Discomfort is the price of admission
to a meaningful life.
Susan David, PhD
Testing and Assessment of People & Communities of Color (A Range of Organizations including APA)
Recounting the history of harm that assessment has
done to people and communities of color (starting as far back as Plato) as well as suggestions to minimize cultural influences in testing.
African Americans
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians
Asian Americans
Latina/os Americans
Unitary Constructs
A construct measured by adding two or more related subtests AND those component subtests scores are not substantially dissimilar.
Thus the construct holds together, is cohesive, and can be considered as a viable construct.
E.g. Visual ability reflected in BD, MR, and PC.
Tenants of Intelligent Testing
- Subtests are samples of behavior (they are only limited samples)
- Testing assesses mental functioning under fixed experimental conditions
- Test batteries are most useful when interpreted from a theoretical model (e.g., information processing model)
- Hypotheses should be supported by multiple sources
WAIS-IV Interpretation
- By FSIQ (range of scores 40 to 160)
- By Index scores (range of scores from 50 to 150)
- By Subscale scores (mean score 10; Std.Dev=3)
- By idiograhic answers/behaviors
& - Normative comparison
- Idiographic profile
How is the FSIQ useful?
Big part of diagnosing intellectual disability
Intellectual Disability (DSM-5 p.33)
A. Deficits in intellectual functioning confirmed by clinical assessment and individualized, standardized intelligence testing
B. Deficits in adaptive functioning that limits one or more ADLs, including communication, social participation, and independent living, across multiple environments including home, school, work, community
C. Onset during the developmental period
Adaptive behavior measures
- Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale 3rd Edition
- Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-3 (ABAS-3)
How are Indices Useful?
Assess qualitatively different types of intellectual functioning
Intellectual performance as a multidimensional construct
WAIS-IV Indices
VCI - Long term memory and learning ability
WMI - Information processing capacity
PRI - Spatial reasoning ability
PSI - Processing visually presented information accurately and quickly
Verbal Comprehension
“Retrieval of verbal information from long term storage and reasoning with it.”
Perceptual Reasoning
“Reasoning with nonverbal, visual stimuli including the ability to analyze and synthesize abstract visual stimuli.”
Working Memory
Encoding stimuli, keeping information accessible, manipulating it and using it in thinking. Often called the “engine of learning”
Processing Speed
Visual, motor, and visual-motor processing speed
What abilities does a particular subtest require?
Block Design
- Eyesight & some motor skill
- Being able to register the visual image of each block
- Understand the fact they are all identical
- Manipulating and comparing in one’s mind a block in relation to the model and the other blocks
- Communicating one’s mental effort to the fingers
- Registering visual feedback to make adjustments
- Largely relies on visual-spatial abilities
What abilities does a particular subtest require?
Comprehension
- Hearing
- Language skills
- Attentional abilities (ability to focus, anxiety)
- Experience in the world (rich vs. impoverished, moral development, etc.)
- Abstract reasoning to formulate an answer
- Articulation
- Ability to respond to query
Interpretation Theory
Good assessors use:
- Research knowledge
- Theoretical sophistication
- Solid clinical skills
Information Processing Model
Input (how information from the senses enters the brain)
Integration (interpreting and processing)
Storage (storing for later retrieval)
Output (expressing information)
Ipsative Method
Use theory to organize process:
A. Wechsler’s 4-Indices AND/OR
B. Keith’s 5-factors (derived from Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of the structure of cognitive abilities)
More reliability in composite scores (clusters) than in subtests (the clusters must be unitary)
Ipsative Approach (Kaufman & Lichtenberger)
- Measuring yourself against yourself
- Intra-individual differences alone are insufficient for conclusions BUT can provide hypotheses to weight against other information
Two ways to analyze WAIS results
- Using the second page of the WAIS-IV record form
- Using Lichentenberger & Kaufman procedure
Lichentenberger & Kaufman
A. Individual Subtest Qualitative & Clinical Analysis
Key Assets and High-Priority Concerns
If both a Personal and Normative Strength = Key Asset
If both a Personal and Normative Weakness = High-Priority Concern
