Publication Date
2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Committee Members
Jeffery Allen (Committee Chair), Rose Mary Shaw (Committee Member), Julie Williams (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
Abstract
The influence of non-reading language ability was studied in the context of estimating premorbid IQ among normal elderly individuals. Non-reading language performance was measured by the Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA) Test and the Animal Naming (AN) Test. Non-reading language disturbances were divided into three levels (i.e., no disturbance on COWA and AN, either COWA or AN disturbance, and both COWA and AN disturbances). Intellectual ability was primarily measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Additionally, reading measures such as the New Adult Reading Test- Revised (NART-R) and the Wide Range Achievement Test- Fourth Edition (WRAT-4) Word Reading subtest were used to predict premorbid intellectual ability. Results indicated that the scores on the WASI Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), NART-R estimated FSIQ, and WRAT-4 Word Reading subtest decreased when the severity of the non-reading language disturbances increased. Results also suggested that non-reading language performance did not predict intellectual ability across the three levels of disturbances. Instead, the NART-R was found to account for more variance in WASI FSIQ scores when there were no non-reading language disturbances (83.4%) and COWA or AN disturbance (52.4%). The WRAT-4 Word Reading subtest was found to account for more variance (84.1%) in WASI FSIQ scores when there were disturbances on both COWA and AN. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and diversity issues were also addressed.
Page Count
64
Department or Program
School of Professional Psychology
Year Degree Awarded
2012
Copyright
Copyright 2011, all rights reserved. This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.
