FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF WISC PERFORMANCE O F LEARNING- DISORDERED, HYPERACTIVE, AND MENTALLY RETARDED BOYS', '

BARBARA K. KEOGH JACK WETTER ANN MCGINTY

University of California, Los Angeles

GENEVIEVE DONLON

Park Century School, Los Angeles

Interpretation of standardized intelligence tests, such as the WISC, tends to be in terms of I& comparison (verbal/performance) or according to patterns among single subtest scores. Although single summarizing or unitary scores provide a basis for categorization and/or placement of children within school programs, reliance on norm-referenced, quantitative interpretation does not direct remedial or treatment strategies for individual children. Concern for functional analysis of performance has led to increased interest in psychoeducational evaluation which involves pro- cess variables (Keogh, 1972). How children approach and attempt to solve school tasks and the strategies they utilize in learning are important considerations for school psychologists.

The work of Witkin and his associates (Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, & Karp, 1962) provides one possible framework for a functional or process analysis. Witkin, et al. (1962), who drew upon earlier work by Cohen (1959), proposed that WISC subtests fall into three major factors that tap three relatively independent functions. In their scheme, a Verbal-Comprehension factor is composed of Informa- tion, Vocabulary, and Comprehension subtests; an Analytic-Field-Approach factor is made up of Object Assembly, Block Design, and Picture Completion subtests; and an Attentional-Concentration factor is composed of Arithmetic, Digit Span, and Coding subtests. Individual differences in styles of intellectual performance, especially as they relate to characteristics of field independence-dependence, are presumed to be reflected in differences in patterning of factor scores. Witkin and his associates have described differential patterns for retarded (Witkin, Faterson, Goodenough, & Birnbaum, 1966) and blind (Witkin, Birnbaum, Lomonaco, Lehr, & Herman, 1968) children. Further support for such an approach comes from the work of Keogh (1971a) with hyperactive children and independently from the findings of Ackerman, Peters, and Dykman (1971), Owen, Adams, Forrest, Stolz, and Fisher (1972), and Switzer (1972) with children with educational handicaps. Thus, the three-factor approach to analysis of WISC performance appears promising. The present study was designed specifically to investigate patterns of WISC per- formance of children with serious school learning and adjustment problems. Specifi- cally, WISC scores of mentally retarded, learning disordered, and hyperactive learning disordered children were analyzed in terms of three categories of subtests hypothesized to reflect process or functional aspects of intellectual performance.

'Paper presented in part a t the American Psychological Association meeting, Honolulu, Sep-

ZThe authors wish to thank the Directors of the Park Century School, the Switzer Center for tember, 1972. A summary of that presentation appears in the 1972 Convention Proceedings.

Educational Therapy, and the UCLA Learning Disabilities Clinic for cooperation in this study.

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF WISC PERFORMANCE 179

METHOD Subjects

Three independent samples were included for comparison: 26 boys in public- school classes for educable mentally retarded (EMR), 24 private-school children with serious learning and behavior problems (LD), and 26 boys referred to a pediatric Learning Disability Clinic for evaluation of hyperactivity and learning problems (LD-HA). Ethnic representation was comparable in the LD samples, but more minority children were in the EMR group. CA and IQ findings by subsamples are summarized in Table 1. t-values for comparisons of groups on CA were nonsigni- ficant. Comparisons of EMR and LD groups on the WISC Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs yielded significant (8.01) t-values of 8.87, 8.98, and 8.22, respectively. Comparable 2-values for EMR-LDHA comparisons were 11.52, 7.15, and 11.25, respectively, all significant beyond p = .01. No significant differences in CA or I& were found between the LD and LDHA groups.

TABLE 1 . MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF AGE A N D I& BY SUBSAMPLES

Sample N CA VIQ (Months)

PI& FSIQ

M SD M SD M SD M SD

EMR 26 140.0 14.99 73.07 5.90 80.52 10.40 74.26 7.67

LD 24 121.7 16.53 102.46 15.37 103.21 15.58 103.13 15.62

LD-HA 26 118.0 20.90 103.38 11.76 104.62 13.25 104.12 10.83

Procedures All Ss had been given intelligence tests as part of a diagnostic evaluation. Scaled

scores for WISC subtests were analyzed according to three categories: Verbal- Comprehension, Attention-Concentration, and Analytic-Field-Approach. Subtest composition of categories has been described already. Category scores used in this analysis represented the total scales score value of the three subtests that composed each category. In the case of several ERlR Ss, it was necessary to prorate a single factor value when one subtest was missing.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Data were organized to compare category scores within and across groups. Means and standard deviations of category scores for the three samples are found in Table 2. EMR category means were clearly different from the two LD groups. TABLE 2. MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF VERBALCOMPREHENSION, ANALYTIC-FIELD- APPROACH, AND ATTENTION-CONCENTRATION FACTOR SCORES FOR EMR, LD, AND LD-HA GROUPS

Sample Verbal Analytic Attention

M SD M SD M SD EMR (N = 26) 17.04 3.41 21.78 5.09 18.15 4.51

LD (N = 24) 31.83 8.35 32.46 7 .30 28.25 9.13

LD-HA (N = 26) 31.08 5.80 34.23 5.87 25.69 3.97

180 BARBARA K. KEOGH, JACK WETTER, ANN M C GINTY AND GENEVIEVE DONLON

For the Verbal category, l-values were 8.14 and 10.43 for comparisons of EMR and LD, and EAlR and LD-HA respectively. Comparable t-values were 5.92 and 8.01 for Analytic category scores and 4.92 and 6.27 for Attention category scores. LD groups did not differ significantly from each other in value of means (1 = 0.36, 0.93, and 1.28 for the Verbal, Analytic and Att,ention category comparisons). Of more interest were within-group differences, tested with a series of repeated measures one-way analyses of variance. Category scores within EnlR and LD-HA groups were significantly different ( F = 8.29 and 22.17, df 2/80, p < .01 respectively). F-value (1.73) was nonsignificant for the LD group.

To begin by examining patterns of EMR performance, lowest mean scores were in Verbal-Comprehension items, highest in Analytic subtests, differences consistent with findings reported by Witkin, et al. (1966). It is important to note that many of these ERlR Ss were from Spanish-speaking families; thus, their identification as ERlR may have been influenced heavily by specific limitations in verbal abilities. A number of boys in the EMR group had Analytic or Attention category scores within the low normal or normal range, which suggests that potential strengths in other abilities may have been underestimated or overlooked. This finding is especial- ly important in light of the work of Mercer (1971), who reported that many minority children classified as educable mentally retarded had good adaptive abilities. Mercer has argued persuasively for consideration of abilities other than school-related language skills in the assessment of minority children; thus a process analysis may be especially important in the evaluation of children from differing ethnic back- grounds.

In contrast to the ERlR sample, both LD groups were adequate in Verbal and Analytic abilities, their lowest scores on Attention-Concentration items. This pattern was especially noticeable for children referred with a major complaint of hyperactive behavior (LD-HA sample). Examination of the three WISC subtest categories for this group supports the hypothesis that attentional difficulties are related to learning problems of hyperactive children. It is of particular importance to note that for the LD-HA group differential patterns of performance were not reflected in WISC Verbal-Performance IQs. Verbal and Performance I& means, reported in Table 1, are solidly within the normal range and remarkably consistent. Yet, there were significant differences in subtest category scores. It seems likely that the summarizing I& values masked functional differences in problem-solving skills, differences that may be important diagnostic and evaluative data.

Individual differences in performance as reflected on the category scores may well be used in the planning and development of remedial programs for individual children. Functional characteristics of children with severe school learning problems are varied, which supports the importance of differentiated remedial strategies (Keogh, 1971b). Specification of particular areas of strength and weakness through the process analysis described may provide direction for individualized program planning and thus increase the usefulness of the WISC in psycho-educational evaluation.

Department of Education University of California Los Angeles, Calif. 90024

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS O F WISC PERFORMANCE 181

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WITKIN, H. A., DYK, R., FATERSON, H., GOODENOUGH, D., & KARP, S. Psychological diflercntiation. New York: Wiley, 1962.

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Difererenlial progress rates within a n educationally handicapped population.

PREDICTING READING ACHIEVEMENT I N DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN

LIBBY GOODMAN AND J. LEE WIEDERHOLT

Montgomery County ( P a . ) Inlermediate Uni t University of Arizona

Considerable effort has been expended to identify the prerequisite skills for reading. Of the many abilities that relate to reading performance, school personnel most often employ tests of intelligence, readiness, and, in recent years, visual per- ception as predictors of future reading achievement. At the end of kindergarten or the beginning of first grade, tests of intelligence, readiness, and visual perception commonly are administered and the results used to make decisions about future reading instruction, ie., grouping, instructional programming, etc. Although the use of these tests for predictive purposes is accepted widely, the practice may be unwarranted.

To what extent can these abilities be used as predictor variables? Statistically significant relationships between reading and each of these abilities have been documented widely and frequently. However, their practical significance, which depends upon the magnitude of the statistical relationship between variables, is the important consideration for educational practitioners. On the basis of correlation coefficients that ranged from .43 to .58 between the Metropolitan Readiness Test (RIRT) and first-grade achievement, Mitchell (1962) concluded that readiness is a good predictor of first-grade reading achievement. In a longitudinal study, Kingston (1962) found that the MRT correlated significantly with reading achievement in grades 3 and 4, but that the correlations were not high enough to allow for individual