We evaluated whether abilities measured by the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC)are as complex as those measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R)within a sample of referred children. Results of factor and multidimensional scaling analyses indicated that abilities tapped by the K-ABC Mental Processing scale are not as complex as those assessed by the WISC-R. K-ABC Achievement scale subtests, however, seemed to assess skills as complex as those measured by many WISC-R subtests. The relative cognitive complexity of the K-ABC and the WISC-R seem comparable, but only when all the K-ABC subtests are administered.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bracken, B. A. (1985). A critical review of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. School Psychology Review, 14, 21-36.
2.
Cattell, R. B. (1963). Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 1-22.
3.
Chattin, S. H., & Bracken, B. A. (1989). School psychologists' evaluation of the K-ABC, McCarthy Scales, Stanford-Binet IV, and WISC-R. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 7, 112-130.
4.
Das, J. P. (1984). Simultaneous and successive processes and the K-ABC. Journal of Special Education, 18, 229-238.
5.
Das, J. P., Kirby, J. R., & Jarman, R. F. (1975). Simultaneous and successive processes. New York: Academic Press.
6.
Das, J. P., Mensink, D., & Janzen, H. (1990). The K-ABC, coding, and planning: An investigation of cognitive processes. Journal of School Psychology, 25, 1-11.
7.
Guttman, L. (1954). Some necessary conditions for common factor analysis. Psychometrika, 19, 149-161.
8.
Guttman, L. (1956). The structure of relations among intelligence tests. Proceedings of the 1964 Invitational Conference on Testing Problems. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
9.
Herbert, W. (1982). Intelligence testing: Sizing up a newcomer. Science News, 122, 280-281.
10.
Jensen, A. R. (1984). The black-white difference on the K-ABC: Implications for future tests. Journal of Special Education, 18, 377-408.
11.
Kamphaus, R. W., & Reynolds, C. R. (1987). Clinical and research applications of the K-ABC. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
12.
Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (1983a). K-ABC administration and scoring manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
13.
Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (1983b). K-ABC interpretive manual. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
14.
Kaufman, A. S., & McLean, J. E. (1986). K-ABC/WISC-R factor analysis for a learning disabled population. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 19145-153.
15.
Kaufman, A. S., & McLean, J. E. (1987). Joint factor analysis of the K-ABC and the WISC-R with normal children. Journal of School Psychology, 25, 105-118.
16.
Keith, T. Z. (1985). Questioning the K-ABC: What does it measure?School Psychology Review, 14, 9-20.
17.
Keith, T. Z., & Dunbar, S. B. (1984). Hierarchical factor analysis of the K-ABC: Testing alternative models. Journal of Special Education, 18, 367-375.
18.
Keith, T. Z., & Novak, C. G. (1987). Joint factor analysis of the WISC-R and K-ABC for referred school children. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 4, 370-386.
19.
Kruskal, J. B. (1964). Multidimensional scaling by optimizing goodness of fit to a nonmetric hypothesis. Psychometrika, 29, 1-27.
20.
Larson, G. E., Merritt, C. R., Williams, S. E. (1988). Information processing and intelligence: Some implications of task complexity. Intelligence, 12, 131-147.
21.
Marshalek, B., Lohman, D. L., & Snow, R. E. (1983). The complexity continuum in the radex and hierarchical models of intelligence. Intelligence, 7, 107-127.
22.
Mehrens, W. A. (1984). A critical analysis of the psychometric properties of the K-ABC. Journal of Special Education, 18, 297-310.
23.
Naglieri, J. A., & Jensen, A. R. (1987). Comparison of black-white differences on the WISC-R and the K-ABC: Spearman's hypothesis. Intelligence, 11, 21-43.
24.
Reynolds, C. R. (1982). The problem of bias in psychological assessment. In C. R. Reynolds & T. B. Gutkin (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (pp. 178-208). New York: John Wiley.
25.
Rummel, R. J. (1970). Applied factor analysis. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
26.
Shepard, R. N. (1962a). The analysis of proximities: Multidimensional scaling with an unknown distance function. II. Psychometr7ika, 27, 125-140.
27.
Shepard, R. N. (1962b). The analysis of proximities: Multidimensional scaling with an unknown distance function. II. Psychometrika, 27, 219-246.
28.
Shepard, R. N. (1963). Analysis of proximities as a technique for the study of information processing in man. Human Factors, 5, 19-34.
29.
Spearman, C. (1927). The abilities of man: Their nature and measurement. London: Macmillan.
30.
Sternberg, R. J. (1984). The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children: An information-processing analysis and critique. Journal of Special Education, 18, 269-280.
31.
Strommen, E. (1988). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children: A reevaluation. Journal of School Psychology, 26, 13-23.
32.
Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the WISC-R. New York: Psychological Corporation.
