Factor Space of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition: Critical Thoughts and Recommendations

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991 ) manual incorporates a detailed and careful series of factor analyses. It recommends using approximations of the Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom From Distractibility, and Processing Speed fac...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological assessment 1994-09, Vol.6 (3), p.201-208
Main Authors: Parker, Kevin C. H, Atkinson, Leslie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Children
Computer Oriented Programs
Developmental psychology
Estimation (Mathematics)
Factor Analysis
Factor Structure
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General Intelligence
Guides
Human
Intelligence Tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Research Methodology
Scaling
Scores
Scoring (Testing)
Spreadsheets
Statistical Estimation
Subtests
Test Use
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991 ) manual incorporates a detailed and careful series of factor analyses. It recommends using approximations of the Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom From Distractibility, and Processing Speed factor scores. These approximations are simple sums of the scores of the subtests that load most highly on a factor. These simple sum factor estimates suffer from reduced factorial specificity. The simple estimates share substantially more variance with the factor of General Intelligence, or the g factor, and less variance with the other unrotated factors than the best estimates of the factor. This state of affairs has implications for clinical interpretation of factor scores. Application of the procedures recommended here is practical with the use of a computer and a basic spreadsheet program.
ISSN:1040-3590
1939-134X
DOI:10.1037/1040-3590.6.3.201