Factor Analysis of Neuropsychological Tests

Abstract

The Halstead-Reitan Battery, 2 Benton tests and the WISC were administered to a sample of normal children, ages 5 to 8. The results of a principal-component factor analysis indicated that at least nine different areas were being measured. The areas of neuropsychological functioning were: Analytic-Synthetic Visual-motor Ability, Undirected Motor Speed, Verbal Abstract Ability, Resistance to Distraction, Ability to Alternate between Motor Sets, Directed Motor Speed, Environmental Awareness and Judgmental Skills, Sequencing Visual Stimuli, and Checking Behavior. Regression weights and composite score formulae for estimating Ss' scores in these 9 areas were presented. Dimensions were found which correspond to the Verbal-Performance division of the Wechsler test. Five of the factors were found to be relatively independent of psychometric measures of intelligence. Two factors involving higher-order complex skills were also found. The derived factors were related to other factor analytic studies.