General Verbal Ability Research Articles

Background factors and preschool test scores as predictors of reading: a nine-year longitudinal study

Approximately 400 children were first tested at 4, and background factors were ascertained at that time. Further testing included a kindergarten reading readiness test and reading tests at grades 3 and 8. The best preschool predictors of reading were naming tests for boys, and general verbal ability for girls. At the kindergarten level a quantitative test surpassed tests of phonemic awareness and language in predicting reading, for both boys and girls. Family history of learning disability and preschool test behavior contributed to prediction of reading. Effects of birth order were strongest at the preschool level, and handedness had its only effects at that level. Relationships of some factors to reading differed by gender. Socioeconomic status had significant effects only for boys, and a speech delay only for girls. Conclusions were that some background factors may contribute to the preschool prediction of reading, and particularly to the prospective identification of poor readers.

Instruction and self-regulation in mentally retarded adults in a vocational setting

The effects of self-instructional and external instructional training procedures on the performance of mentally retarded adults in a sheltered workshop situation were compared. In addition, the influence of several subject variables (general verbal and performance abilities, and specific linguistic and memory skills) on task behavior was examined. Forty-four workers were trained to perform a complex sorting task. During training, which utilized modeling, feedback, and social praise procedures, instructional control was gradually transferred to clients in both intervention conditions. Results indicated that positive changes in performance of self-instructionally trained individuals was not found to be significantly better than that of externally instructed individuals. The hypothesis that self-instruction would be more effective with subjects who were linguistically deficient was not supported. The results suggest that ceding of instructional control, not self-verbalization, may be the critical factor producing performance improvement in self-instructional training programs. Analyses of the relationships between subject ability characteristics and task behavior suggest that performance abilities were more important than verbal abilities in producing effective task performance. The implications of the results for future research are discussed.

Influence of Verbal Ability on the Expression of Aggression in Physically Abused Children

Abstract The relationship between verbal ability and aggressive behavior in 53 physically abused children in a residential treatment center was examined. Characteristics differentiating aggressive children from their less aggressive peers were identified. Although general verbal ability was similar in aggressive and nonaggressive abused children, reading and expressive language deficits were more prevalent in the highly aggressive children. Highly aggressive children were significantly more deficient in reading ability and more often required speech-language services. Implications of these findings for treatment and future research are discussed.

Factor analysis of verbal and nonverbal clinical memory tests

This study represents an attempt to evaluate the construct validity of various verbal and nonverbal clinical memory tests. Marker variables for verbal, visual-perceptual-motor and attention-concentration abilities were employed in order to demonstrate the relative independence of these abilities from the memory measures. Subjects were 119 individuals (aged 16–74) from a combined sample of brain damaged and non-neurologic medical controls. Principal components analyses with orthogonal varimax rotations produced four factors in both Immediate and Delayed analyses: nonverbal memory and visual-perceptual-motor skills, verbal learning and memory, general verbal abilities, and attention-concentration. The inclusion of additional nonverbal memory measures helped to create a modality specific nonverbal factor but did not produce a pure nonverbal memory factor. The Wechsler Memory Quotient had modest loadings on three of the four factors.

Factor analysis of verbal and nonverbal clinical memory tests

This study represents an attempt to evaluate the construct validity of various verbal and nonverbal clinical memory tests. Marker variables for verbal, visual-perceptual-motor and attention-concentration abilities were employed in order to demonstrate the relative independence of these abilities from the memory measures. Subjects were 119 individuals (aged 16-74) from a combined sample of brain damaged and non-neurologic medical controls. Principal components analyses with orthogonal varimax rotations produced four factors in both Immediate and Delayed analyses: nonverbal memory and visual-perceptual-motor skills, verbal learning and memory, general verbal abilities, and attention-concentration. The inclusion of additional nonverbal memory measures helped to create a modality specific nonverbal factor but did not produce a pure nonverbal memory factor. The Wechsler Memory Quotient had modest loadings on three of the four factors.

THE INFLUENCE OF VERBAL ABILITY AND METAMEMORY ON FUTURE RECALL

Summary.This study determines whether items from a metamemorial questionnaire would better predict recall performance than standardised measures of general verbal ability. Thirty‐two children, separated into high and average verbal ability groups, were administered a metamemory test and, one week later, two prose and free‐recall tasks. The results indicated that ability group differences were limited to certain dependent measures (i.e., mental effort, knowledge about strategies, equivalence/non‐equivalence of strategy resources and strategy applicability). Most importantly, a stepwise regression analysis indicated that metamemory scores were more likely to predict the future recallability of material than measures of language ability (i.e., verbal IQ, reading and language achievement). Results are discussed in terms of children's “awareness” of the combined influences of memory variables and of the awareness of executive routines as a more important determinant of future recall than language ability.

Assessment of Developed General Intellectual Ability with Nonverbal Measures

Abstract A canonical correlation analysis was performed between two measures of general intellectual ability: The D. 48 Test and the Standard Progressive Matrices were taken as one set of variables, and general scholastic ability, verbal and quantitative ability, English and mathematics achievement, time spent in school, and ethnic/cultural group membership were used as the second set of variables. Subjects were 180 girls attending a large urban parochial high school. The D. 48 Test performances made a substantial contribution to the first canonical variate associated with the only significant canonical correlation; quantitative ability performances made a substantial contribution to the second variate. Matrices performances and performances in mathematics achievement and general scholastic ability made lesser contributions to their respective variates.

Syntactic awareness in relation to reading skill and ongoing reading comprehension monitoring

This research was designed to test the hypotheses that less skilled readers are delayed relative to skilled readers in their awareness of grammatical well formedness and that this delay is associated with relative failure to monitor ongoing reading comprehension. Fourth- and fifth-grade children varying in decoding ability were observed to differ in syntactic awareness, as reflected in their ability to correct grammatically deviant sentences within an oral language task, even with general verbal ability effects covaried. Performance on the syntactic awareness task (“syntactic control”) was correlated with measures of ongoing reading comprehension and comprehension monitoring and with performance on standardized tests of reading comprehension. These correlations remained significant when Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test verbal ability and, where appropriate, subjective text decoding effects were statistically controlled.

The validity of a short form of the Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory.

Summary. The short form of the Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory designed by Lee (Argyle and Lee, 1972) was subjected to several tests of validity and internal consistency. The short form was administered to 41 children in off‐site units for persistent school non‐attenders and 41 matched controls (average age 14 years 9 months). Factor analysis revealed no general factor of self esteem. Scores were found not to correlate significantly with general verbal abilities nor word reading. However, there was a moderate correlation between the Coopersmith scores and repetory grid measures of self esteem. Children who were rated by their teachers to have “neurotic” compared with conduct or no difficulties showed significantly lower scores on the Coopersmith inventory, suggesting that the short‐form inventory was assessing some aspects of self perceptions and self evaluations about emotional reactions. The results are interpreted as illustrating the need for improved test construction and validation in this area.

Reading Comprehension and Creativity in Black Language Use: You Stand To Gain by Playing the Sounding Game!

This research explored the hypothesis that the rich and varied experience of black youth with figurative language outside school would enhance their understanding of figurative language in school texts. Path analysis confirmed that for black students, “sounding” skill as well as general verbal ability, has a direct influence on figurative language comprehension. Black language ability influences figurative language comprehension indirectly through its effect on sounding skill. For white students, only general verbal ability affects figurative language comprehension.

Reading Comprehension and Creativity in Black Language Use: You Stand to Gain by Playing the Sounding Game!

This research explored the hypothesis that the rich and varied experience of black youth with figurative language outside school would enhance their understanding of figurative language in school texts. Path analysis confirmed that for black students, “sounding” skill as well as general verbal ability, has a direct influence on figurative language comprehension. Black language ability influences figurative language comprehension indirectly through its effect on sounding skill. For white students, only general verbal ability affects figurative language comprehension.

IS COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY LOQUACITY? A REPLY TO POWERS, JORDAN, AND STREET

Powers, Jordan, and Street recently presented evidence suggesting that assessments of cognitive complexity obtained from a widely used procedure may be significantly influenced by general loquacity and verbal complexity. This report argues that Powers et al.'s results are an artifact of the procedures employed, and presents additional evidence bearing on the relationship between cognitive complexity and general verbal abilities. In one study, conceptually independent assessments of cognitive complexity, loquacity, and writing speed were obtained from a group of college students. Cognitive complexity was found generally unrelated to both writing speed and loquacity. In a second set of studies, independent assessments of interpersonal cognitive complexity and two indices of general verbal abilities were obtained from three diverse populations (college students, mothers of young children, and grade-school children). Only low and generally nonsignificant relationships were found between cognitive complexity scores and the measures of verbal facility. These results are discussed within the framework of a construct! vist theory of cognitive development.

A concurrent validity study of the Woodcock Word Comprehension Test

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the Woodcock Word Comprehension Test and several measures of reading achievement and verbal intelligence. Subjects were 194 children who were tested in a University Reading Clinic. All were administered the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, the Slosson Oral Reading Test, an Informal Reading Inventory, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised, the Slosson Intelligence Test, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Pearson product-moment correlations (r) were used to test the relationships. It appeared that the Woodcock Word Comprehension Test assesses reading ability more than general verbal ability.

Group embedded figures test performance as a predictor of cognitive impairment among alcoholics.

The present study investigated the sensitivity of the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) as a predictor of cognitive impairment among alcoholics. The GEFT, Shipley-Hartford, and Memory-for-Designs tests were administered to 90 male alcoholics. GEFT performance correlated significantly with measures of impairment even when the influence of age and education were controlled. Field-dependent Ss performed at a significantly more impaired level on measures of abstract reasoning, perceptual-motor function, and short-term visual-spatial memory when compared with intermediate and field independent Ss; no differences were found among groups on general verbal ability. The results suggest that the GEFT might profitably be included in screening batteries for impaired cognitive function.

Is temporal integration a distinct mental ability?

Abstract Two tests of temporal integration were included in a battery with tests of five other mental abilities (general intelligence, verbal ability, spatial ability, meaningful memory and span memory). Test scores from 217 Ss were intercorrelated and factor analysed. Five significant and identifiable factors emerged. These factors could be interpreted as representing the other abilities tested, but no factor of temporal integration could be demonstrated.

Relative Spelling Ability as a Predictor of the Academic Performance of Superior Ability College Freshmen

AbstractIt was hypothesized and demonstrated that, for superior ability college freshmen, failure to develop spelling ability to the same level as general verbal ability is associated with poor academic performance. However, the same relationship did not hold for lower levels of academic ability.Since the spelling score was not reflecting finer discriminations of academic aptitude within the superior group, it was suggested that it was indicative of the attitudes or motives that determine the performance of such high ability students.

The Full-Range Picture Vocabulary Test: VI. Results for a Rural Population.

In earlier papers in this series (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) the construction and standardization of the Full-Range Picture Vocabulary Test have been described. Norms have been presented (3, 6, 7) for a sample representing a large proportion of employed native white males, their wives, and their children. This sample was controlled for age, sex, grade in school, and own or parent's occupation. Evaluation of the testing results for this group showed that the test was highly reliable and quite valid as a measure of general verbal ability. The two forms set up were found easy to administer, economical of testing time, and were shown to be of wide clinical applic ability. Although the general norms for this and other previously reported tests have been based on widely representative populations, there is a general recognition of the need for separate norms for various subgroups. The basic structure of the revised Stanford-Binet (15) recognizes the need for separate norms for various age groups in childhood. The changing norms for the Wechsler-Bellevue test of adult intelligence are based on the recog nition of age changes in performance in later maturity. Both Terman and Wechsler omit Negroes from their standardization groups, recognizing their status as a distinct subgroup requiring separate handling. Special tests for the blind (9) show acceptance of their differential ability status. The widest extension of the separate norms idea is found in Kent's (10)

Occupational Therapy in the War

This study investigated relations between mother and child (N = 49) mental-state talk during shared pretense and children's social symbolic play at age 3. Social symbolic play was not related to mothers’ mental-state talk. In contrast, children's own use of desire-state talk in shared pretense was a better predictor of social symbolic play than their general use of mental-state talk, even after accounting for general verbal ability as well as mothers’ use of desires terms.These results highlight for the first time a link between children's references to desires and their performance on social symbolic play at age 3 years – a social cognitive ability thought to precede theory of mind.