WISC-IV VS. RIAS: Will the Real IQ Please Stand Up!!A 2-year study comparing the two IQ instruments.

HYPOTHESIS• RESEARCHER HYPOTHESIZED

THAT THE RIAS WOULD SCORE HIGHER GIVEN THE ADDITIONAL PSYCHOMOTOR PROCESSING AND WORKING MEMORY FACTORS ON THE WISC-IV.

• PLEASE REFER TO THE GAI DATA AND SUPPLENTAL TABLES FOR WISC-IV UPDATES.

• ADDITIONALLY, BOTH INSTRUMENTS MEASURE DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTS. THEREFORE, WE ARE MEASURING SIMILAR YET DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF COGNITION. “SQUARE FEET VS. CUBIC FEET” THINKING.

WISC and RIAS Verbal Comparisons

• WISC• 3 Subtests• General fund of

knowledge• Verbal associative

reasoning• Vocabulary –

expressive language• Moral judgment,

common sense, independent thinking

• RIAS• 2 Subtests• General fund of

knowledge• Verbal associative

reasoning• Vocabulary – one-

word responses

WISC and RIAS Comparisons Performance IQ

• WISC• 3 Subtests• Nonverbal

associative and categorical reasoning

• Analyze and synthesize abstract visual information

• RIAS• 2 Subtests• Nonverbal

associative and categorical reasoning

• Deduce essential elements missing in pictures from gestalt

WISC and RIAS Comparisons – Working Memory

• WISC• 2 Subtests

measuring attention, concentration, sequencing, and short-term auditory memory

• RIAS• 0 Subtests• Not part of the

CIX

WISC and RIAS Comparisons – Processing Speed

• WISC• 2 Subtests• Graphomotor

processing speed involving timed paper and pencil tasks

• Visual-motor coordination

• Concentration and visual memory

• RIAS• 0 Subtests• Timed nonverbal

tasks involving cognitive efficiency and speed w/o paper and pencil

DESIGNRandom Select Selection• Select ‘fine’ Psychologists from St.

Johns County school district randomly selected students ranging from 6-16 years of age and administered both the WISC-IV and RIAS IQ instruments. All students were referred by the CST.

• Abundance of data from the 2005-06 SY. Psychologists gave raw data to researcher to tabulate.

DESIGN• ONLY THE AGE OF THE

STUDENTS WAS USED AS “PREDICTOR VARIABLE.” AGES RANGED FROM 6-16. MAJORITY OF STUDENTS WERE IN THE 7 YR. OLD THROUGH 10 YR. OLD RANGE.

RACE AND GENDER NOT USED FOR COMPARISONS GIVEN LIMITED NUMBER

• Only less than a handful of minority African American and Hispanics tested.

• Gender not a major contributing factor on how data is to be used.

Pearson Correlation Coefficient • The Full Scale IQ’s and the Factor

Scores will be compared to check for correlation coefficients.

• WESSA.NET was used as the software program to calculate Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients.

TOTAL N = 121BREAKDOWN BY AGE

N = Number • 6 YEAR OLDS 09• 7 YEAR OLDS 18• 8 YEAR OLDS 33• 9 YEAR OLDS 32• 10 YEAR OLDS 18• 11 YEAR OLDS 02• 12 YEAR OLDS 02• 13 – 16 YEAR OLDS 07___________________________________

TOTAL SAMPLE N = 121

Age 6 (9 students)

9488 89 90

73

110103

86

97

124

97

126

404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105

106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131

Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 97 94 88 89 90 73 124RIAS 97 110 103 86 126

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

Age 7 (18 students)

9297 99

71

105

85

99

121

106104

135

106

60616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899

100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139

Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 99 106 92 97 99 71 121RIAS 104 106 105 85 135

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

Age 8 (33 students)

9692 91

94

75

107 105

8999

127

103

129

60616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899

100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133

Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 99 96 92 91 94 75 127RIAS 103 107 105 89 129

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

Age 9 (32 students)

101

9194 96

71

103 102

79

99

128

101

128

60616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899

100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132

Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 99 101 91 94 96 71 128RIAS 101 103 102 79 128

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

Age 10 (18 students)

93 9084 87

45

10297

40

90

10292

119

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Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 90 93 90 84 87 45 102RIAS 92 102 97 40 119

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

Ages 11 thru 16 (11 students)

8076

8276

63

93 91

61

84

104

92

124

60616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899

100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128

Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 84 80 76 82 76 63 104RIAS 92 93 91 61 124

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

All Ages 6-16 (121 students)

9690 91 92

10496

128

100

135

102

60616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899

100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139

Mean Factor Scores

Stan

dard

sco

re

WISC 96 96 90 91 92 45 128RIAS 100 104 102 40 135

VIQ PIQ WM PS FSIQ FSIQ Low FSIQ High

WISC-III IQVerbal IQ Performance

IQWorking Memory

Processing Speed

FSIQ

RIAS Index

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

108.2 104.6 ------ ------ 107.8

VIX 102.1 .86 ---- ---- ---- ----

NIX 101.0 ---- .33 ---- ---- ----

CIX 100.3 ---- ---- ---- ---- .76

Correlations Between the RIAS Index Scores and the

WISC-III IQ Scores – Reynolds Manual pg. 105.

WISC-IV IQVerbal

ComprehensionPerceptual

OrganizationWorking Memory

Processing Speed

FSIQ

RIAS Index

Mean IQ Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

96.2 95.8 89.7 90.7 92.2

VIX 99.9 .83 ---- ---- ---- ----

NIX 104.1 ---- .54 ---- ---- ----

CIX 101.6 ---- ---- .62 .45 .79

Pearson Correlations Between the RIAS Index Scores and the WISC-IV Factor

Scores Ages 6 – 16 (N = 121)

WISC-IV IQVerbal

ComprehensionPerceptual

OrganizationWorking Memory

Processing Speed

FSIQ

RIAS Index

Mean IQ Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

Mean IQ

99.0 100.0 91.7 93.4 95.6

VIX 102.5 .83 ---- ---- ---- ----

NIX 105.4 ---- .42 ---- ---- ----

CIX 103.7 ---- ---- .58 .36 .75

Pearson Correlations Between the RIAS Index Scores and the WISC-IV

Factor Scores – Primary Grade Ages 7 – 9 (N = 83)

Limitations of Study• The sample was taken from students

already referred for assessment. Approximately 90% were referred for Special Needs/reevals and 10% for Gifted evaluation.

• Majority of sample from 7-10 year old range. Older MS/HS population not adequately represented in sample.

• Majority of sample Caucasian and from Middle Class SES. Minorities and/or Low SES not adequately represented.

CONCLUSIONS• RIAS tends to score approximately

10 points higher than the WISC-IV on global cognitive ability measure.

• Strongest correlations between RIAS VIX and WISC-IV VC of .83 followed by RIAS CIX and WISC-IV FSIQ of .79 correlation.

• Weakest link between RIAS CIX and WISC-IV PS of .45 correlation.

IMPLICATIONS• The range of scores among all age groups

tends to favor the RIAS in regards to scoring higher on both ends of the distribution. This may influence ESE placement decisions.

• Working Memory and Processing Speed tends to depress the WISC FSIQ by approximately 4 points. This may influence ESE placement decisions.

• Even though RIAS scores higher on all measures and through all age groups, both instruments correlate fairly well with a high degree of confidence when comparing global IQ scores. This indicates fairly good reliability and validity.

FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS• Assess minority populations and

compare results with current data.• Assess Low SES w/o regard for race

and compare with current data.• Assess middle and high school

students to a larger extent.• Assess pre-K students with WPPSI-

III and RIAS and compare data.

Excerpt from Dr. Cecil Reynolds e-mail …..

• It is clear the difference is really in the nonverbal sections of the tests, just as we

have argued for some time.  The WISC-IV in my view confounds nonverbal intelligence with a

host of tangentially related factors (speed confounded with motor for example, and the differential acquiescence of kids .. to work as

quickly as they can, etc.), especially for referral samples wherein you also see a far

higher incidence of mild motor issues.  I think the RIAS gives a more accurate view of NV

intelligence for these kids and that seems to be your conclusion as well—we do not see this

difference in nonreferred samples—random samples of normal kids score at about the

same level on both.     • Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD

• Professor of Educational Psychology• Professor of Neuroscience