Factorial Composition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children at the Pre-School Level

Abstract

In order to estimate the dimensionality of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, factor analysis was applied to a 30 by 30 inter-correlation matrix of the WISC and four reference tests. The 10 standard WISC subtests, except Coding, were split into two, three, or four parts to yield as many variables as possible. Ss were 163 white pre-school children; mean age, 6 yr. 2 mo.; the mean full scale IQ, 103. Evidence is presented supporting nine statistically significant orthogonal dimensions. Not all factors are perfectly congruent with the subtest structure of the WISC. There is no factor for Object Assembly separate from Block Design, nor is there a factor for Coding and Digit Span apart from the other subtests. The results are not consistent with the report of relatively small subtest specificity for the WISC at the pre-school level. If these findings are supported by analytic studies in process and planned, the Wechsler may be a much richer source of information than previously supposed.