The WISC as a diagnostic tool

Abstract

Wechsler's hypotheses for the adolescent sociopath were applied to the WISC under controlled conditions. Groups were separated according to race and sex, while IQ, socioeconomic class, and geographic location were held constant. The criterion for selection of Ss was appearance before a juvenile court. The efficiency of each of Wechsler's signs was determined. Post hoc analysis provided specific signs for each combination of race and sex in the 80-89 IQ range. The need for cross-validation of these signs was stressed. Other methodological issues that may contribute to inconclusive findings with traditional assessment procedures were discussed throughout the study. These included: (1) the need for control of the relevant variables; (2) the problem of poorly defined criteria; (3) the need for analysis of the individual as well as the group data; (4) the importance of a holistic approach; (5) the problem with matching; and (6) the problem of not having an expected distribution with which to compare the frequency of "hits" for Wechsler's indices.

Core profile types in the WISC—R national sample: Structure, membership, and applications.

“…Originally intended as alternative measures of global ability that permitted distinction between aspects of verbal and nonverbal functioning, the tests soon were viewed as useful for even finer distinctions among children's cognitive styles, especially as reflected in patterns of score elevations and depressions across subtest areas. Based mainly on popular theory and inductive analysis about skills required for good performance on Wechsler subtests, interpretations have since been offered for more than 75 different patterns of subtest variation (Bannatyne, 1974;Glasser & Zimmerman, 1967;Guilford, 1967;Kaufman, 1979;Saccuzzo & Lewandowski, 1976;Selz & Reitan, 1979;Wechsler & Jaros, 1965;Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, & Karp, 1962), With publication of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R; Wechsler, 1974), a new and somewhat more empirical interest in subtest analysis emerged. Clinical researchers recognized the need to validate inferences by establishing relationships between specific subtest profiles and meaningful external criteria.…”

Verbal versus performance IQs for gifted African-American, Caucasian, Filipino, and Hispanic children.

“…Despite these positive findings concerning the significance of VIQ–PIQ differences, many findings have been negative or contradictory (see Elliott & Boeve, 1987; Saccuzzo & Lewandowski, 1976; Vance, Hankins, & Brown, 1988). Lewandowski and Saccuzzo (1976) discussed a variety of research design issues that have contributed to the pattern of conflicting and contradictory results in the evaluation of traditional psychometric tests in general and in the VIQ–PIQ discrepancy in particular.…”

The P > V sign on the WISC-R and recidivism in delinquents.

“…One source of the popularity of Wechsler's scales has been their use as a diagnostic tool (Saccuzzo & Lewandowski, 1976). Wechsler (1958) stated that the most characteristic pattern of global intellectual functioning for adolescent delinquents is a higher Performance (P) than Verbal (V) IQ.…”