Wyman E. Fischer

The Incremental Validity of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery in Predicting Achievement for Learning-Disabled Children

This study examined the incremental validity of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for older children (HRNB) over the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised in predicting scores on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) for 989 children referred for learning difficulties. A substantial increase (16 to 30%) in the variability accounted for in school achievement resulted with the addition of the HRNB tests to information obtained from the WISC-R. Specific tests of the HRNB were discussed in light of their unique contribution to the prediction of each of the three WRAT subtests (Reading, Spelling, and Mathematics).

Construct Validity of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for Children with Learning Disorders

The underlying constructs of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for Older Children (HRNB-C; Reitan, 1969) were examined for a large sample of learning-disabled children. Scores on the HRNB-C, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, and the Wide Range Achievement Test were factor analyzed separately for 9- to 10-year-olds, 11- to 12-year-olds, and 13- to 14-year-olds and then the overall group. Like factors were identified across age levels and compared using coefficients of congruence. A six-factor solution emerged for the 9- to 10-year-old group, whereas a seven-factor solution was interpreted for the older groups. Factors appeared to represent Simple Motor Skills, Visually Guided Motor Activities, Verbal Organization and Verbal Concept Formation, Symbolic Langauge Integration, Spatial Organization, and Integration across age. Factors that related to Visual-Spatial Organization and Spatial Memory were less stable. These data were interpreted as suggesting an increase in complexity of neuropsychological functioning with age.

Response time as a dependent measure on the category test of the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery

The role of response time on the Category Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) was examined. Seventy-two normal adult volunteers were administered the complete HRNB. Average response times for individual slides were computed for correct (CRT), incorrect (IRT), and total (TRT) scores on the Category Test. The utility of these response-time scores was examined in the context of other HRNB variables seen to be factorially related to the Category Test. Results from a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that approximately 15% of the variability in Category error scores was explained by a measure of spatial memory (TPT-location), and an additional 15% was accounted for by response time (TRT and IRT). A factor analysis indicated that the three measures of response time loaded on a factor that accounted for 21% of the explained variability in HRNB performance.

The Moderating Influence of Gender, Intelligence, and Specific Achievement Deficiencies on the Bannatyne WISC-R Recategorization

This study was designed to examine the influence of a number of possible moderating variables on the Bannatyne pattern when applied to samples of learning-disabled and emotionally disturbed students. In addition, the study examined the relationship of the Acquired Knowledge scale with the remainder of the Bannatyne recategorization. The sample was comprised of 325 male and female subjects from a medium-sized Indiana community who had been placed in special education classes for either the learning-disabled or the emotionally disturbed. A three-factor MANOVA was employed to determine possible interactions among gender, type of special class placement, and type of achievement discrepancy with the Bannatyne pattern. The Bannatyne pattern was supported for both the learning-disabled and the emotionally disturbed samples. However, the magnitude of the differences between scales within the pattern were influenced by such moderating variables as gender, intelligence, and type of achievement discrepancy, with gender appearing to be the most influential.

Construct Validity of the K-ABC with an At-Risk Preschool Population.

The purpose of the study was to explore the construct validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) for an at-risk preschool population. The sample consisted of 122 preschoolers from two Midwestern states. Because the K-ABCs authors conceived of an instrument that would measure processing and achievement as separate constructs, two confirmatory factor analyses were done. One analysis compared correlated and uncorrelated models for only the processing variables. The second analysis compared correlated and uncorrelated factor models for the processing and achievement subtests combined. In each case the correlated models fit the data significantly better than the uncorrelated models. We concluded that district constructs of simultaneous and sequential processing could not be verified by this test alone. However, further analyses supported the K-ABC subscales as strong measures of g.

A Comparative Factor Analysis of the Wisc-R by Sex and Age with Learning Disabled Children

WISC-R data were factor analyzed for a sample of 980 learning disabled subjects aged 9 through 14. Separate analyses were conducted for the total sample, males only, females only, and age-level groupings. The three-factor solution (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility), previously identified in normal samples, was found to be appropriate for the learning disabled subjects in the present study for the total sample and the sex and age groupings. The Verbal Comprehension factor emerged as the most robust followed by Perceptual Organization and Freedom from Distractibility.

Relationship of auditory discrimination ability to WISC‐R subtest performance in learning‐disabled children

We examined the relationship of auditory discrimination ability, as measured by the Speech Sounds Perception and the Seashore Rhythm tests of the Halstead‐Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB), to Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children‐Revised (WISC‐R) subtest performance with 1,024 children referred for learning difficulties. Results of a canonical analysis for the HRNB auditory discrimination measures with the WISC‐R subtests yielded two significant canonical correlations. Interpretable WISC‐R subtests included Digit Span, Arithmetic, Information, and Block Design for the first canonical correlation. The Similarities and Information subtests were interpretable variables in the second canonical correlation. Results are discussed in view of the underlying constructs of the interpretable subtests’ relationship to auditory discrimination ability. These data suggest that examination of specific WISC‐R subtests is useful in evaluating children referred for learning disabilities.