Investigation of the WISC-R for use with retarded children: Correlation with the 1972 Stanford-Binet and comparison of WISC and WISC-R profiles

A group of 80 mentally retarded youngsters, aged 6 to 16, was tested on the WISC-R, primarily to assess the continuity of measurement between the old and new WISCs. The WISC-R IQs correlated .65 to .82 with Stanford-Binet IQ for a subsample of 45 children, resembling the coefficients between the 1949 WISC and the Binet for retarded groups. In addition, the WISC-R test profiles for the 80 children corresponded closely to the WISC test profiles for many retarded samples. Thus, there was evidence to support the continuity of the WISC-R with its predecessor for retarded populations.     

Do normal children have “flat”; ability profiles?

Scatter on the five specific scales in the McCarthy was examined for the standardization sample to explore the types of ability profiles exhibited by normal children. Contrary to the common stereotype of “flat” profiles, normal children aged 21/2 to 81/2 years evidenced much variability in their performance on the various cognitive and motor dimensions.     

Sociometric status and behaviors of emotionally disturbed children

Behavior checklist and sociometric data on emotionally disturbed children in residential treatment were correlated. Behaviors found to relate significantly (and negatively) with sociometric status pertained mainly to physical and verbal aggression and to intrusive acts. A smaller group of items of a less interpersonal nature also were significantly correlated with status. Behavior incidence of groups identified as high, average, and low in status was also studied. Even where correlations were low, the data tended to distribute in ordinal fashion. Also, the Liked and Average groups tended to be much closer in behavior incidence than were the Average and the Disliked groups. The meaning of the focusing mainly on negative characteristics was discussed, as were implications for modifying status of children, the use of checklists, and of brief time sampling for monitoring behavior change.