Background: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) employs a hierarchical model of general intelligence in which index scores separate out different clinically-relevant aspects of intelligence; the test is designed such that index scores are statistically independent from one another within the normative sample. Whether or not the…

Children with gifted intellects often earn lower scores on measures of processing speed than their nongifted counterparts. However, neuropsychological research indicates such a profile of scores is likely not due to a true innate neurocognitive processing speed deficit but is rather a statistical artifact resulting from the interference of common…

This study examined the group and individual part score profiles of individuals with mild intellectual disability (ID) who participated in a clinical validity study supporting the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) and a comparison group without ID derived from the WISC-V norming sample. Descriptive analyses revealed…

This study was a systematic review of research using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to examine cognitive characteristics of children with ASD beyond the impact of revisions based on WISC and diagnostic criteria changes. The classic "islets of ability" was found in individuals with…

An area of particular importance when examining index scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fifth Edition (WISC-V) is the utilization and interpretation of critical values and base rates associated with differences between an individual's subtest scaled score and the individual's mean scaled score for an index. For the WISC-V,…

Tests of measurement invariance are essential to determining whether individual scores or group averages are comparable across populations. While international comparisons of mean IQ scores are common, tests of measurement invariance for intelligence test batteries (necessary for comparisons to be empirically supported) are rare. In this study,…

Many prominent intelligence tests (e.g., Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition [WISC-V] and Reynolds Intellectual Abilities Scale, Second Edition [RIAS-2]) offer methods for computing subtest- and composite-level difference scores. This study uses data provided in the technical manual of the WISC-V and RIAS-2 to calculate…

This study investigated the systematic rise in cognitive ability scores over generations, known as the "Flynn Effect," across middle childhood and early adolescence (7-15 years; 291 monozygotic pairs, 298 dizygotic pairs; 89% White). Leveraging the unique structure of the Louisville Twin Study (longitudinal data collected continuously…

It has been widely recognized that a visual impairment can limit an individual's ability to learn through visual observations. This decreased limited visual access which could impact how the skills to access and recognize the world around them develop. However, when the visual impairment was brain-based, such as in Cortical/Cerebral Visual…

Ancillary index scales provide assessment professionals the opportunity to conduct a more comprehensive interpretation of a student's performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V); however, little is known about the performance of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on these scales. The ASD special…

IQ tests provide numerous scores, but valid interpretation of those scores is dependent on how precisely each score reflects its intended construct and whether it provides unique information independent of other constructs. Thus, IQ scores must be evaluated for their reliability and dimensionality to determine their psychometric utility. As a…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factorial invariance of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fifth Edition (WISC-V) between genders in a sample of Black students in an urban, public school district. Few researchers test the validity of cognitive assessments on Black samples and even fewer do so utilizing samples other than…

This study aimed to address the need for a comprehensive assessment tool to evaluate the mathematical abilities of first-grade students through cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA). The primary challenge involved in this endeavor was to delineate the specific cognitive skills and sub-skills pertinent to first-grade mathematics (FG-M) and to…

School psychologists in today's schools have the unique opportunity--and responsibility--to guide identification for gifted programs. "Who is gifted?" remains a perennial question in the gifted education literature, not answered by group intelligence screeners that purportedly level the playing field for all. As the student body grows…

The processing speed index (PSI) of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC-IV) has been found to predict a child's level of academic functioning. The consistently reported PSI weakness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) therefore warrants special assistance and attempts at compensation for the disadvantages associated with…