Assessing the Commonality of the WISC-R and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery with Learning-Disordered Children

Abstract

The present investigation examined the neuropsychological constructs that underlie the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Data from administrations of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (HRNB) and WISC-R were gathered for 1,079 learning-disabled children. A multiple regression analysis was employed to examine the contribution of each HRNB measure in the prediction of individual WISC-R subtests. Overall, verbal auditory discrimination presented as the most salient underlying construct of the WISC-R Verbal subtests, followed by concept formation and nonverbal auditory discrimination. Neuropsychological measures of the HRNB that involved perceptual organization were found to play a key role in defining the underlying constructs of the WISC-R Performance subtests. Similar to the above procedure, a second analysis was performed to assess the neuropsychological underpinnings of Kaufman's three factors (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility). Of the three factors, the HRNB measures explained similar amounts in the Freedom from Distractability (21%) and the Perceptual Organization (20.9%) factors in contrast to the Verbal Comprehension (7.3 %0) factor. Overall, these results indicate an interrelationship among several basic neuropsychological processes and higher-level cognitive functioning as represented on the WISC-R.