WISC-IV VS. RIAS: Will the Real IQ Please Stand Up!!

1. WISC-IV VS. RIAS: Will the Real IQ Please Stand Up!! A 2-year study comparing the two IQ instruments.

2. HYPOTHESIS • RESEARCHER HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE RIAS WOULD SCORE HIGHER GIVEN THE ADDITIONAL PSYCHOMOTOR PROCESSING AND WORKING MEMORY FACTORS ON THE WISC-IV.

3. PLEASE REFER TO THE GAI DATA AND SUPPLENTAL TABLES FOR WISC-IV UPDATES. • ADDITIONALLY, BOTH INSTRUMENTS MEASURE DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTS. THEREFORE, WE ARE MEASURING SIMILAR YET DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF COGNITION. “SQUARE FEET VS. CUBIC FEET” THINKING.

4. WISC 3 Subtests General fund of knowledge Verbal associative reasoning Vocabulary – expressive language Moral judgment, common sense, independent thinking RIAS 2 Subtests General fund of knowledge Verbal associative reasoning Vocabulary – one-word responses WISC and RIAS Verbal Comparisons

5. WISC 3 Subtests Nonverbal associative and categorical reasoning Analyze and synthesize abstract visual information RIAS 2 Subtests Nonverbal associative and categorical reasoning Deduce essential elements missing in pictures from gestalt WISC and RIAS Comparisons Performance IQ

6. WISC 2 Subtests measuring attention, concentration, sequencing, and short-term auditory memory RIAS 0 Subtests Not part of the CIX WISC and RIAS Comparisons – Working Memory

7. WISC 2 Subtests Graphomotor processing speed involving timed paper and pencil tasks Visual-motor coordination Concentration and visual memory RIAS 0 Subtests Timed nonverbal tasks involving cognitive efficiency and speed w/o paper and pencil WISC and RIAS Comparisons – Processing Speed

8. DESIGNRandom Select Selection • Select ‘fine’ Psychologists from St. Johns County school district randomly selected students ranging from 6-16 years of age and administered both the WISC-IV and RIAS IQ instruments. All students were referred by the CST. • Abundance of data from the 2005-06 SY. Psychologists gave raw data to researcher to tabulate.

9. DESIGN • ONLY THE AGE OF THE STUDENTS WAS USED AS “PREDICTOR VARIABLE.” AGES RANGED FROM 6-16. MAJORITY OF STUDENTS WERE IN THE 7 YR. OLD THROUGH 10 YR. OLD RANGE.

10. RACE AND GENDER NOT USED FOR COMPARISONS GIVEN LIMITED NUMBER • Only less than a handful of minority African American and Hispanics tested. • Gender not a major contributing factor on how data is to be used.

11. Pearson Correlation Coefficient • The Full Scale IQ’s and the Factor Scores will be compared to check for correlation coefficients. • WESSA.NET was used as the software program to calculate Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients.

12. TOTAL N = 121 BREAKDOWN BY AGE N = Number • 6 YEAR OLDS 09 • 7 YEAR OLDS 18 • 8 YEAR OLDS 33 • 9 YEAR OLDS 32 • 10 YEAR OLDS 18 • 11 YEAR OLDS 02 • 12 YEAR OLDS 02 • 13 – 16 YEAR OLDS 07 ___________________________________ TOTAL SAMPLE N = 121

20. Correlations Between the RIAS Index Scores and the WISC-III IQ Scores – Reynolds Manual pg. 105.

21. Pearson Correlations Between the RIAS Index Scores and the WISC-IV Factor Scores Ages 6 – 16 (N = 121)

22. Pearson Correlations Between the RIAS Index Scores and the WISC-IV Factor Scores – Primary Grade Ages 7 – 9 (N = 83)

23. Limitations of Study • The sample was taken from students already referred for assessment. Approximately 90% were referred for Special Needs/reevals and 10% for Gifted evaluation. • Majority of sample from 7-10 year old range. Older MS/HS population not adequately represented in sample. • Majority of sample Caucasian and from Middle Class SES. Minorities and/or Low SES not adequately represented.

24. CONCLUSIONS • RIAS tends to score approximately 10 points higher than the WISC-IV on global cognitive ability measure. • Strongest correlations between RIAS VIX and WISC-IV VC of .83 followed by RIAS CIX and WISC-IV FSIQ of .79 correlation. • Weakest link between RIAS CIX and WISC-IV PS of .45 correlation.

25. IMPLICATIONS • The range of scores among all age groups tends to favor the RIAS in regards to scoring higher on both ends of the distribution. This may influence ESE placement decisions. • Working Memory and Processing Speed tends to depress the WISC FSIQ by approximately 4 points. This may influence ESE placement decisions. • Even though RIAS scores higher on all measures and through all age groups, both instruments correlate fairly well with a high degree of confidence when comparing global IQ scores. This indicates fairly good reliability and validity.

26. FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS • Assess minority populations and compare results with current data. • Assess Low SES w/o regard for race and compare with current data. • Assess middle and high school students to a larger extent. • Assess pre-K students with WPPSI-III and RIAS and compare data.

27. Excerpt from Dr. Cecil Reynolds e-mail ….. • It is clear the difference is really in the nonverbal sections of the tests, just as we have argued for some time.  The WISC-IV in my view confounds nonverbal intelligence with a host of tangentially related factors (speed confounded with motor for example, and the differential acquiescence of kids .. to work as quickly as they can, etc.), especially for referral samples wherein you also see a far higher incidence of mild motor issues.  I think the RIAS gives a more accurate view of NV intelligence for these kids and that seems to be your conclusion as well—we do not see this difference in nonreferred samples—random samples of normal kids score at about the same level on both.      • Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD • Professor of Educational Psychology • Professor of Neuroscience