The relationship between IQ and reading disabilities in English-speaking Canadian and Spanish children

This study was designed to examine the role of intelligence (IQ) in the definition of reading disabilities (RD) in languages with different orthographic systems. A sample of 94 Spanish children and 157 English-speaking Canadian children with RD was classified into four groups on the basis of IQ scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (< 80; 81-90; 91-109; 110-140). We examined the reading and spelling skills of Canadian and Spanish children as a function of Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQ scores. Significant differences between the languages were found when reading performance was analyzed as a function of Verbal IQ scores, in that there were some differences between the groups of Canadian children with RD but not between the groups of Spanish children. The Canadian children with Verbal IQ scores < 80 demonstrated relatively lower performance in reading and spelling skills than the Canadian groups with higher IQ scores. There were differences in reading tasks as a function of Performance IQ in English but not in Spanish. The differences in the role of IQ as a function of orthographic systems may relate to the greater significance of visual-orthographic as opposed to phonological processing in English.     

The validity of discrepancy-based definitions of reading disabilities.

This study addressed the validity of distinguishing children with reading disabilities according to the presence or absence of discrepancies between intelligence test scores and academic achievement. Three definitions of reading disability were used to provide criteria for five groups of children who (a) met a discrepancy-based definition uncorrected for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (b) met a discrepancy-based definition correcting for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (c) met a low achievement definition with no IQ discrepancy; (d) met criteria a and b; and (e) met none of the criteria and had no reading disability. Comparison of these five groups on a set of 10 neuropsychological tests corrected for correlations with IQ showed that group differences were small and accounted for little of the variability among groups. These results question the validity of segregating children with reading deficiencies according to discrepancies with IQ scores.     

Cognitive processes separating good and poor readers when IQ is covaried

In this paper we address the issue of separating reading disability from general intelligence in order to identify those cognitive processes which discriminate between poor and good readers when intelligence is covaried. Subjects were 140 Grade 5 and 6 students who were administered Lorge-Thorndike intelligence test (1964), a reading decoding test and cognitive tests which measure planning, attention-arousal and simultaneous-successive processing. The tests which emerged as discriminators between good and poor readers when Lorge-Thorndike full scale IQ was covaried, were three measures of successive processing (Sequence Repetition, Naming Time, Speech Rate) and a measure of selective attention, the familiar Stroop Color-Word test. Subsequently, a comparison of reading disabled high and low average IQ children confirmed that the four tests were performed poorly by both groups. All four tests involve the use of articulatory representation, confirming the important role speech-related processes play in reading (decoding). The results support the notion that deficient speech-related processes may be the central problem of the majority of poor readers, especially those of above-average intelligence. Future directions for research on phonological coding and articulation were suggested.     

Does IQ matter in adolescents' reading disability?

We studied the connection of IQ, reading disability (RD) and their interaction with reading, spelling and other cognitive skills in adolescents with average IQ and RD (n = 22), average IQ, non-RD (n = 71), below average IQ and RD (n = 29), and below average IQ non-RD (n = 33). IQ was not connected to reading and spelling in subjects without RD, but a connection to non-word spelling in subjects with RD existed. IQ and RD showed a connection to other cognitive skills (IQ to working memory, verbal memory and syntactic skills, RD to poor performance in text reading and rapid naming and both of them to reading comprehension, phonological and arithmetic skills), but no interaction existed. Our results are consistent with those of earlier studies showing that IQ does not play a significant role in the presentation of RD. However, adolescents with below average IQ and RD seemed to have much broader deficits in academically important skills such as arithmetic and reading comprehension than the other groups.     

弱智儿童敲击动作速度的实验研究

对10-14岁(平均年龄12、13岁)的37名不同智商的弱智儿童的敲击动作速度进行了测定.弱智儿童根据智商不同分为二组一组为轻度智力残疾,智商55-75,平均智商61.3;一组为中度智力残疾,智商38-51,平均智商42.8.实验使用一台BQS-80-Ⅱ型敲击仪进行.被试各测定左、右手一分钟的敲击动作速度.结果表明智商较低的一组弱智儿童(平均智商42.8)左、右手的敲击动作速度均明显较之智商较高的一组弱智儿童(平均智商61.3)为慢,前者只相当于正常7岁儿童水平.无论哪一组弱智儿童,右手敲击速度均快于左手速度.这种情况表明,在弱智儿童中,由于智商的差异,也会对简单的动作速度产生影响.     

Linguistic profiles of dyslexic and good readers

Linguistic profiles of 60 boys with average intelligence were examined at kindergarten, grade 2, and grade 4. The subjects were 7 dyslexic, 7 mildly dyslexic, 30 average, and 16 good readers, defined in terms of the discrepancy between standardized reading and intelligence scores. Across the three ages, reader groups did not differ in language comprehension, but did differ in confrontation and rapid automatized naming (RAN), three syntactic measures, and verbal memory. Group strengths and weaknesses were, with few exceptions apparent in kindergarten and maintained throughout. The kindergarten tasks which most effectively predicted reading group membership at grade 4 were giving letter sounds, and rapid naming; these predicted 4th grade reading group at close to 100 percent accuracy. The study, together with a further comparison of average and high IQ good readers, provides an interesting contrast between the role of RAN and Confrontation naming in reading. This work was supported in part by NIHCD grants RO1HD18761 to F. H. Duffy, RO1HD18654 to H. Als, and the Mental Retardation Grant P30HD18655 to C. F. Barlow.     

The locus of so-called IQ test results in reading disabilities

It would appear the question of relevance of IQ in the assessment and remediation of children with RD is not quite the relevant question to ask, if only traditional intelligence tests are the focus. From the psychoeducational point of view of refining diagnosis, and from the administrative perspective of accountability, it would be helpful to accept a threshold of something like an IQ of 85 as the lower bound in defining learning or reading disabilities. A discrepancy from this threshold as derived from regression analysis or other more refined analyses and taking into account varying reliabilities, intercorrelations, and standard errors of measurement of different measuring instruments may constitute a learning or reading disability. How discrepant the aptitude-achievement should be to constitute a "significant" difference is a function of, among other factors, the material and human resources available to any particular school system. Leong (1987) has made suggestions for essentially a two-stage assessment leading to more refined diagnosis with the use of well-standardized group tests and teachers' estimates for the first stage (assessment) and more refined individual tests to diagnose those showing discrepant aptitude-learning performance in the border-zone. The rationale is that all those children requiring special services are so served and those in the uncertainty region must be carefully diagnosed so as to minimize so-called "misfits" in accordance with signal detection principles. It should be noted that the diagnosis of learning or reading disabilities can never be exact, even with the use of reliable and valid test instruments, and the "fuzzy set" approach should apply to the process (Horvath, Kass, & Ferrell, 1980).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Variables related to the decision of young adults with learning disabilities to participate in postsecondary education

This article examines the relationship between specific factors and the decision to participate in postsecondary education by young adults with learning disabilities. Data concerning 539 subjects with learning disabilities were included in this study. T test and chi square indicated that involvement in extracurricular activities while in high school, use of community resources, intelligence quotient, and reading and mathematics grade equivalent scores were important factors that differentiated between subjects choosing to participate or not to participate in postsecondary education during the year after high school. Implications and recommendations for secondary school curriculum are discussed.     

Subtest scatter on the WISC-R with children of superior intelligence

Subtest scatter on the WISC-R was examined by analyzing Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies, subtest scaled-score ranges and subtest scaled-score standard deviations of 290 psychoeducationally normal 9-year-old children whose IQs ranged from 100 to 140+. Although there were no differences between average and superior IQ groups on the Verbal-Performance discrepancy measure, substantial differences were found on the measures of subtest scatter where higher IQ groups exhibited substantially more scatter. The results suggest the need for caution in attempting to employ WISC-R subtest scatter as an indicator of learning disabilities with gifted students.     

Adults with reading disabilities: converting a meta-analysis to practice

This article reviews the results of a meta-analysis of the experimental published literature that compares the academic, cognitive, and behavioral performance of adults with reading disabilities (RD) with average achieving adult readers. The meta-analysis shows that deficits independent of the classification measures emerged for adults with RD on measures of vocabulary, math, spelling, and specific cognitive process related to naming speed, phonological processing, and verbal memory. The results also showed that adults with high verbal IQs (scores > 100) but low word recognition standard scores (< 90) yielded greater deficits related to their average reading counterparts when compared to studies that included adults with RD with verbal IQ and reading scores in the same low range. Implications of the findings related to assessment and intervention are discussed.     

What is the Role of Intelligence in the Identification of Specific Learning Disabilities? Issues and Clarifications

A fundamental assumption in the identification of specific learning disabilities (SLD) has been that the presence of a severe discrepancy between ability and academic achievement is a valid marker for the presence of a SLD. This assumption is based on the notion that discrepant low achievers constitute a unique group of children who are different in a number of ways from nondiscrepant low achievers. Several meta‐analytic reviews contrasting discrepant and nondiscrepant low achievers fail to reveal significant differences between these two groups on measures of phonetic analysis, pseudoword decoding, word identification, spelling, oral reading fluency and other measures of literacy development and related phonological processing skills. This paper discusses the role of intelligence in identifying children with SLD and presents data based on correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analyses showing that intelligence is not a strong predictor of reading achievement and does not predict responsiveness to remedial instruction. These data also indicate that direct measures of responsiveness to intervention (RTI) strongly predict later reading achievement in tutored children from 1st grade through 4th grade. The combined results suggest that RTI approaches to the identification of SLD may have greater utility than psychometric approaches based on IQ scores or individual profile analysis.     

Relation between Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and WISC-III scores of children with RD

Concurrent validity of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) was evaluated, as well as the K-BIT's accuracy as a predictor of WISC-III scores, in a sample of young children with reading disabilities. The two measures were administered to 65 children from Atlanta, Boston, and Toronto who ranged from 6-5 to 7-11 years of age at testing. Correlations between the verbal, nonverbal, and composite scales of the K-BIT and WISC-III were .60, .48, and .63, respectively. Mean K-BIT scores ranged from 1.2 to 5.0 points higher than the corresponding WISC-III scores. Standard errors of estimation ranged from 10.0 to 12.3 points. In individual cases, K-BIT scores can underestimate or overestimate WISC-III scores by as much as 25 points. Results suggest caution against using the K-BIT exclusively for placement and diagnostic purposes with young children with reading disabilities if IQ scores are required.     

Children with motor coordination problems and learning disabilities in reading,spelling, writing and arithmetic

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to investigate the incidence of motor coordination problems (clumsiness) among 10‐year‐old learning disabled children and to examine the characteristics of children with motor coordination problems. It was found that the strongest relationship between motor and learning problems seemed to exist in handwriting and arithmetic and the weakest in reading. With regard to the assignment to different subgroups based on deficient reading and spelling strategies, more clumsy children with dyslexic problems were classified in the ‘phonological’ and ‘mixed’ groups than in the ‘morphemic’ group. Our study also supports the heterogeneity of children labelled ‘clumsy’. The clumsy children varied widely in their characteristics and concomitant disabilities. No significant difference between the children with motor problems and a control group of ‘normal’ children was found when intelligence was accounted for.     

The Relationship of Self-Concept and Reading Achievement in First Grade Children’

Abstract

This investigation of 133 first grade Ss (25 percent Ilispano-75 percent Anglo and 50 percent male-50 percent female), found no significant correlations between objective scores of young children’s self-concept (SC) and their first or second grade reading achievement (RA). Moreover, SC correlations with other predictor variables, ethnic background (E), intelligence (IQ), and reading readiness (RR), were essentially zero. Only IQ, RR, and E were related to RA in a highly significant manner. At this age, RA, and possibly school in general, may not greatly influence the SC. Future investigation might profitably examine the change of SC as a function of age, mood, and stress.     

Growth in Precursor and Reading‐Related Skills: Do Low‐Achieving and IQ‐Discrepant Readers Develop Differently?

Poor readers who met low achievement and IQ‐discrepancy definitions of reading disability were compared with nonimpaired readers on their development of eight precursor and reading‐related skills to evaluate developmental differences prior to students’ identification as reading disabled. Results indicated no evidence for differences between the two groups of poor readers in the development of the eight skills, with three exceptions. Students in the IQ‐discrepant group demonstrated greater growth in letter sound knowledge, greater mean performance in visual‐motor integration at the beginning of first grade, and greater deceleration in rapid naming of letters. When compared to the nonimpaired group, low‐achieving readers demonstrated poorer performance and development in all skills, while the IQ‐discrepant readers demonstrated poorer performance and development in phonemic awareness, rapid naming of letters and objects, spelling, and word reading. The largely null results for comparisons between the two groups of poor readers challenges the validity of the two‐group classification of reading disabilities based on IQ‐discrepancy.     

The Relation between Reading Comprehension and Task‐specific Strategies used in Arithmetical Word Problems

The study was concerned with the relation between reading comprehension and task‐specific strategies used in arithmetical word problems. Two hypotheses were formulated in the study. H1 stated that subjects good at arithmetic as well as reading (Group 1) would emphasize deductive strategies to a greater extent than subjects in the remaining groups. H2 considered IQ to be a stronger predictor for subjects’ strategies in arithmetical word tasks than reading comprehension. Four groups of 9‐year‐old children with different competencies in arithmetic and reading were sampled for the investigation. An intelligence test (WISC) and three other tests, Mathematical tests 1‐3, were constructed and administered to the 20 subjects. The tests were used to examine subjects’ strategies in completed task solutions. The findings indicated that great similarities existed between Groups 1 (good at both skills) and 2 (good at arithmetic and poor at reading) as to strategies used in addition and subtraction problems. Whereas subjects in groups 1 and 2 mainly used deductive strategies, those in Groups 3 (good at reading and poor at arithmetic) and 4 (poor at both skills) rather used procedural strategies in solving the problems. Concerning strategies applied in multiplication and division tasks a more diverse pattern of strategies was revealed in all of the four groups, but the majority of subjects emphasized deductive strategies. Multiple regression analyses of the data indicated strong linear relationships between the predictors and the criteria used in the analyses. However, IQ was the only significant single predictor found in the regression analyses. H1 had to be suspended, but H2 could not be rejected.     

The irrelevance of IQ to the definition of learning disabilities: some empirical evidence

The relevance of IQ to the definition of learning disabilities is a much-debated issue. In this article, the effect of not using IQ in the identification of children with reading disabilities is demonstrated. Two classification procedures, differing in their use of IQ, are compared. The first conclusion is that abandoning IQ in classification has a very limited impact on the number of children identified as reading disordered. Our data demonstrate that, if IQ is used, more high IQ children are classified. Another finding pertains to the effect of a restriction of IQ range. The number of children classified as reading disordered is a function of the IQ range.     

An abbreviated form of the WISC-R: Is it valid?

The completed WISC-Rs of 76 white urban children (6–0 to 15–9) were rescored utilizing the Satz and Mogel criteria for an abbreviated intelligence measure. Extremely high correlations for IQs (.96 – .98) and subtests (.66 – .95) were found. However, when mean differences between complete WISC-R and the shortened form were examined, significant differences between administrations were found. Furthermore, one-third of the subjects showed changes in intelligence classification levels when the abbreviated form was used. Thus, two of the three criteria previously suggested for a valid abbreviated intelligence test of: (a) a significantly high correlation between administration forms; (b) nonsignificant t-tests between the abbreviated and standard form mean IQ; and (c) low percentage of IQ classification change with the administration of the short form, were not met. It was concluded, however, that the abbreviated WISC-R may be appropriate when intelligence is a question relative to candidacy for therapy or as a noncritical, general indication of intelligence when IQ classification is not important and/or assessment time is limited.     

Junior Primary in the Van Dyke Level Plan

Abstract

Attitudes toward school subjects were explored in a group of sixth graders. First, correlations were obtained between ratings of school subjects on the Semantic Differential (SD) and scores on corresponding subtests of the SRA Achievement Series. Significant positive correlations (p < .01) were observed for boys in social studies, arithmetic, and reading and for girls in reading. Second, achievement at the end of the year was predicted from IQ, achievement and SD scores at the beginning of the year. SD ratings contributed significantly to predictions only in the case of arithmetic for boys (p < .01). Third, SD ratings of school subjects at the beginning and end of the year were compared by an anlysis of variance procedure. For both boys and girls, attitudes were significantly less favorable for most subjects at the end of the year.     

随班就读轻度智力残疾学生阅读能力研究

采用试卷分析的方法,以265名3—5年级随班就读轻度智力残疾学生为对象,研究其在词语、句子、修辞格、段落以及篇章理解等五个层面的阅读能力,并与634名年级匹配的普通学生的阅读能力进行比较。结果显示,随班就读轻度智力残疾学生的阅读能力普遍偏低,个体间差异较大,与普通学生存在极其显著的差距;基础知识及阅读技能的不足、智力与非智力因素欠缺等是随班就读生阅读能力较低的主要原因。