Psycholinguistic Abilities of Black and White Children from Four SES Levels

Abstract

The Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, revised edition, was administered to 160 black and white children of average mental ability from the lower lower, upper lower, lower middle, and upper middle socioeconomic status (SES) levels as determined by the McGuire-White Index of Socioeconomic Status. The results indicate that the level of performance and pattern of psycholinguistic abilities of black children is relatively free of a systematic influence from SES but the performance of white children is related to socioeconomic status. The lower SES levels and black children showed more variability than the middle SES and white children. The reported lower SES visual-motor orientation and middle SES auditory-vocal orientation were not supported in this study.