WISC-R FACTOR STRUCTURES AMONG WHITE, MEXICAN-AMERICAN, AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN - A RESEARCH NOTE

The factor structure for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children- Revised (WISC-R) was investigated for White (n=183), Mexican American (n=129), and African American (n=139) nonreferred school-age children (6.8 to 14.6 years) of low-to middle-class socioeconomic background. E xploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. The WISC-R factor structure model tested was Kaufman's (1975) three-factor solut ion that consisted of Verbal Comprehension (VC, Factor 1), Perceptual Organization (PO, Factor 2), and Freedom from Distractibility (FD, Fac tor 3). The results of the exploratory analyses showed Kaufman's three -factor solution for the three ethnic groups, but the order of Factor 2 and Factor 3 was reversed for the Mexican American and African Ameri can samples-thus raising questions about the comparability of the WISC -R factor structure across groups. The confirmatory analyses, which us ed the orthogonal nested factors approach by Gustafsson and Balke (199 3), resulted in a model (for each of the ethnic groups) in which a G f actor explained most of the variance (followed by the nested first-ord er factors-VC, PO, and FD). The results of the confirmatory analyses p rovide some support for David Wechsler's (1974) original intentions th at the WISC-R structure is best described as having a general, or glob al, factor. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.