STRUCTURE OF COMPETENCE - NEED FOR THEORY-BASED METHODS TO TEST THEORY-BASED QUESTIONS - RESPONSE

In this paper, we respond to a 1992 study by Mathias and Nettelbeck in which, using exploratory factor analysis, they argued that the struct ure of intelligence in persons with mental retardation deviates from t he model previously proposed by Greenspan. Applying the LISREL method of confirmatory factor analysis to Mathias and Nettelbeck's original c orrelation matrix, we found the Greenspan model (in which social and p ractical intelligence form separate factors) to be an equally plausibl e interpretation of their data as the single (Interpersonal Competence ) factor found by Mathias and Nettelbeck. The findings are discussed w ith respect to (a) the importance of using theory-based methods when a ddressing theory-based questions and (b) the role of social intelligen ce in the ongoing controversy over the meaning of mental retardation.