The Construct Validity of the Stanford-Binet 5 Measures of Working Memory

Abstract

This study examines the validity of the measures of verbal and nonverbal working memory on the Stanford-Binet Fifth Edition (SB5). The validity evidence included Rasch-based, criterion-referenced item mapping, correlations with other clinical measures of memory, and prediction of reading and mathematics scores. The item mapping clearly demonstrates a parallel between increasing item difficulty and a progression of item characteristics that placed increasing demands on verbal and nonverbal working memory. The higher correlations of the SB5 verbal and nonverbal working memory subtests with other measures of verbal and nonverbal memory, respectively, and lower correlations with nonverbal and verbal memory measures, respectively, clearly show convergent and divergent validity. The higher correlations between SB5 verbal working memory and reading skills and between SB5 nonverbal memory and mathematics skills are consistent with past research.