WISC-R factor score profiles and academic achievement: A test of Kaufman's profile analysis procedures.

A. S. Kaufman (1979) suggested that factor score patterns may yield information about achievement that is additional to information contained in WISC-R composite scores. The present study examined the relation between factor score patterns and achievement beyond the well-established relationship between WISC-R composite scores and achievement. The WISC-R, including the Digit Span subtest, and the Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic subtests of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) were administered to 272 6–16 yr old academic underachievers referred for psychoeducational assessment. Results of the examination of factor score patterns and WRAT achievement scores indicate that 2 of the 10 patterns present in the data had a statistically significant relationship to achievement. While both patterns were negatively associated with achievement, the size of their contribution to achievement variance was small and in the order of 2%. These results impose limits on the utility of Kaufman's profile analysis procedures. (French abstract) (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)