Factor structure of the McCarthy scales

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to test the factor structure of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities in preschool children. Seventy-two boys and 69 girls between 4 and 5 years of age were tested. A factor analysis was carried out by means of the principal components method with varimax rotation. The existence of the Verbal factor and of the Perceptual-Performance factor was confirmed. The Quantitative and Memory factors appear undifferentiated. As far as the subtests which make up the Motor scale are concerned, they do not constitute a single factor. The significance of these findings is discussed.The McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA; McCarthy, 1972) consist of 18 subtests, which have been categorized by the author in six scales: Verbal, PerceptualPerformance, Quantitative, Memory, Motor, and General. The profile method of analysis proposed by Kaufman and Kaufman (1977), which consists of the detection of strong and weak points in the performance of the different scales, is often used for analysis. It is assumed that each subtest evaluates diverse abilities, some of which are shared by various subtests, others being specific. The explanation of the successes or failures of a subtest in terms of shared or specific abilities demands-in addition to the clinical demonstration -the psychometric demonstration that the subtests pertain to a concrete factor and the determination of the measure in which the subtests influence the factor and the total scale.The different authors who have factorized the McCarthy Scales in order to verify the structure hypothesized by the author tend to reaffirm its validity. Nevertheless, a careful analysis of the factorial configurations found reveals a certain lack of congruence in both the confirmation of the factors and their composition; this heterogeneity becomes more patent when one compares analysis carried out with samples of different ages and different cognitive levels.Kaufman (1975) carried out a factorial analysis with children of five age levels drawn from the standardization sample. His results supported the consistency of the Memory, Motor, and Verbal factors for all ages, and of the Perceptual-Performance and General factors for four of the five age groups; the Quantitative factor did not appear until five years of age.A study by Watkins and Wiebe (1980) can be categorized as the most critical of the construct validity of the scales considered separately, to the extent that, according to these authors, only the General Cognitive factor would be interpretable. These results have been amply contested by Branthwaite and Trueman (1985) and Trueman and Branthwaite (1985), on the grounds of possible methodological errors. Naglieri, Kaufman, and Harrison (1981) factor-analyzed the results of 77 subjects between the ages of 6-0 and 8-6 with a mean GCI (General Cognitive Index) of 61.6: these children, whose general scores correspond to the stanine 1, could be considered educable retardates. Naglieri et al. confirm the existence of only four factors: Motor,

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“…The Block Building subtest of the MSCA involves spatial organization and construction (Valencia, 1990) and visual-motor coordination (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1977). Factor analyses of McCarthy subtest scores of preschool-age children repeatedly have shown that Block Building loads on factors that correspond to McCarthy's original configuration of the Perceptual-Performance scale (Forns-Santacana & Gomez-Benito, 1990;Kaufman, 1975;Trueman, Lynch, & Branthwaite, 1984). According to Kaufman and Kaufman (1977), the Conceptual Grouping task involves logical classification skills and verbal reasoning ability; Counting and Sorting involves rote counting and is assumed to reflect ability in number concepts and numerical reasoning; and Number Questions involves number facts and concepts, numerical reasoning, computational skills, concentration, and verbal comprehension.…”

Neuropsychological Assessment at Preschool Age: Adaptation and Validation of the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities to 4 Year-old Basque-speaking Children

“…The goodness-of-fit of each scale was assessed with the following indexes: the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) and the Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square difference test. Given that the factor structure has been found to vary between studies (Culbertson & Gyurke, 1990;Forns-Santacana & Gómez-Benito, 1990;Gómez-Benito & Forns-Santacana, 1993), we opted to assess the fit for each of the scales of the source instrument as well as for executive function scale. The long-term memory scale was not included in the CFA, given that it is based on two subtests of the original scale.…”

“…Regarding previous versions of the MSCA, the scales show adequate internal consistency. Factor analyses carried out by different authors have shown that their structure is sensitive to sample characteristics, especially age and socio-economic level (Culbertson & Gyurke, 1990;Forns-Santacana & Gómez-Benito, 1990;Gómez-Benito, & Forns-Santacana, 1993). There is evidence of convergent validity both with scales for general developmental assessment and with tests to evaluate specific cognitive abilities.…”

“…Adaptation to Basque and Validation of the Msca 7 sample, in particular, on age and socioeconomic level (Culbertson & Gyurke, 1990;Forns-Santacana & Gómez-Benito, 1990;Gómez-Benito & Forns-Santacana, 1993). Given the lack of consensus in the aforementioned studies, in our research, we decided to assess the dimensionality of the instrument by calculating the fit indexes for each of the scales separately.…”

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“…For a detailed analysis of the base of support for the Popular Olympics, see Santacana (1990), particularly the chapter on the response of the athletic community.…”