Multidimensional Aptitude Battery Research Articles

Factors Related to Dropping Out of School in an Incarcerated Population

This study examined 1757 incarcerated felons to determine personality, social history, and intellectual characteristics associated with dropping out of school. A stepwise discriminant function analysis compared junior high and high school dropouts with high school completors on variables including the Wide-Range Achievement Test, the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery and the Millon Clinical Multi-axial Inventory. A significant discriminant function differentiated the three groups on reading level, substance abuse history, age, verbal IQ, and the personality factors of dependency and borderline personality. Results validate the use of the WRAT and MAB for incarcerated populations, and identify personality factors to be considered in rehabilitative efforts with felons who have not completed high school.

A further note on the construct validity of the multidimensional aptitude battery

A hierarchical factor analysis was performed on MAB subtest intercorrelations for a sample of 300 male felons to provide a further test of the construct validity of that test. The ability hierarchy thus obtained showed a high degree of congruence with the results of the Wallbrown, Carmin, and Barnett (1988) findings for male felons and the Lee and Wallbrown (in press) for Jackson's (1984) sample. That is, a general (g) factor was loaded positively by all 10 subtests and accounted for 45% of the total subtest variance. A verbal-educational (v:ed) factor was defined by the five verbal subtests and accounted for 21% of their variance. Similarly, a spatial-perceptual (k) factor was defined by performance subtests and accounted for 15% of their variance.

Verbal/performance splits in inmates assessed with the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery .

A series of tables were created to examine the phenomenon of the overrepresentation of verbal/performance splits among incarcerated felons. Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB; Jackson, 1984) scores were obtained for 1,225 adult male felons referred to a reception and diagnostic center for evaluation. The findings suggest that there is a significant, consistent overrepresentation of verbal/performance splits, with the performance score usually higher, among incarcerated male felons. The data further suggest that this phenomenon is not linked directly to age, reading level, or general level of intelligence.

Relationships between problem-solving and intelligence

The Missionaries-Cannibals (MC) and Tower of Hanoi (TH) are two transformation problems that have been utilized repeatedly by investigators interested in strategies underlying problem-solving performance. The present study compared performance on various parameters of these two tasks with performance on a psychometric measure of general intelligence (the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery, or MAB) and on the Hidden Figures test. Correlational analyses revealed a low to moderate association between performance on the two puzzles. In addition, while the TH puzzle was moderately correlated with intelligence, the MC puzzle was at best only weakly correlated with MAB scores. The results are interpreted in terms of Sternberg's experiential subtheory of intelligence and the constructs of novelty and automaticity. When faced with novel problems, subjects appear to draw primarily upon verbal abilities and skills. As the problems' processing demands become increasingly automatized, subjects rely less on verbal abilities and more on those abilities that they employ while working on performance subtests.

Investigating the Construct Validity of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery

A Wherry and Wherry hierarchical factor solution was obtained on intercorrelations among the 10 subtests of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery of Jackson to test its construct validity. Subtest scores were obtained for 300 adult male felons referred to a receiving and diagnostic center for evaluations. The findings provide considerable support for construct validity. A general ( g)-factor was defined by strong positive loadings from all 10 subtests and accounted for about 46% of the total subtest variance. A verbal educational factor was defined by positive loadings from the five verbal subtests and accounted for 16% of the total variance in the verbal subtests. A spatial-perceptual factor was defined by positive loadings from all five performance subtests and accounted for 13% of the total variance in the performance subtests.

Computerized versus traditional administration of the multidimensional aptitude battery-verbal scale: An examination of reliability and validity

This study compared the effects of a computerized administration procedure on the reliability and validity of the Verbal scale of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB-V), and objective item measure of intelligence, to the standard paper-pencil administration procedure. Using a counterbalanced repeated-measures design, the MAB-V was administered to 80 undergraduates, along with a pretest anxiety measure and a posttest evaluation of attitudes toward the assessment format. Results indicated no significant differences in mean MAB-V subtest and Verbal IQ scores between the two modes of administration. Mean Verbal IQs obtained on the second testing were significantly higher than initial scores across all groups. However, retest IQs fell within the 95% confidence interval for predicted retest scores in 91% of the cases, reducing the psychometric significance of this result. The MAB-V demonstrated good test-retest reliability and subtest internal consistency across both administration modes. No differences in anxiety were obtained across administration format or time, but participants indicated some preference for the computerized procedure, rating it less difficult, more useful, and as commanding greater attentiveness. Findings indicate computer-specific factors have no appreciable effect on MAB-V scores and that normative and validity data available for the standard MAB-V are applicable to the computerized version when administered to population samples of average or higher intellectual ability.

Reaction time correlations with intelligence test scores obtained under either timed or untimed conditions

One hundred and thirteen high school students were randomly assigned to one of two groups that were administered an intelligence test (the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery) under either timed or untimed conditions. Subsequently, all subjects were given a battery of 8 reaction time tests. Multiple regression analyses showed that combinations of RTs were approximately equally good predictors of IQ scores in both groups. Zero-order correlations between each RT test and IQ scores were also approximately equal for timed and untimed Verbal and Full-Scale scores but correlations with Performance scores were higher in the timed condition. The extent to which the different RT tests correlated with timed scores was quite highly related to the tests' loadings on a general speed factor but these loadings were not related to the tests' correlations with untimed scores. Rather, the relative complexity of the RT tests had a stronger influence on their correlations with IQ scores in the untimed condition. It is concluded that timed and untimed intelligence tests impose different information-processing demands on subjects but that the speed with which subjects can cope with these demands is equally important in both conditions.

A Review of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery

A Review of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery