"Content bias in the WAIS-R Information Subtest and some Canadian alternatives": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Content bias in the WAIS-R Information subtest and some Canadian alternatives" by Mary S. Crawford and Douglas P. Boer (Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science Revue canadienne des Sciences du comportement, 1985[Jan], Vol 17[1], 79-86). An inadvertent error in one of the "acceptable answers" in Table 1 (p. 81) has surfaced. The answer which is in error is the second possible acceptable response to question 17Ciii, "Who was Louis Riel?". The answer "leader of the rebellion of 1837" is incorrect and should have read "leader of the Metis rebellion(s) of 1869-70 (and/or) 1885". (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1986-00124-001.) 38 undergraduates (ages 18-40 yrs) were individually administered the WAIS-R; the only deviation from standardized testing procedure was the addition of 17 Canadian content items in the Information subtest. Each Canadian item was administered directly following or preceding the American counterpart. There were 4 new items developed for the WAIS-R that were suspected to be biased in American content. This suspicion was empirically verified for Items 8, 13, and 14; but Item 17 was found to be appropriately placed in terms of difficulty level. Suitable Canadian equivalents were found for Items 8 and 17. The Canadian questions piloted for Item 14 were inappropriate. The Canadian equivalent for Item 13 appeared to potentially be a good substitute, but it did not meet the criterion of being significantly less difficult than the original item. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian items for the WAIS--R information subtest.

Administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R), plus Canadian replacement items for biased US items in the Information subtest, to 3 subgroups of the Canadian population (84 17–70 yr old psychiatric patients, 40 16–59 yr old forensic clients, and 20 university undergraduates). It was contended that when the 10 US items are used while testing Canadian population subgroups a cultural bias occurs. Seven acceptable substitute items were identified for all 3 subgroups. Three acceptable substitute items identified by M. S. Crawford and D. P. Boer (see record 1986-00124-001) were found unacceptable by the more stringent rank-order criteria used in this study. Methodological problems with the chi-square were found, suggesting the primary importance of the rank-order statistic in determining appropriateness of original and replacement items. Conceptual agreement with the need for WAIS—R Canadian norms was noted. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Canadianization of American-biased items on the WAIS and WAIS-R information subtests.

101 Canadian 17–58 yr olds completed the standard version of the WAIS Information subtest or a version in which 8 items with an American content bias had been altered to improve face validity for Canadian test takers. Since "Canadianization" had minor or negligible effects on the psychometric qualities of the test, it is concluded that the WAIS Information subtest should be modified for Canadian examinees. (French abstract) (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Content bias in the WAIS--R Information subtest and some Canadian alternatives.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 17(3) of Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science Revue canadienne des Sciences du comportement (see record 2007-09780-001). An inadvertent error in one of the "acceptable answers" in Table 1 (p. 81) has surfaced. The answer which is in error is the second possible acceptable response to question 17Ciii, "Who was Louis Riel?". The answer "leader of the rebellion of 1837" is incorrect and should have read "leader of the Metis rebellion(s) of 1869-70 (and/or) 1885".] 38 undergraduates (ages 18–40 yrs) were individually administered the WAIS—R; the only deviation from standardized testing procedure was the addition of 17 Canadian content items in the Information subtest. Each Canadian item was administered directly following or preceding the American counterpart. There were 4 new items developed for the WAIS—R that were suspected to be biased in American content. This suspicion was empirically verified for Items 8, 13, and 14; but Item 17 was found to be appropriately placed in terms of difficulty level. Suitable Canadian equivalents were found for Items 8 and 17. The Canadian questions piloted for Item 14 were inappropriate. The Canadian equivalent for Item 13 appeared to potentially be a good substitute, but it did not meet the criterion of being significantly less difficult than the original item. (French abstract) (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

WISC Information subtest in a Canadian population.

Substituted 2 Canadian items in the Information subtest of the WISC. Data from test administration to 300 7-14 yr. old Canadian children were analyzed. Item analysis indicates that 1 substitution is reasonable but not the other. The Information subtest mean increased consistently with age but was consistently lower than the means of the other subtests. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item difficulty and content bias on the WAIS-R information subtest.

252 15–77 yr old patients referred for psychological or neuropsychological assessment were administered the WAIS-R. Of the 4 new items in the Information subtest, 2 were found to be disproportionately difficult in terms of proportions of Ss who passed the item. In addition, 3 of the 4 items that are routinely "Canadianized" were also found to be disproportionately difficult. It is suggested that a normative study to establish the hierarchy of difficulty for a Canadian population is needed. (French abstract) (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian content in the WISC--R: Bias or jingoism?

Reports questionnaire data from 72 psychologists showing that 97% of respondents used Canadian substitute items (CSIs) for certain Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC—R) items and that the substitutes were used and scored inconsistently. Studies comparing the scores of Canadian children on the Information subtest of the WISC—R to the normative sample have provided inadequate evidence of disadvantage to Ss on the items for which substitutes have been proposed. Comparisons of Canadian children's scores on the CSIs and on the standard items indicate that CSIs produce inflated scores. Respondents reported often using and scoring both the standard and the Canadian items, further compromising the validity of the test. It is argued that there are inadequate data to establish the need for CSIs and that appropriate substitutes of equivalent difficulty have not been identified. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian content and the WISC-R information subtest.

In 2 studies, 7 WISC-R Information subtest items were altered as recommended by P. E. Vernon (1977) to make them more appropriate for Canadian children. For 210 normal 4th–10th graders and 52 students (mean age 12 yrs 5 mo) referred for assessment, responses to the modified items were compared to responses to the original manual items. Data were also compared to data from the American standardization group (D. Wechsler, 1974). On the basis of these comparisons, it is suggested that Vernon's changes be adopted. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian versions of the information subtests of the Wechsler tests of intelligence.

Contends that the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC—R), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), and WAIS—R all contain an Information subtest that can be troublesome for Canadian test takers because of items with distinct American-biased content. Research from a variety of studies involving Canadianized versions of the Information subtest is reviewed, and on the basis of findings, suitable substitution items are recommended for Canadian test takers. It is argued that until a suitable normative study is done on Canadianized versions, the recommended items be adopted as standards, since a substantial gain in face validity is achieved. (French abstract) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised.

30 male veterans (mean age 51.63 yrs) referred for neuropsychological evaluation were administered the WAIS and the WAIS-R by a procedure that avoided the repetition of identical items. The IQ scores and all subtest scores were compared and found to be significantly different, with the WAIS scores being higher than the WAIS-R scores. Computed IQs and subtest scores were correlated with only 1 correlation below .90. All correlations were significant. Comparison of the 2 test forms found them to be reliable but not equivalent. The difference in test scores is considered large enough to be important to the clinician. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is there a rationale for eradication of Helicobacter pylori? Cost-benefit: the case for

Although the items within the WAIS-R subtests are presumed to be in ascending order of difficulty, several studies have indicated that the Picture Arrangement subtest items are out of order for clinical groups. The present study retrospectively examined item difficulty and discrimination in the test data of 74 individuals who had been referred for neuropsychological assessment following a traumatic brain injury. While results were not statistically significant, qualitative analysis of partial credit scoring for four of the items indicated some inconsistencies in the scoring rationale. Caution is recommended in the use and interpretation of the Picture Arrangement tests scores in the assessment of individuals with traumatic brain injury.     

WISC-R subtest variability in a clinic-referred sample of Canadian children.

WISC-R protocols and demographic data were obtained from the files of 200 clinic-referred Canadian children (aged 6 yrs to 15 yrs 11 mo). 72% of the sample were referred because of some form of learning problem, emotional disturbance, developmental delay/retardation, and/or behavior disorder. Comparisons were made with normal Canadian children (J. Wersh and J. Briere, see record 1982-05521-001) and the American WISC-R standardization sample (A. Kaufman, Vols 56:3214 and 57:7179). A 1-sample Hotelling T–2 test was employed to examine subtest variability with reference to scale grand means, and a series of MANOVAs examined the effects of Full Scale IQ, age, and sex, and their interactions. The Discrepancy Index, Range Index, and Deviation Index of subtests were also calculated. Overall, subtest variability comparisons with the American normative population and normal Canadian children revealed a few distinct differences in degree and pattern of scatter on selected indices. The relationship of these findings to the literature on WISC-R subtest variability is discussed. (French abstract) (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Utility of the seven subtest WAIS-R short form in a female sample with brain damage

We examined the accuracy of the WAIS-R seven subtest short form (Ward, 1990) for predicting IQs of 130 females with brain damage or dysfunction. Means for age, education, and FSIQ were 44.37 years (SD = 18.46), 12.74 years (SD = 2.42), and 87.64 (SD = 13.62). Results indicated that 93%, 84%, and 93% of short form estimated VIQs, PIQs, and FSIQs were within +/-5 points of their actual WAIS-R scores. In terms of Wechsler's (1981) seven category intelligence classification, levels of agreement were 83%, 72%, and 82% for the Verbal, Performance, and Full scales, respectively. These findings support the use of the seven subtest short form with brain-damaged women when time is at a premium and only a general estimate of intellectual functioning is required.     

Substituting Symbol Search for Coding on the WISC-III: Canadian normative tables for Performance and Full Scale IQ scores.

A. S. Kaufman (1994) recommends that the Symbol Search, an optional subtest to the WISC-III, be substituted for Coding in the calculation of WISC-III Performance and Full Scale IQ scores. Conversion tables have been published for use with American norms. The authors provide conversion tables for the Canadian-normed WISC-III. The standardization sample consisted of a representative group of 1,100 English-speaking Canadian children. The conversion tables are provided. These tables allow Canadian WISC-III examiners to substitute Symbol Search for Coding in the calculation of the Performance and Full Scale IQ scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of a bispecific monoclonal antibody as a universal immunoprobe for detecting biotinylated macromolecules

Performance of 200 mixed neuropsychiatric patients on the WAIS-R were compared to the summary scores for Kaufman's Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) and a seven subtest short form of the WAIS-R. Correlations between verbal, non-verbal, and composite of the full WAIS-R with the K-BIT were significantly lower than the correlations with the WAIS-R shore form. The percentage of cases on the short forms that fell within 5 points of the full WAIS-R was higher for the seven subtest version of the WAIS-R than the K-BIT. Specifically, Verbal, Nonverbal/Performance, and Composite/Full Scale scores on the WAIS-R short form feel within 5 points for 89%, 74%, and 92% of the cases while on the K-BIT only 52%, 40%, and 50% fell within 5 points.     

Change and stability in adult intellectual functioning assessed by Wechsler item responses.

Change in adult intellectual performance was assessed with longitudinal data from the Intergenerational Studies at the Institute of Human Development. Wechsler Intelligence data from two age cohorts spanning ages 18 to 61 were analyzed at the subtest and item level. Hotelling T–2 analyses on sets of equivalent items from Wechsler subtests were studied to determine if change in response occurred between pairwise combinations of occasions of test administrations. We used Bowker's test to analyze data at the item level to determine the direction of change in performance. Consistent improvement in performance occurred between the ages of 18–40 and 18–54. Between the ages of 40 and 61, results showed mostly improved performance on the Information, Comprehension, and Vocabulary subtests, mixed change on the Picture Completion subtest, and decline on the Digit Symbol and Block Design subtests. The pattern of mixed change on the Picture Completion subtest indicated improvement on the easy items and decline on the difficult items. Decline in performance on the Block Design test occurred only for the most difficult items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"On WAIS—R difference scores in the standardization sample": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by L. Atkinson (Psychological Assessment, 1991[Jun], Vol 3[2], 292–294). In Table 1, SEest(d) of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) difference scores for the standardization sample is incorrect; the corrected table is presented. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1991-26153-001.) Prior tables (Atkinson, 1991) describing WAIS and its revision, WAIS-R, subtest scores did not account for the fact that the best estimate of the "true' difference between 2 scores obtained by an individual is not the one actually obtained, but one based on the obtained difference and regressed toward the mean difference. Furthermore, the previously published WAIS-R table is based on a psychiatric sample. This article examined the WAIS-R standardization sample (N?=?1,880) using regressed difference scores to derive statistics describing subtest discrepancies. Results indicated improved difference score reliability in the WAIS-R, as compared with the WAIS, although reliability remained poor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

WISC-R subtest variability in normal Canadian children and its relationship to sex, age, and IQ.

91 children (mean age 11.5 yrs), screened for absence of emotional and educational disabilities, were tested on the WISC-R and examined for significant subtest variability. Arithmetic, Digit Recall, Comprehension, and Coding differed significantly from the grand mean of all subtests. In a 2nd analysis, subtest variability was examined relative to Ss' sex, age, and overall IQ. Sex differences occurred on Information, Picture Completion, Arithmetic, Coding and Digit Recall. Age differences occurred on Information and marginally on Performance IQ. Sex and Age interacted on Performance IQ, and Sex and IQ interacted on Coding. It is suggested that the absence of sex-specific norms and separate norms for Canadian children may lessen the clinical interpretability of subtest differences on the WISC-R. (French abstract) (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised.

The standardization data for the WAIS-R and the original WAIS were subjected to principal-factor analysis, and a 2-factor solution was adopted for each scale. The stability of the 2 factors, identified as Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Organization, was high both within and between scales. Variance components (common, specific, and error) and estimates of the general factor were calculated for each subtest on both the WAIS-R and the WAIS. Results are discussed in terms of the clinical interpretation of the scales. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test item bias in the WISC--R.

Notes that test-item bias in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and WISC—Revised (WISC—R) Information subtest has concerned Canadian psychologists for over 3 decades. Several investigators have attempted to identify and evaluate the source of this bias. The method of choice in these studies has been rank-order comparisons of pass-rates between the standardized and modified items. It is argued that this methodology is incomplete to establish the presence or absence of item bias. In addition to observing the rank order of pass rates, it is recommended that a chi-square approach be used based on the proportion of responses within ability levels to evaluate test item bias. The advantages of this strategy are demonstrated with WISC—R data from 342 12–16 yr old psychiatric inpatients and outpatients. Results demonstrate the power of this methodology over simple rank-order comparisons. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)