[Truncated abstract] Intelligence in children increases with age until adult levels of performance are achieved. Dempster (1991) proposed that developmental changes in inhibitory processes underpin these changes in the development of intelligence. The evidence Dempster presented to support this thesis typically takes the form of noting changes in inhibitory performance that occur in the same time frame as changes in psychometric intelligence (Dempster, 1991, 1992, 1993; Dempster & Corkill, 1999). He also provides correlational evidence from studies in which intelligence scores are correlated with various inhibitory measures. One problem with much of the evidence presented by Dempster is that it does not distinguish between developmental and individual differences in inhibition and/or intelligence. Developmental differences are differences in performance between children at different ages. Individual differences are differences in performance between children of the same age. The majority of evidence Dempster provides concerns individual differences in inhibition and the relationship of these differences to intelligence rather than the relationship of any developmental differences to intelligence. Anderson (1987) suggests that the processes underpinning these two types of differences are not necessarily the same. For example, individual differences may be related to speed of processing, while developmental differences may be related to changes in inhibitory ability. Therefore, a more accurate test of Dempster’s thesis is to assess whether developmental changes in inhibition are related to developmental changes in intelligence, rather than whether individual differences in inhibition are related to intelligence. This was the primary goal of this thesis. A secondary goal was to address whether or not any developmental changes seen were primarily due to changes in inhibition or could be accounted for by changes in speed of processing. Measures which utilise difference score reaction time (RT) measures as inhibitory indices such as the stroop task do not typically account for this potential confound. A number of researchers have addressed this problem of difference score measures and proposed alternative analytic techniques (Christ, White, Mandernach, & Keys, 2001; Christ, White, Brunstrom, & Abrams, 2003; Faust, Balota, Spieler & Ferraro, 1999). Each inhibitory measure used in the current study will attempt to control for group and individual speed differences, either by utilising one of these alternative techniques or using regression analysis to identify the contribution of speed to the developmental shift in intelligence.

Until about 1970, little was published on research pertaining to the influence of perceptual acuity in relation to gifted children. This study was undertaken to provide empirical data that might lead to a better understanding of such a relationship, to review research performed in the fields of both perception and giftedness, and to assess the usefulness of a non-verbal instrument for elementary teachers of art in diagnosing giftedness at a perceptual level. The study was designed to determine, by means of a perceptual index test, whether or not gifted children who display above average intellectual skills, also exhibit above average perceptual skills. The MacGregor Perceptual Index (MPI) was administered to a group of twenty-four gifted and twenty-six non-gifted children between the ages of ten and twelve years. Categories included:- perception of distance, perception of embedded figures, perception of shape, perception of similarities and differences, perception of the vertical, perception modified by constancy, and perception of contour. The investigation revealed similarities and differences among children of specific intellectual capacity and ages in how they perceive and interpret visual stimuli. It was found that children with above average intellectual ability performed at a higher level on the Perceptual Index test than did subjects drawn from an average group. The findings in this study led to recommendations for further investigation. The MPI, a non-verbal perceptual test, was judged to be a reliable instrument for diagnosing gifted children. In the synopsis of factors revealed in this study, it was concluded that there is a statistically significant relationship between perceptual ability and intellectual ability. The results of the study imply that training in perceptual problem-solving skills may generally enhance a child's intelligence level, and thus should be considered as part of the school curriculum. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Administration of nonverbal tests of intelligence to deaf or hard of hearing and Native Indian children has been problematic. Communication difficulties between examiner and examinee have resulted in modifications to the administration of the test. A standard method of test administration has not been reported in the literature. The current study investigated the use of pantomime instruction to administer performance scales of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Third Edition (WISC-IlI) and the Stanford Binet: Fourth Edition (SB:FE). Subjects included a group of otitis prone Native Indian children (n=87) and hearing peers (n=80). Subjects in the hearing peer group were randomly assigned to verbal (n=40) or pantomime instruction (n=40) to compare verbal and pantomime administration of the tests. T-test and ANOVAs were used to investigate comparisons between verbal administration method (hearing peer) and between groups receiving pantomime instruction (otitis prone and hearing peer). Multiple regression analyses were used to determine whether nonverbal tests of intelligence were predictors of academic achievement. Results demonstrated pantomime instruction gave subjects information required to complete test and subtest tasks of the WISC-lll and SB:FE. There was not a significant difference between verbal and pantomime instruction for the hearing peer group. When the otitis prone group and the hearing peer group were compared there was no significant differences between groups for the WISC-lll. Item analysis provided additional support to pantomime instruction giving adequate information to understand tasks. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that nonverbal measures of intelligence should not be used to predict math or reading achievement for this population. Language measures administered yielded very low scores across all three groups. Although this was expected for the otitis prone group, low scores were not expected for the hearing peer group. The short term memory subtests for the SB:FE were also very low indicating another area of weakness for all three groups which was not expected. Results of the present study provides evidence to indicate pantomime instruction is a viable method of administration when used with otitis prone and hearing Native children. Further research is necessary to determine if standard pantomime administration can be utilized to administer nonverbal measures of intelligence to other groups of children with delayed language skills or communication difficulties. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

It is possible to determine the degree of intelligence of an individual by use of the M (human movement) response of the Group Rorschach Blank arranged by M. R. Harrower. Is there a significant difference between the correlation of summed human movement Rorschach scores and intelligence test scores earned in a sixth grade elementary school population. The writer is attempting to determine further whether or not it is possible to predict the intelligence of an individual by use of the M (human movement) response of the Group Rorschach Blank.

The purpose of the present study was to determine if African American and Caucasian preschool children displayed similar patterns of performance among the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) factors measured by the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II). Specifically, a profile analysis was conducted to determine if African Americans and Caucasians displayed the same patterns of highs and low and scored at the same level on the KABC-II composites and subtests. Forty-nine African American (mean age = 59.14 months) and 49 Caucasian (mean age = 59.39) preschool children from a Midwestern City were included in the study and were matched on age, sex, and level of parental education. Results of a profile analysis found African American and Caucasian preschool children had a similar pattern of highs and lows and performed at the same level on the CHC broad abilities as measured by the KABC-II. Comparison of the overall mean IQ indicated no significant differences between the two groups. The overall mean difference between groups was 1.47 points, the smallest gap seen in the literature. This finding was inconsistent with previous research indicating a one standard deviation difference in IQ between African Americans and Caucasians. A profile analysis of the KABC-II subtests found the African American and Caucasian groups performed at an overall similar level, but did not show the same pattern of highs and lows. Specifically, Caucasians scored significantly higher than African Americans on the Expressive Vocabulary subtest which measures the CHC narrow ability of Lexical Knowledge. Results of this study supported the KABC-II’s authors’ recommendation to make interpretations at the composite level. When developing hypotheses of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses in narrow abilities, clinicians should be cautious when interpreting the Expressive Vocabulary subtest with African Americans. Overall, results of this study supported the use of the KABC-II with African American preschool children. When making assessment decisions, clinicians can be more confident in an unbiased assessment with the KABC-II. Future research could further explore the CHC narrow abilities in ethnically diverse populations. Additionally, more research should be conducted with other measures of cognitive ability designed to adhere to the CHC theory, and the appropriateness of those tests with an African American population. Furthermore, future research with the KABC-II could determine if the results of the present study were replicated in other age groups. / Department of Educational Psychology

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to do a comparative analysis of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), a test of intelligence which is frequently used with Mexican American students, and its Spanish translation the Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler Para Ninos-Revisada (EIWN-R). The WISC-R was administered in English to 109 bilingual English proficient Mexican American students, and the EIWN-R was administered in Spanish to 109 other than English proficient or monolingual Spanish speakers. Language proficiency was determined according to students scores on the Language Assessment Scales (LAS). The groups were matched by sex, school and grade. Students tested were students who were referred for testing because of academic difficulties or students placed in Special Education classes who are required to be re-evaluated every three years. Using Confirmatory factor analysis, the first objective was to determine if the factor structures underlying the EIWN-R and the WISC-R are equivalent to the factor structure of the WISC-R normative population. The correlation matrices of both groups were compared to the correlation matrix of the normative population. Factor structures of the WISC-R and the normative population were found to be statistically different, while the factor structures of the EIWN-R and the normative group were not found to be different. The second objective was to determine if the subtest means of the WISC-R and EIWN-R were significantly different. To determine this, the subtest means of both groups were subjected to MANOVA. Significant differences between subtest means were found on four of the subtests. A MANOVA was also utilized for the third objective which set out to determine if significant differences in performance are present in the EIWN-R between those students who are placed in Special Education programs and those students who are not placed. So as not to confound the results, the EMR population was removed from the sample. Significant differences in the placed and the non-placed groups were found on eight of the eleven subtests. Implications of research findings are discussed as well as future trends regarding the assessment of language minority students.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between discrete areas of cognitive processing and academic achievement in minority children. There have been many questions about the fairness of current testing practices as they have been applied to students from differing ethnicities. These students are entitled by law to a meaningful, nonbiased assessment of their abilities. The minority children targeted for study were bilingual Hispanic students. Cognitive processing tasks were drawn from established measures of perceptual-motor development, auditory recall, and nonverbal intellectual ability. Academic achievement was measured by two comprehensive tests, one that was English-based and another that was Spanish-based. One hundred fifty-eight students enrolled in eleven third grade classrooms were examined. The subjects participated in group administrations of the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test, Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, and a bilingual version of the Digit Span subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. The Spanish-based achievement test was La Prueba Riverside de Realizacion en Espanol. The English-based achievement test was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Data were first analyzed by a stepwise multiple regression procedure to determine which of the experimental measures would predict academic achievement. Results indicated that the strongest predictor of academic achievement were scores from the test of nonverbal intellectual ability, which held true for both achievement tests. Scores in immediate auditory recall in English predicted achievement in certain achievement areas, but only on the Spanish-based test. Scores on the perceptual-motor test also predicted achievement on the Spanish-based test only. Auditory recall in Spanish did not predict achievement in any area on either test. The study concludes with a discussion of the viability of the independent measures as a meaningful, comprehensive test battery to be used with minority children in schools. Implications for future research and administrative planning are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to establish the concurrent validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with the Wechsler Intelligence Battery for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The study postulated that ethnicity would be a significant factor in the performance of learning disabled, Anglo and Hispanic students on the K-ABC compared with the WISC-R. Subjects were 33 Anglo and 34 Hispanic students ranging in age from 5 though 12. All students in the study were certified learning disabled and were administered the K-ABC and the WISC-R within one calendar year. Three null hypotheses were tested: (1) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Verbal and K-ABC Sequential IQs (Intelligence Quotients), (2) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Performance and the K-ABC Simultaneous IQs, and (3) There is no significant difference between Anglo and Hispanic performance on the WISC-R Full Scale and the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite Test IQs. The K-ABC was found to be concurrently valid based on the WISC-R. The range of correlations between the K-ABC and the WISC-R coincided with that necessary to establish a significant positive correlation. The WISC-R Full scale IQ scores for both Anglos and Hispanics correlated with the K-ABC Mental Processing Composite IQ (r =.57, p.05). The WISC-R Verbal scale scores for Anglos and Hispanics correlated (r =.55) with the K-ABC Sequential scale. Anglo and Hispanic scores on the WISC-R Performance scale correlated (r =.75) with the K-ABC. Ethnicity was not found to be a factor in low Hispanic test performance. The results showed no significant difference between the performance of Anglos and Hispanics. Comparisons were also made between the WISC-R and K-ABC performance of Anglos and Hispanics as a function of age, sex, grade and socioeconomic status (SES). Significant differences were found as a function of SES on both the WISC-R Full and Performance scales. Specifically, the higher the SES, the higher the Full and Performance scale IQs. On the K-ABC, SES and grade positively correlated with scores on all three scales. Sex was also positively related to Sequential scale scores with girls scoring slightly higher than boys.

This study was an investigation of profile patterns on WISC-III subtest scores of Canadian gifted children. Profiles of students were compared to core profile types identified by Glutting, McDermott, and Konold (1997) and Konold, Glutting, McDermott, Kush, and Watkins (1999). From the literature reviewed, it was felt that conducting a profile analysis based on empirical research would override some of the criticisms inherent in the practice of profile analysis The sample consisted of 88 children ages 6 through 13 years. Subjects were included who scored at least 120 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Sixty of the participants were gathered from Choice School; the remaining 28 were from the Psychoeducational Research and Training Centre at the University of British Columbia. The results of the profile analysis indicated that 34% of the cases were considered to be clinically unique or rare. The profile analysis of the entire sample of Canadian gifted students indicated that a much higher percentage of profiles were considered to be clinically unique or rare when compared to the normative sample. Future research needs to include larger samples of gifted children.