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The latent factor structure of the WAIS‐R: A factor analysis of individual item responses
Author(s) -
Beck Niels C.,
Tucker David,
Frank Robert,
Parker Jerry,
Lake Rebecca,
Thomas Susan,
Lichty Wemara,
Horwitz Ellen,
Horwitz Bruce,
Merritt Frank
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198903)45:2<281::aid-jclp2270450217>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - psychology , wechsler adult intelligence scale , variance (accounting) , personality , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , factor (programming language) , vocabulary , psychometrics , fluid and crystallized intelligence , cognition , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , accounting , neuroscience , computer science , business , programming language , fluid intelligence , working memory
Factor analytic examination of a 166 × 166 intercorrelational matrix that represents individual item scores from the 11 subtests of the WAIS‐R provided evidence of five interpretable factors ( N = 409). Two of these were identified as the Verbal and Performance factors previously encountered in traditional WAIS‐R subtest‐based factor analyses (Beck, Horwitz, Seidenberg, Parker, & Frank, 1985). The other three factors were characterized readily as involving (1) Advanced Vocabulary skills; (2) Basic Responsivity and (3) Advanced Computational ability. All three of these “new” factors accounted for at least 10% of the total variance, and comments are made with regard to the possible significance of their discovery to such topics as subtest variation and profile psychodiagnostics, theories that pertain to the nature and structure of human intellectual functioning, and subtest‐based personality measurement theories.