Ten questions with culturally specific American content from the WAIS-R Information subtest were examined empirically for level of difficulty for Canadian subjects. Rank order and chi square analyses showed that accuracy scores (p-values) for these questions differed significantly from the p-values of the WAIS-R (Wechsler, 1981) normative sample for the majority of these items for this sample (N = 95). Nine of 10 Canadian substitutes were found to reflect more accurately the difficulty level of the original standardization data.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing (6th ed.). New York: Macmillan.
2.
Angoff, W. H. (1981). The use of difficulty and discrimination indices in the identification of biased test items. In R. A. Berk (Ed.), Handbook of mnethods for detecting test bias (pp. 30-45). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
3.
Boer, D. P., & Pugh, G. M. (1988). Canadianization of the WAIS-R Information subtest: implications for psychiatric assessment. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 20, 273-286.
4.
Crawford, M. S., & Boer, D. P. (1985). Content bias in the WAIS-R Information subtest and some Canadian alternatives. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 1 7, 79-86.
5.
Cyr, J. J., & Atkinson, L. (1986, June). American bias in the Wechsler Scales: creating more of a problem than already exists. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Toronto.
6.
Cyr, J. J., & Atkinson, L. (1987). Test item bias in the WAIS-R. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 19, 101-107.
7.
Fellers, G., McInnis, C., Cappelli, M., Cragg, S., & Vaillancourt, R. (1987). WAIS-R Information subtest item bias for Canadian high school students. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 19, 108-114.
8.
Malgady, R. G., Rogler, L. J., & Costantino, G. (1987). Ethnocultural and linguistic bias in mental health evaluation of hispanics. American Psychologist, 42, 228-234.
9.
Oberle, K. E. (1974). Canadian equivalents of certain items on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Alberta.
10.
Osterlind, S. J. (1983). Test item bias. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
11.
Scheuneman, J. (1979). A method of assessing bias in test items. Journal of Educational Measurement, 16, 143-152.
12.
Violato, C. (1984). Effects of Canadianization of American-biased items on the WAIS and WAIS-R Information subtest. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 16, 36-41.
13.
Violato, C. (1986). Canadian versions of Information subtests of the Wechsler tests of intelligence. Canadian Psychology, 27, 69-74.
14.
Wechsler, D. (1974). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revised. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
15.
Wechsler, D. (1981). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.
