Year: 1988
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to investigate \nthe patterns of performance of learning disabled \nstudents identified by California eligibility criteria \non the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised \n(WISC-R), as recategorized by Bannatyne (1974). It was \nhypothesized that different patterns of recategorized \nWISC-R performance might differentiate learning disabled \nstudents with semantic language disorders from learning \ndisabled students who did not exhibit semantic language \ndisorders. \nThe sample consisted of 49 elementary school \nstudents from Livermore, California, who had been \ncertified as eligible for the Resource Specialist \nProgram by a diagnostic team on the basis of current \nCalifornia eligibility criteria. Twelve of the students \nwere diagnosed as also exhibiting semantic language \ndisorders, while the remaining 37 did not show semantic \nlanguage disorders. \nRecords of WISC-R performance and other relevant \nassessment data were collected from the district's \nspecial education files by the researcher. The \nsubjects' individual WISC-R subtest scores were \nrecategorized according to Bannatyne's (1974) \nclassifications of Spatial, Conceptual, and Sequential. Recategorized scores were summed, and the mean of the \nsummed scores computed for the entire sample and the \nidentified subgroups. The three mean category scores of \neach group were analyzed using one-way, repeated \nmeasures ANOVA. Post hoc procedures were used for pairwise \ncomparisons between categories. \nFor the total sample, the Spatial and Conceptual \nscores differed significantly from the Sequential \nscore,but not from each other. For the group with \nsemantic language disorders, the Spatial score differed \nsignificantly from the Conceptual score and from the \nSequential score. For the group with no identified \nlanguage disorders, the Spatial and Conceptual scores \ndiffered significantly from the Sequential score, but \nnot from each other. \nThe author concluded that different patterns of \nWISC-R performance as recategorized by Bannatyne did \nappear to characterize the two subgroups of learning \ndisabled students included in this study. However, the \nBannatyne category scores do not appear to offer a valid \nmethod for differential diagnosis of individual learning \ndisabled students. Rather, they appear to provide a \nuseful approach for interpreting individual strengths \nand weaknesses and for generating diagnostic hypotheses \nfor further assessment.
Author: Martha L. Kentfield
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2203780279