A comparison of the factor structure of the WISC-R for blacks and whites

Scaled scores of the 10 mandatory WISC-R subtests were factor analyzed for separate groups of black (N = 430) and white (N = 274) public school students. Two-, three- and four-factor solutions were examined using the iterated principal factor method. The factorial solutions were compared using coefficients of congruence, and each solution was compared to the standardization sample. Coefficients of congruence between the black and white first factor were .96, second factor .99, and third factor .74. Congruency between Kaufman's results and each racial group was also quite high, suggesting that the WISC-R measures the same theoretical abilities.     

Adjustment scales for children and adolescents and Native American Indians: Factorial validity generalization for Ojibwe youths

Replication of the core syndrome factor structure of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA; P.A. McDermott, N.C. Marston, & D.H. Stott, 1993) is reported for a sample of 183 Native American Indian (Ojibwe) children and adolescents from North Central Minnesota. The six ASCA core syndromes produced an identical two‐factor solution as the standardization data through principal axis analysis using multiple criteria for the number of factors to extract and retain. Varimax, direct oblimin, and promax rotations produced identical results and nearly identical factor‐structure coefficients. Coefficients of congruence resulted in an excellent match to the factorial results of the ASCA standardization sample and a large, independent sample. It was concluded that for these Ojibwe students, the ASCA measures two independent dimensions of psychopathology (i.e., Overactivity and Underactivity) that are similar to the conduct problems/externalizing and withdrawal/internalizing dimensions commonly found in the child psychopathology assessment literature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 685–694, 2006.     

IF THE MODEL FITS ‐‐ AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE REVISED ILLINOIS TEST OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ABILITIES FOR MODERATELY MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN∗

A factorial study of the revised Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities was carried out with 98 moderately mentally retarded school children to determine the domain mapped by the subtests and whether these fit the theoretical psycholinguistic model of channels, processes and levels of communication. Raw scores from the 10 subtests together with Binet IQ were subjected to three methods of analysis: the alpha factor analysis, image analysis and principal component analysis to obtain “method independent” and more meaningful results. Factor loadings from the alpha factor and image analyses were tested for congruence by the Schonemann method and a factor “reliability” study was carried out with separate principal component analyses on two random subsamples of 49 children each. Results support the channel separation postulated by the theoretical model. Implications for language programming for the moderately mentally retarded are discussed. The need for a taxonomic study of psycholinguistic abilities of retarded and non‐retarded children within the framework of current views of developmental psycholinguistics is stressed.

     

Hierarchical Models of Social Competence in Preschool Children: A Multisite,Multinational Study

The generality of a multilevel factorial model of social competence (SC) for preschool children was tested in a 5‐group, multinational sample (N = 1,540) using confirmatory factor analysis. The model fits the observed data well, and tests constraining paths for measured variables to their respective first‐order factors across samples also fit well. Equivalence of measurement models was found at sample and sex within‐sample levels but not for age within sample. In 2 groups, teachers’ ratings were examined as correlates of SC indicators. Composites of SC indicators were significantly associated with both positive and negative child attributes from the teachers’ ratings. The findings contribute to understanding of both methodological and substantive issues concerning SC in young children.     

Correlates of emotional congruence with children in sexual offenders against children: A test of theoretical models in an incarcerated sample

Emotional congruence with children is a psychological construct theoretically involved in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending against children. Research conducted to date has not examined the relationship between emotional congruence with children and other psychological meaningful risk factors for sexual offending against children. The current study derived potential correlates of emotional congruence with children from the published literature and proposed three models of emotional congruence with children that contain relatively unique sets of correlates: the blockage, sexual deviance, and psychological immaturity models. Using Area under the Curve analysis, we assessed the relationship between emotional congruence with children and offense characteristics, victim demographics, and psychologically meaningful risk factors in a sample of incarcerated sexual offenders against children (n = 221). The sexual deviance model received the most support: emotional congruence with children was significantly associated with deviant sexual interests, sexual self-regulation problems, and cognition that condones and supports child molestation. The blockage model received partial support, and the immaturity model received the least support. Based on the results, we propose a set of further predictions regarding the relationships between emotional congruence with children and other psychologically meaningful risk factors to be examined in future research.     

FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE K–ABC FOR GROUPS OF ANGLO AND MEXICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN

Factor analyses of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K–ABC) were performed on separate groups of Anglo (n = 100) and Mexican American (n = 100) fifth-grade children to determine the comparability of underlying structures and to examine the existence of possible bias in construct validity of the K–ABC for each group. The subjects were selected from two contiguous school districts and stratified by grade, socioeconomic status (SES), and language status. A principal factor analysis produced two factors in the Mental Processing area and three factors in the total battery (Mental Processing plus Achievement areas) for the two groups. Examination of the coefficients of congruence indicated factorial similarity across four of five factors. Furthermore, the factors that emerged for the Anglo and Mexican American groups corresponded to the scales comprising the K–ABC. The results of the investigation provide some evidence for the construct validity of the K–ABC for the two ethnic groups. Further test bias research on the K–ABC is recommended.     

The comparison of performance by sex of deaf children on the WISC-R

The Performance Scale of the WISC-R was administered to 60 female and 65 male hearing-impaired subjects. The only significant sex difference found was on the Coding subtest, with females outperforming males by a mean scaled score difference of 1.77 points (t = −3.087, p<.01). Subtest intercorrelational results suggest that deaf females possessed significantly better visual-motor coordination and speed, while males demonstrated better spatial analysis and synthesis skills. A principal factor analysis procedure yielded only one factor for each sex. The high degree of factorial similarity between the female and male samples indicated that the underlying construct being measured by the WISC-R Performance subtests does not differ by gender.     

A Cross‐validated Study of the Factorial Structure Underlying Intelligence Tests and Piagetian Formal Operational Tests

Based on a stratified sample of 15‐year‐old students in Singapore schools, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to identify and cross‐validate the factorial structure underlying two group intelligence tests and two group Piagetian tests. The structure of the first‐ and second‐order factors underlying the tests was first identified using exploratory factor analysis on the exploratory sample. The confirmatory approach using LISREL was then used to cross‐validate the factor structure on the validation sample. One second‐ and four first‐order factors were found. To allow for easier interpretation of the factors, a Schmid‐Leiman transformation was carried out on the first‐ and second‐order factor matrices of the pooled sample. A hierarchical factor matrix consisting of a general factor and four group factors was found.     

Components of phonological awareness

The factorial structure underlying different types of tasks within the domain of phonological awareness was examined in two studies. Large sample sizes allowed for sensitive differentiation of constructs. In the first study, 128 preschool children without any experience of formal reading instruction were tested with a battery of tasks intended to tap various aspects of phonological awareness: rhyme recognition, syllable counting, initial-phoneme matching, initial-phoneme deletion, phoneme blending, and phoneme counting. Three basic components were extracted in a principal component analysis: a phoneme factor, a syllable factor and a rhyme factor. Cross-tabulations indicated considerable dissociation between performance on phoneme, syllable, and rhyme tasks. The structural relationships were replicated on a much larger sample (n=1509) in the second study. Subjects in this study were one year older and were attending grade 1 thus providing an opportunity to test their reading achievement. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the phonemic factor was by far the most potent predictor. However, the rhyming factor made an independent (although small) contribution to explaining the reading variance. Among the phonemic tasks, phoneme identification proved to be the most powerful predictor.     

Comparing Multilevel and Classical Confirmatory Factor Analysis Parameterizations of Multirater Data: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

This simulation study assesses the statistical performance of two mathematically equivalent parameterizations for multitrait–multimethod data with interchangeable raters—a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a classical CFA parameterization. The sample sizes of targets and raters, the factorial structure of the trait factors, and rater missingness are varied. The classical CFA approach yields a high proportion of improper solutions under conditions with small sample sizes and indicator-specific trait factors. In general, trait factor related parameters are more sensitive to bias than other types of parameters. For multilevel CFAs, there is a drastic bias in fit statistics under conditions with unidimensional trait factors on the between level, where root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and χ2 distributions reveal a downward bias, whereas the between standardized root mean square residual is biased upwards. In contrast, RMSEA and χ2 for classical CFA models are severely upwardly biased in conditions with a high number of raters and a small number of targets.     

Sex differences on the WISC-R for retarded children and youth

This study investigated sex differences on the WISC-R subtests for retarded males and females who were matched in terms of WISC-R Full Scale IQs. The sample consisted of 126 children and youth (63 females, 63 males) ranging in chronological age from 7–3 to 8–3, with a mean CA of 7–8. Each subject was matched in terms of Full Scale IQ score. A 2 × 10 analysis of variance with repeated measures on a single factor was used to analyze the data. Students' T and Fisher's F ratios were calculated, and differences between subtest means were analyzed by Newman-Keuls test for sample effects. Evidence from the investigation indicated that a significant interaction effect existed between sex and subtest scores.     

Factor structure of the McCarthy Scales for Children experiencing problems in school

The McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) were factor analyzed for a group of 6- to 8 1/2-year-old children referred for school-related problems. The sample was composed of 300 rural eastern North Carolina public school children with a mean GCI of 88.1. Evidence was found for factors similar to three of the six MSCA Scales: General Cognitive, Verbal, and Motor. Coefficients of congruence were computed and compared with earlier analyses of the standardization data. The results were interpreted as generally supporting the MSCA's validity with children experiencing problems in school. Implications for interpretation of the MSCA Scales were presented.     

区域节庆旅游发展评价——以广西为例

引入因子分析法,从分析影响区域节庆旅游的因素着手,构建了包含区域经济发展水平、自然与社会环境、基础设施、节庆旅游资源、区域旅游发展状况、政策与体制环境等6个一级指标、26个二级指标的区域节庆旅游综合评价指标体系。通过抽样问卷调查和专家打分法收集相关数据资料并借助SPSS13.0统计软件对数据进行因子分析,计算因子载荷矩阵,在此基础上得出结论:即区域节庆旅游的发展受基础条件、资源产品、环境因素和发展潜力的影响,对广西而言基础条件是最主要因素。     

Syntactic Cues Help Disambiguate Objects Referred to With Count Nouns: Illustration With Malay Children

Children employ multiple cues to identify the referent of a novel word. Novel words are often embedded in sentences and children have been shown to use syntactic cues to differentiate between types of words (adjective vs. nouns) and between types of nouns (count vs. mass nouns). In this study, we show that children learning Malay (N = 67), a numeral classifier language, can use syntactic cues to perform even finer-grained disambiguation–between count nouns. The manipulation of congruence between lexical and syntactic cues reveals a clear developmental trajectory: while 5-year-olds use predominantly lexical cues, older children increasingly rely on syntactic cues, such that by 7 years of age, they disambiguate between objects referred to with count nouns using syntactic rather than lexical cues.     

Syndromes of social maladaptation among elementary school boys and girls

The cross-sex comparability of child social maladaptation is assessed within populations of elementary school children. The randomly aggregated normative sample for the revised Bristol Social Adjustment Guides (BSAG) was partitioned into subsamples of 1,305 boys and 1,222 girls ranging in age from 5 to 15 years. The children were observed by 900 classroom teachers and rated on the BSAG's six core syndromes and two associated groupings of problem behavior. For each sex, scores on the various behavioral groupings were normalized and submitted to principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation of retained dimensions. A general two-factor model emerged, with one factor resembling a dimension of general overreaction and the other a dimension of general underreaction. Cross-sex equivalence of factor structures was confirmed via Kaiser's analytic factor relations process. The BSAG's core syndromes and nonsyndromic groupings were found to sustain similar functions across the sexes, although differential trends were noted in the prevalence of specific behavioral syndromes.     

Age and gender-related differences in the temporal congruence development between motor imagery and motor performance

Temporal congruence between motor imagery and motor performance was evaluated in 30 elementary school children (7 and 8-year-olds) and 61 middle school children (11 and 12-year-olds), using the “Harre's Chase” obstacle-course [Harre, D. (1976). Trainingslehre. Berlin: Sportverlag]. It is made of successive elementary actions including running, rolling forward, changing direction, jumping and crawling. The children were requested to perform the obstacle-course both actually and mentally. Results showed that motor imagery duration was closer to that of actual execution in the middle school children group, as compared to elementary school children. We also found a gender difference, boys being more able than girls to reach the temporal congruency between imagined and physical times. Developmental factors, as well as gender differences in socio-cognitive traits, are discussed as the main factors explaining the development of the isochrony between actual and imagined movements.     

Hong Kong parents and their children’s music training: measurement properties of the Parental Involvement in Music Training Questionnaire

Many Hong Kong-Chinese parents are active in their support for their children’s music training. To better understand this support, the Parental Involvement in Music Training Questionnaire (PIMTQ) is designed to measure the variability in parental involvement in their children’s music training. This study begins by exploring the factor structure of the PIMTQ and then establishes its measurement properties using Rasch modelling. Two hundred and ninety-five Hong Kong-Chinese parents completed a Chinese version of the 42-item instrument with principal components analysis of the responses showing seven factors. However, Rasch modelling showed that two of the five factors (Family Music Background and Family Music Interest) are unable to reliably predict variability in parent responses. We conclude, however, that the remaining five factors (Parental Support Toward Music Training, Parental Expectations, Home Music Environment, Music Programme Support and Attitude Toward Music) of the PIMTQ can be used as subscales to measure the involvement of Hong Kong-Chinese parents in their children’s music training.     

Assessing the SB‐V factor structure in a sample of preschool children

The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Stanford‐Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB‐V), based on the Cattell‐Horn‐Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence using a sample of 200 preschool children. The CHC framework uses three different models: one similar to Spearman's g, one similar to the Gf‐Gc model, and one representing the hierarchical three‐stratum CHC model. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), utilizing these three models, was conducted to determine which theoretical model best described the ability structure measured by the SB‐V. Results of the CFA revealed that, although the two‐stratum model provided the best fit statistics, a large amount of overlap existed among the broad CHC factors in this model. Therefore, these results suggested that a simple, overall ability model may be the best representation of ability for preschool children when using the SB‐V because the factors appeared to be indistinct with this age group. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Influences on the congruence between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of young children's social skills and problem behaviors

A comprehensive research base exists concerning the congruence between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of the behavior of typically developing young children. However, little research has been conducted regarding the degree to which parents’ and teachers’ behavioral ratings of young children with disabilities are congruent. Additionally, previous research has not always correctly proportioned the variance to that between and within classrooms. The purpose of this study was to examine congruence (using hierarchical linear modeling) at the classroom level, rather than the individual student-level, between parents’ and teachers’ ratings of young children's social skills and problem behaviors. We also examined the potential impact of selected family and child demographic variables, including disability, on this congruence. Consistent with other researchers, we found moderate levels of congruence for children's social skills (as framed by strengths-based statements) and low levels of congruence for problem behaviors (as described using deficit-based terminology). Parents’ and teachers’ congruence was higher when rating the social skills of young children with disabilities as compared to young children without disabilities.