The purpose of this investigation was to examine the validity of the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised (WJTCA-R) in discriminating between individuals with neurological or psychiatric impairments and those without known impairment. The primary question was whether WJTCA-R Standard Battery test scores significantly differentiated between individuals with brain-damage (n = 36), depression (n = 21), and without known impairments (n = 32). Archival data obtained for the development of a new neuropsychological assessment measure utilizing the WJTCA-R was analyzed. The results of a discriminant functions analysis indicated that significant differences between the groups existed on the WJTCA-R. Based on WJTCA-R Standard Battery performance alone, participants had a 53% chance of being correctly classified into their diagnostic group. Brain-damaged individuals had the best chance of being correctly classified while correct classification of depressed individuals was only slightly greater than that obtained from random assignment. In addition to moderately supporting the use of a multi-factored, theory-driven assessment instrument, the results of this study have clinical relevance for the development of diagnosis-specific recommendations for brain-damaged and depressed individuals. / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of the study was to investigate the validity of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE) area and composite scores and Sattler's SB:FE factor scores as predictors of school performance on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJTA).The subjects were 80 Caucasian third grade students enrolled in regular education in a rural and small town school district in northeastern Indiana. The SB:FE and WJTA were administered to all students.Two canonical analyses were conducted to test the overall relationships between sets of SB:FE predictor variables and the set of WJTA criterion variables. Results indicated that the SB:FE area scores and Sattler's SB:FE factor scores were valid predictors of academic achievement at a general level.To clarify the results of the canonical analyses, series of multiple regression analyses were conducted. Results of multiple regression with SB:FE area and composite scores indicated that the best single predictor of all WJTA scores was the SB:FE Test Composite Score. No other SB:FE variable provided a significant contribution to the regression equation for reading, math, and written language achievement over that offered by the Test Composite Score.Multiple regression analyses were also employed with Sattler's SB:FE factor scores and the WJTA scores. The optimal predictor composite for reading included the Verbal Comprehension and Memory factor scores. To predict math, the best predictor composite consisted of the Nonverbal Reasoning/Visualization and Verbal Comprehension factor scores. The optimal predictor composite for written language included the Nonverbal Reasoning/Visualization and Memory factor scores.Results of the regression analyses indicated that, without exception, the predictor composites composed of the SB:FE area and composite scores were superior in their prediction of school performance to the predictor composites developed from Sattler's SB:FE factor scores.The regression equation containing the SB:FE Test Composite Score alone was determined to be the preferred approach for predicting WJTA scores. Use of the Test Composite Score sacrifices only a minimal degree of accuracy in the prediction of achievement and requires no additional effort to compute. / Department of Educational Psychology

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:29:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dalva Alice Rocha Mol.pdf: 3149572 bytes, checksum: f806553a69f59c46eb1df3caf215be1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-18 / The assessment of cognitive abilities of children who have learning disabilities (slow learners) is a major topic in psychology research. This doctorate thesis investigates the cognitive abilities of schoolchildren who have difficulty learning. Two different groups of informants were analyzed. The first group comprised 60 7- and 8-year-old schoolchildren of both genders 30 slow learners and 30 fast learners from two state schools in the State of S?o Paulo, Brazil. The second group comprised 8 primary school teachers also from two state schools in the State of S?o Paulo. We used Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III) composed of 10 tests, a questionnaire filled out by the teachers and an analysis of the pupils marks in Portuguese, Math and Science. The results from the Multivariate and Univariate Analysis of Variance showed significant differences between the group of slow learners and the group of fast learners. The Pearson Assessments showed the children s performance improved as they moved to higher grades. The children s marks were consistent with the results from the WJ-III. Therefore we concluded that the cognitive abilities are significantly different between fast and slow learners and that WJ-III can be used to analyze learning disabilities. / A avalia??o das habilidades cognitivas de crian?as que apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem constitui-se um importante campo de investiga??o psicol?gica. Este estudo objetivou investigar as habilidades cognitivas de crian?as com e sem dificuldades de aprendizagem pela Bateria Woodcock-Johnson. Duas amostras foram compostas: a primeira amostra por 60 crian?as de ambos os sexos, sendo 30 participantes sem indica??o de dificuldades de aprendizagem e 30 com indica??o de dificuldades de aprendizagem, que freq?entavam a primeira e segunda s?rie do Ensino Fundamental de duas escolas p?blicas do interior do estado de S?o Paulo. A segunda amostra foi composta por oito professores de primeira e segunda s?ries de duas escolas p?blicas do interior do estado de S?o Paulo. Utilizou-se a Bateria de habilidades cognitivas Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III), composta por 10 testes, um question?rio escolar preenchido pelos professores e as notas escolares obtidas em Portugu?s, Matem?tica e Ci?ncias. As An?lises da Vari?ncia Multivariada e Univariada apontaram os efeitos significativos no tipo de grupo e de s?rie escolar das habilidades cognitivas avaliadas pela WJ III. A correla??o de Pearson mostrou a rela??o entre as habilidades cognitivas e os indicadores de dificuldades de aprendizagem, apontados pelo professor, sobre as crian?as com e sem dificuldades de aprendizagem. As notas escolares tamb?m se associaram significativamente aos resultados da WJ III. Desta forma, concluiu-se que existem diferen?as significativas nas habilidades cognitivas entre crian?as com dificuldades e crian?as sem dificuldades de aprendizagem, e que a WJ III ? uma medida v?lida para avaliar tais dificuldades.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:29:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcelo Gulini Chiodi.pdf: 2654186 bytes, checksum: 8afcc46d0d34b2195ce3af9b190696ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas / The study on how the different intellectual abilities interact and operate has always aroused man's curiosity due to his need to explain individual differences in the use of information. In this sense, this paper aims to adapt and validate the ten subtests that make up the extended version of the Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Abilities Battery (WJ-III Extended) taking into account the Brazilian reality. To this end, we developed four different studies: 1 - Adaptation of the battery (translation, creation and adaptation of items to the Brazilian reality); 2 - Convergent validation by comparing the results of the WJ-III Standard Battery with the Extended version; 3 and 4 - Validation of convergent criteria by comparing the results of two clinical groups, i.e., children diagnosed with Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BCECS) and children diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To perform study 2, convergent validation, we evaluated 70 public primary and secondary school children, 43 male and 27 female, aged between 7 and 12. The obtained results were analyzed using Pearson's correlation and a Variance Analysis regarding sex and age of each instrument. Significant correlations were found between the total scores of the expanded WJ-III version and total scores of the standard WJ-III version (0.80), as well as between the subtests which assess Crystallized Intelligence (Gc) of both the expanded and the standard WJ-III (Gc) (0.77). Significant correlations were also observed when we compared the subtests used to assess other skills of both versions of the WJ-III battery (0.73). The Age variable differed significantly in both the expanded and the standard version, whereas the influence of the Sex X Age variable was only significant in the WJ-III standard version. To perform studies 3 and 4 that validated convergent criteria, we analyzed 21 children diagnosed with BCECS and 20 children diagnosed with ADHD aged between 7 and 12 of both sexes. The two clinical groups were matched with children without neurological disorders of the same age and sex. Information obtained in the tests was analyzed by means of a Variance Analysis for group, sex and age. The results of study 3 showed a lower performance of all evaluated skills in the BCECS group compared to the performance of children without neurological disorders. Regarding Study 4, the ADHD children group also showed lower performance in all skills when compared to the control group. Those data demonstrate the convergent validity between the Extended WJ-III and the Standard WJ-III, as well as the convergent criteria validity by differentiating two clinical groups. This could contribute to a more detailed diagnosis of the different cognitive abilities and widen the range of instruments used for intellectual evaluation. / O estudo da intera??o e funcionamento das diferentes habilidades intelectuais sempre despertou curiosidade devido ? necessidade do ser humano de esclarecer as diferen?as individuais no uso das informa??es. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho prop?s a adaptar e validar, para a realidade brasileira, os dez subtestes que comp?em a vers?o Ampliada da Bateria de Habilidades Cognitivas Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III Ampliada). Para a realiza??o deste projeto foram desenvolvidos 4 diferentes estudos: 1- adapta??o da bateria (tradu??o, cria??o e adapta??o de itens para a realidade brasileira); 2- validade convergente, comparando os resultados da bateria WJ-III Padr?o com a Ampliada; 3 e 4 - validade de crit?rio tipo concorrente, comparando os resultados de dois grupos cl?nicos, crian?as diagnosticadas com Epilepsia Benigna da Inf?ncia com Pontas centro-temporais (EBICT) e crian?as com o diagn?stico de Transtorno do D?ficit de Aten??o e Hiperatividade (TDAH). Para o estudo 2 de validade convergente, foram avaliadas 70 crian?as de escola p?blica do Ensino Fundamental e M?dio, sendo 43 do sexo masculino e 27 do sexo feminino, com faixa et?ria entre 7 e 12 anos. Os resultados obtidos foram analisados segundo a correla??o de Pearson e An?lise da Vari?ncia entre sexo e idade para cada instrumento. Foram encontradas correla??es significativas entre as pontua??es totais da WJ-III Ampliada e as pontua??es totais na WJ-III vers?o Padr?o de (0,80), assim como, entre os subtestes que avaliam Intelig?ncia Cristalizada (Gc) da WJ-III Ampliada com a WJ-III Padr?o (Gc) (0,77). Tamb?m foram observadas correla??es significativas quando relacionados os subtestes que avaliam as demais habilidades de ambas as vers?es da Bateria WJ-III (0,73). Houve diferen?a significativa para a vari?vel Idade tanto na vers?o Ampliada quanto na vers?o Padr?o. J? a influ?ncia da vari?vel Sexo X Idade foi significativa apenas na vers?o Padr?o da WJ-III. Com rela??o aos estudos 3 e 4 de validade de crit?rio do tipo concorrente, foram estudadas 21 crian?as diagnosticadas com EBICT e 20 diagnosticadas com TDAH, com faixa et?ria entre 7 e 12 anos e de ambos os sexos. Os dois grupos cl?nicos foram pareados por crian?as de mesma idade, sexo e diagnosticadas sem dist?rbios neurol?gicos. As informa??es obtidas nos testes foram analisadas segundo a An?lise de Vari?ncia entre grupo, sexo e idade. Os resultados do estudo 3 apontaram para um desempenho inferior em todas as habilidades avaliadas no grupo EBICT em compara??o ao desempenho de crian?as diagnosticadas sem dist?rbios neurol?gicos. No estudo 4 o grupo de crian?as diagnosticadas com TDAH tamb?m apresentou desempenho inferior em todas as habilidades ao comparar com o desempenho do grupo controle. Portanto, tais dados indicam que a Bateria WJ-III vers?o Ampliada possui validade convergente com a WJ-III vers?o Padr?o e validade de crit?rio tipo concorrente ao diferenciar dois grupos cl?nicos, podendo assim contribuir para um diagn?stico mais detalhado das v?rias habilidades cognitivas e enriquecer ainda mais as possibilidades de instrumentos para avalia??o intelectual.

The Woodcock-Johnson 4th Edition Test Battery is the latest version of assessment battery which measures cognitive function in childhood and adulthood. This is a very large test battery and the adaptation of the Czech version of this method is in progress. However, some subtests are closely related to the language and cultural habits of a country. The aim of this diploma thesis is to examine selected verbal tests of the Woodcock-Johnson assessment battery in the Czech environment. Specifically if these subtests do not disadvantage children who are from other language environment than Czech. The theoretical part of the thesis speaks about the concept of bilingualism (definition, categorisation) and how bilingualism is reflected in the results of cognitive tests. It also introduces the theory of CHC, which was the basis for the creation of the Woodcock- Johnson assessment battery. It analyses verbal subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson test battery, fourth edition, in more details. The research study focuses on comparison of the results of two groups of children. The groups are divided according to the language environment from which the tested children come from: either Czech or Russian-Czech. The focus will be put onto (1) the extent to which the dissimilarities in the groups express cultural...

This diploma thesis aims to compare the results in the field of cognitive functions obtained by static and dynamic assessment of children with attachment disorder at preschool age. The ACFS-cz assessment battery was used for the dynamic assessment, specifically four subtests: Categorisation, Short-term auditory memory (Story Retelling), Short-term visual memory, Sequential Pattern Completion. The method of static assessment was Woodcock- Johnson IV COG, specifically four subtests: Visualization, Verbal Attention, Picture Recognition, Analysis-Synthesis. The research sample consisted of 16 preschool children (3 to 6 respectively 8 years) placed in institutional care. The results showed that there were no differences between the of the ACFS-cz pretest scores and the Woodcock-Johnson IV COG scores. While the comparison of the results of the ACFS-cz posttest with Woodcock- Johnson IV COG showed significant differences in the three examined areas (Categorisation, Short-term auditory memory, Short-term visual memory). The outcomes of the dynamic assessment lead to suitable interventions for the cognitive development of children in institutional care. Keywords ACFS, Woodcock-Johnson IV COG, cognitive functions, attachment disorder, preschool age.

The purpose of this study is to identify factors in the home literacy environment using the Stony Brook Family Reading Survey (SBFRS) in order to understand the extent to which these factors predict phonemic awareness and other basic reading skills, as assessed by selected subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III). The present study used archival data to examine the home literacy habits of a sample of parents and preschool children ages 3-5 years (range in months= 36-67) from a private and a public preschool with a combination of high- and low-income backgrounds and various ethnicities. Using exploratory factor analyses with 165 participants, three dimensions of family reading behavior were identified from the SBFRS including Home Reading Emphasis, Adult Responsibility, and Parental Academic Expectations. Each of the SBFRS rotated factors considered together in a stepwise multiple regression analysis contributed significantly over and above age to the prediction of phonological awareness as measured by the Phonemic Awareness 3 (PA3) Cluster from the WJ III. The best order of predictors for PA3 of the WJ III, with stepwise entry, included Factor 1: Home Reading Emphasis, Factor 3: Parental Academic Expectations, and Factor 2: Adult Responsibility. One of the SBFRS rotated factors, Factor 1: Home Reading Emphasis, considered in a stepwise multiple regression analysis using age as a covariate contributed significantly to the prediction of basic reading as measured by the Basic Reading Skills (BRS) Cluster of the WJ III [WJ III BRS=.38+.26(Factor1)]. Results demonstrate the importance of the aforementioned factors in relation to the prediction of emergent literacy. Future studies are needed to investigate parental expectations, adult responsibility for child outcomes, the impact of fathers, and the importance of dominant home language on the emergence of literacy. Revision of the SBFRS, in addition to studies that include a wider range of SES, racial/ethnic, and linguistic groups, would help to standardize the measure for future use.

This research involves an investigation of the construct validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-; Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) when compared to the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III COG) to provide evidence for the utility of using the WISC-IV in assessing cognitive abilities according to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. The study was conducted using archival data consisting of 92 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 years and 16 years, 11 months referred for a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation at a university-affiliated assessment center. Data for all participants were collected following administration of a battery of measures as part of a neuropsychological evaluation, with tests administered in no particular order. The mean age of children was 9.82 years (SD= 2.81) with a mean grade level of 3.95 (SD= 2.63). Ten hypotheses were investigated specifically to examine the comparability of the general intellectual functioning scores for each battery among a sample of children with neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as to examine the convergent and discriminate validity of the WISC-IV index scores. The first hypothesis utilized a paired samplest&n-test and found that the WISC-IV Full Scale IQ score was significantly below that of the WJ III COG General Intellectual Ability-Extended score. For the remaining hypotheses, Pearson product-moment correlations revealed large correlations between the WISC-IV and WJ III COG convergent constructs of general intellectual functioning, comprehension-knowledge, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. For correlations between divergent constructs, the WISC-IV Verbal Comprehension Index and the WJ III COG Visual-Spatial Thinking (Gv) factor demonstrated a large correlation. Both the WISC-IV Processing Speed Index and Working Memory Index correlated moderately with the WJ III COGGvfactor, while the WISC-IV Perceptual Reasoning Index correlated moderately with the WJ III COG Auditory Processing factor. Fisher's r to Z transformation was used to assess for significant differences between the observed correlations and stipulated values determined. Results indicated that correlations between the global IQ, fluid reasoning, and short-term memory composite scores of the two measures were significantly greater than that found for the WISC-III and WJ III COG, while the relationship between the verbal ability and processing speed composite scores were consistent with past findings. Correlations between divergent constructs revealed a reliable pattern of significantly greater relationships than was found for research concerning the WISC-III and WJ III COG. Primarily, results of this study provided evidence that the substantive changes made to the WISC-IV have improved the ability to interpret the Full Scale IQ score as a measure of general intelligence similar to that obtained by the WJ III COG. However, the global IQ scores between the two measures cannot be assumed to be equivalent among children with neuropsychiatric disorders. Results also suggested that the WISC-IV appears to provide improved measurement of the CHC broad abilities of fluid reasoning (Gf) and short-term memory (Gsm). Correlations between divergent constructs provided evidence for relationships between cognitive abilities suggested to be significantly related to academic achievement. This study concluded that research findings for the WISC-III cannot be applied conclusively to the WISC-IV and that the substantive changes made to the WISC-IV have improved the ability to interpret the battery under the CHC framework. However, findings underscore the importance of examining performance across second-order factors that may contribute to differences in general intelligence, as well as remaining aware of differences in narrow ability constructs measured, task demands, or shared variance between subtests when making interpretations of test performance.

There has been much controversy concerning the comparability of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJTCA). Previous research has raised the issue of a mean score discrepancy between the tests when used with the learning disabled. This study analyzed and compared performances on these two tests by re-evaluated and newly referred LD students and newly referred non-LD students. In addition, subtypes of LD students were formed on the basis of achievement test scores. These students' test performances were also analyzed and compared. The results of this study were consistent with previous research. The Full Scale scores from the two tests were highly correlated in all three groups, but the WISC-R was significantly higher than the WJTCA for each group. Across the identified LD subtypes there was a significant difference between the Full Scale scores from the two tests. However, meaningful patterns of strengths and weaknesses across aspects of cognitive functioning were not uncovered. These results indicate that the WISC-R and WJTCA result in significantly different estimates of the cognitive ability of LD and referred students. This difference can be attributed to a combination of three possible explanations--the effects of the use of non-random samples, the use of different norm groups when the tests were standardized, and the tests contain different content.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Woodcock-Johnson-Revised Cognitive test is biased when used with a Hispanic population of school-age children. Norming data, provided by R. Woodcock, Ph.D., for grades three, five, eight, and eleven were used for the study. Three hypotheses were explored. The first hypothesis called for a comparison by gender. The second hypothesis called for a comparison of non-Hispanics and Hispanics. The third hypothesis called for comparisons between all combinations of grade levels using only the non-Hispanic subgroup. Using the results of confirmatory factor analysis from LISREL VIII (1993), the chi-square difference test, and three goodness-of-fit indexes provided evidence of similarity in factor patterns between target groups. Hypothesis 1 stated that there were no differences between male and female factor patterns. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the acceptance of hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 2 stated that there were no differences between non-Hispanic and Hispanic students. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported a qualified acceptance of hypothesis 2. The relationships between the latent variables are significantly different. Age, therefore, may have been a confounding variable in this study. Hypothesis 3 stated that there were no differences in patterns between grades. Only one of the six grade comparisons, 3-5, found model 1 to be the preferred model. All other comparisons found model 3 to be the preferred model. The residual or error terms were variable in matrix patterns, indicating that a factor other than age may be influencing the relationships. A fourth analysis was utilized and determined model 1 to be the preferred model. The results of the analysis indicate that differential patterns of processing, rather than age, may be the variable influencing the relationship of latent variables.