The primary purpose of this study was to determine the kind of neuropsychological information that can be obtained from an investigation of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) subtests. Additionally, there was an examination of the shared variance between the WAIS and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB). The archival data collected from the files of '220 females and 188 males from a large midwestern medical center were used. They had been originally diagnosed with objective research criteria.All eleven subtests of the WAIS and the HalsteadReitan Neuropsychological Battery were administered to the subjects in the years between 1981 and 1983. Thirteen scores were obtained from the HRNB measures. Statistical analyses of the results made use of the techniques of multiple regression and canonical correlation.The individual WAIS subtests were examined for the neuropsychological information they provided. Globally, three HRNB measures, APHASIA, RHY, AND CAT-TOT contributed significantly to a majority of the regression equations for the WAIS subtests. Their presence suggested that language skills, an auditory attention factor, and a general intellective factor were being tapped (Dean, 1985a).A canonical correlation was computed. The results yielded one significant correlation between the linear components of the WAIS and the HRNB tests. Only canonical variates with weights of +/- .2 were considered large enough for interpretation. The WAIS subtests meeting the .2 criteria included Block Design, Digit Symbol, and Similarities, while the HRNB measures meeting criteria were APHASIA and CAT-TOT. Therefore, it would appear that the significant variables measured the general (g) factor as in Spearman's research (1927). According to the Stewart and Love formula (cited in Pedhazur, 1982), the variability of the WAIS did overlap with the HRNB, and their relationship was symmetrical.This research demonstrated that the measured tasks from the WAIS were a complex of underlying constructs. The verbal portion of the WAIS was shown to be less highly related to the HRNB variables than the performance portion of the scale. The WAIS and HRNB do offer nonredundant information concerning the impaired and unimpaired adult's cognitive functioning.

The present study investigated the neuropsychological predictors of auditory/verbal and visual/written arithmetic performance in a large sample of children with learning disorders. In addition, the efficacy of a cognitive based arithmetic problem solving model (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) in accounting for neuropsychological functioning in arithmetic performance was considered. Subjects were from a small midwestern school district, and were identified as learning disabled in accord with state (i.e., Rule S-1) and federal guidelines (i.e., PL-94-142). Specifically, subjects' scores on the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) (Reitan, 1969) for older children and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) (Wechsler, 1974) were used to predict performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) Arithmetic subtest, and WISC-R Arithmetic subtest. Analyses were conducted with criterion measures considered separately and as a composite. In an attempt to examine the utility of the Dinnel et al., (in press; 1984) model, a simple index was formed using the criterion measures. This index was then predicted using the HRNB and WISC-R variables. Neuropsychological variables were found to account for some 31%, and 36% of the variability in visual/written and auditory/verbal arithmetic performance, respectively. However, neuropsychological variables accounted for some 87% of the shared variance when arithmetic measures were considered as a linear composite. Neuropsychological variables predicted a mere 12% of the variability associated with the index designed to test the Dinnel et al. (in press; 1984) arithmetic problem solving model. These data offered some support to Dinnel and others' (Dinnel et al., in press; 1984) formulations accounting for arithmetic performance under visual/stimulus conditions. However, the present findings indicated a more complex neuropsychological underpinning for overall arithmetic problem solving. Moreover, the neuropsychological constructs predicting arithmetic scores varied as a function of the stimulus/performance modes required for problem solving.Auditory-verbal attention and short-term memory, remote verbal memory, symbolic language integration, mental flexibility, and nonverbal abstract reasoning were the common neuropsychological constructs underpinning both auditory/verbal and visual/written arithmetic performance. Verbal facility, verbal abstract reasoning, nonverbal short term memory, and nonverbal concrete concept formation were uniquely implicated in auditory/verbal arithmetic performance. Visual/written arithmetic performance was uniquely related to nonverbal attention and intermediate nonverbal memory functions. In overview, it would seem that neuropsychological measures would be clinically useful in identifying deficits underlying poor arithmetic performance. / Department of Educational Psychology

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