Hastings & Bham, 2003; Talmor, Reiter, & Feigin, 2005).

Classification agreement analysis of Cross-Battery Assessment in the identification of specific learning disorders in children and youth

The Cross-Battery Assessment (XBA) approach to identifying a specific learning disorder (SLD) is based on the postulate that deficits in cognitive abilities in the presence of otherwise average general intelligence are causally related to academic achievement weaknesses. To examine this postulate, we conducted a classification agreement analysis using the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Achievement. We examined the broad cognitive abilities of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory held to be meaningfully related to basic reading, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, and mathematics reasoning across age groups. Results of analyses of 300 participants in three age groups (6–8, 9–13, and 14–19 years) indicated that the XBA method is very reliable and accurate in detecting true negatives. Mean specificity and negative predictive value were 92% and 89% across all broad cognitive abilities and academic domains. Mean sensitivity and positive predictive values, however, were generally quite low, indicating that this method is very poor at detecting true positives. Mean sensitivity and positive predictive value were 21% and 34% across all broad cognitive abilities and academic domains. In sum, results of this study do not support the use of the XBA method for identifying SLD. Implications of our findings for research and practice are discussed.

Cross-National Invariance of Children's Temperament.

Measurement of temperament is an important endeavor with international appeal; however, cross-national invariance (i.e., equivalence of test scores across countries as established by empirical comparisons) of temperament tests has not been established in published research. This study examines the cross-national invariance of school-aged childrens temperament styles as measured by the Student Styles Questionnaire (SSQ). Development of the SSQ was based on Jungs theory of temperament as augmented by Myers and Briggs. A four bipolar dimension model provided an excellent fit for Australian, Chinese, Costa Rican, Philippine, United States, and Zimbabwean samples and modest fit for Gaza (Palestinian) and Nigerian samples. This study provides partial support for the conclusion that the structure of school-age childrens temperament as measured by the SSQ transcends differences in languages and cultures.

Cross-Battery Assessment Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses Approach to the Identification of Specific Learning Disorders: Evidence-Based Practice or Pseudoscience?.

In Conjectures and Refutations, the philosopher of science Karl Popper (1962) stated that “the criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability, or refutability, or testability”...

Implications of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) for Test Development and Use

Implications of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) on the development and use of tests in school settings are enumerated. We predict increased demand for behavioural assessments that consider a person’s activities, participation and person-environment interactions, including measures that: (a) address contextual features; (b) rely on third-party respondents; (c) depend on observational approaches; (d) comprise batteries of tests developed simultaneously or co-normed and (e) emphasize process and progress monitoring. We review some tests from the United States that respond to each emerging demand and describe the international implications of these demands. We close by describing the implications of the ICF model and its associated changes in testing practices for service delivery and student outcomes.

Examining the integrity of measurement of cognitive abilities in the prediction of achievement: Comparisons and contrasts across variables from higher-order and bifactor models.

Prior research examining cognitive ability and academic achievement relations have been based on different theoretical models, have employed both latent variables as well as observed variables, and have used a variety of analytic methods. Not surprisingly, results have been inconsistent across studies. The aims of this study were to (a) examine how relations between psychometric g, Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) broad abilities, and academic achievement differ across higher-order and bifactor models; (b) examine how well various types of observed scores corresponded with latent variables; and (c) compare two types of observed scores (i.e., refined and non-refined factor scores) as predictors of academic achievement. Results suggest that cognitive-achievement relations vary across theoretical models and that both types of factor scores tend to correspond well with the models on which they are based. However, orthogonal refined factor scores (derived from a bifactor model) have the advantage of controlling for multicollinearity arising from the measurement of psychometric g across all measures of cognitive abilities. Results indicate that the refined factor scores provide more precise representations of their targeted constructs than non-refined factor scores and maintain close correspondence with the cognitive-achievement relations observed for latent variables. Thus, we argue that orthogonal refined factor scores provide more accurate representations of the relations between CHC broad abilities and achievement outcomes than non-refined scores do. Further, the use of refined factor scores addresses calls for the application of scores based on latent variable models.

A Four-Factor Social Support Model to Mediate Stressors Experienced by Children Raised by Grandparents

Increasing numbers of children are being raised by grandparents (CRBG). Grandparents provide a familial connection to these children, yet they tend to experience stressors that limit their effective functioning as surrogate parents. The children also experience stress that attenuates psychosocial well-being. In this article, the phenomenon of CRBG is described and social support is advanced as a theoretical framework to guide the development of prevention and intervention services. The article contributes to the theoretical and applied knowledge base as perhaps the first scholarly work that conceptualizes a specific four-factor social support model to mediate the school-related risk of CRBG and to promote their psychosocial well-being.

Intellectual assessment of children and youth in the United States of America: Past, present, and future

This article briefly reviews the history of intellectual assessment of children and youth in the United States of America, as well as current practices and future directions. Although administration of intelligence tests in the schools has been a longstanding practice in the United States, their use has also elicited sharp controversy over time. At present, intelligence tests are primarily used in school settings for determining eligibility for special education and related services. In clinical settings, intelligence tests are used for diagnostic, predictive, and treatment planning purposes. Over the past decade, the use of contemporary theory, particularly the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory (CHC), has increasingly been used for test development and interpretation.

Invariance of Woodcock-Johnson III Scores for Students with Learning Disorders and Students without Learning Disorders.

The purpose of this study was to test the invariance of scores derived from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJ III COG) and Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Academic Achievement (WJ III ACH) across a group of students diagnosed with learning disorders (n = 994) and a matched sample of students without known clinical diagnoses (n = 994). This study focused on scores reflecting broad cognitive abilities and areas of academic achievement in which children may demonstrate learning disabilities. Results of this study support the conclusion that the WJ III COG and WJ III ACH measure similar constructs for students with learning disabilities and students without learning disabilities. However, large and pervasive between-groups differences were found with regard to intercepts. Intercepts can be defined as predicted group means for individual tests, in which predicted group means are based on the factor loadings of these tests on the latent variable they are intended to measure. As many intercepts are not equivalent, it is possible that observed scores may not accurately reflect differences in the construct of interest when testing children with learning disabilities. However, tests displaying the largest intercept differences also displayed the largest group differences in observed scores, providing some support for the conclusion that these differences reflect construct-relevant between-group differences. Implications of this research are discussed.