Comparison of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition in economically disadvantaged African American youth

J Clin Psychol. 1999 Sep;55(9):1063-71. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199909)55:9<1063::aid-jclp4>3.0.co;2-u.

Abstract

The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT; Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991) are compared in 35 economically disadvantaged African American youth presenting for treatment in a community mental health setting. Significant correlations were found between K-BIT Composite and WISC-III Full Scale IQ scores. Results revealed significant differences between K-BIT and WISC-III scores; K-BIT Composite and Matrices mean scores were found to be 6 and 11 points higher than respective WISC-III Full Scale IQ and Performance IQ mean scores. No significant differences were obtained between K-BIT Vocabulary and WISC-III Verbal IQ scores. Our findings support the authors' recommendations for use of the Matrices subtest alone with African American youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990).

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intelligence Tests / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Maryland
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Mental Disorders / therapy
  • Poverty / psychology*
  • Psychometrics
  • Psychosocial Deprivation
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Wechsler Scales / statistics & numerical data*