Verbal IQ vs. performance IQ difference scores in males and females from the WAIS‐R standardization sample

Joseph D. Matarazzo, Robert A. Bornstein, Paul A. McDermott, John V. Noonan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Clinical research that has used the Wechsler‐Bellevue and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales with patients who are suffering lateralized cerebral pathology had indicated distinct patterns of VIQ‐PIQ discrepancies related to laterality of hemispheric involvement. Research data also have been interpreted to suggest that VIQ‐PIQ discrepancy patterns differ as a function of the sex of the patient. However, this latter hypothesis finds less support in recent studies that have employed the newer Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Revised (WAIS‐R). This raises the possibility that, other than sex, manifest differences in VIQ‐PIQ discrepancies may be more a consequence of normative characteristics in successive editions of the Wechsler scales or of other factors that surround neurologic impairment. Moreover, to date, clinical and research evidence for biologic sex as a mediating factor in VIQ‐PIQ discrepancies has been interpreted in the absence of base rates for the distribution of such discrepancies, which occur in the normal population. Thus, the present study reports base rates for the magnitude, frequency, and direction of VIQ‐PIQ discrepancies found for the 940 males and 940 females who comprise the WAIS‐R standardization sample. No differences of consequence were noted in male vs. female VIQ‐PIQ discrepancies. Implications are discussed in the light of earlier and emergent research with the Wechsler scales.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)965-974
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of clinical psychology
Volume42
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1986

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology

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