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We examined whether significant scatter in WAIS-IV GAI will reduce its validity to predict performance on WMS-IV indexes. Participants were 330 individuals with neurological, psychiatric, or neurodevelopmental disorders and 59 referrals who were found to be free of a diagnosable disorder. For VCI PRI, 59.32% were significant at

OBJECTIVE The primary aim of this study was to examine relative inter-subtest variability, or scatter, on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) in a clinical sample of patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation and compare the findings to corresponding data from the scale's standardization sample. METHOD Participants were 638 individuals diagnosed primarily with neurological, psychiatric, or neurodevelopmental disorders who completed the 10 core subtests of the WAIS-IV as part of a comprehensive assessment battery. RESULTS Mean participant scores on the WAIS-IV Full Scale IQ and all index composites were within the average range, overall, but were significantly below those of the standardization sample. The correlation between scatter range and highest subtest scaled score was significant, r = .65, indicating a greater degree of subtest scaled score variability in participants with higher than average peak subtest scaled scores than participants with average or below peak subtest scaled scores. Mean variability by highest subtest scaled score was, in most cases, larger in this clinical sample relative to the scale's standardization sample. Exploratory secondary analyses also revealed specific differences in relative scatter based on diagnostic group classification. CONCLUSIONS Subtest scatter on the WAIS-IV is common among both healthy individuals and clinical patients. Although somewhat higher in this investigation's clinical sample, the significance of this finding generally appears to be of nominal value during interpretation of individual cases but may have some utility in formulating hypotheses when considered in conjunction with reliability data and other approaches for analyzing test scores. High scatter is not pathognomonic of abnormality, and at least some degree of caution is warranted when interpreting subtest scaled score differences on the WAIS-IV.

PURPOSE Although the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition is commonly used by neuropsychologists in the assessment of intellectual functioning, there is a paucity of published literature examining its utility in detecting neurological disease/injury. This study constitutes an attempt to validate the four-subtest WASI-II (4-FSIQ) for use with patients with neurological disease/injury. METHOD Participants were 59 patients referred for outpatient neuropsychological evaluation. Thirty-two individuals with diagnoses of dementia, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological disorders constituted the neurological group. A control group was comprised of 27 individuals with diagnoses of psychiatric disorders or age-related cognitive decline. RESULTS The WASI-II subtest and composite scores of the neurological group were all significantly (ps < .0001) lower than those of the control sample, but pattern differences between the groups were absent. When premorbid IQs and WASI-II IQs were compared, neurological patients with neurological disease/injury displayed evidence of intellectual deterioration; whereas, control participants did not. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that the 4-WASI-II is sensitive to the biological condition of the brain and provide preliminary validation for its use in the neuropsychological assessment of a diagnostically heterogeneous sample of patients with neurological disorders.

We investigated participants’ ability to recognize a missing older adult featured in a mock Silver Alert. In Study 1, college students (N = 712) viewed a Silver Alert of a missing man and then attempted to recognize him when shown a set of photos. Overall recognition was high, with 84.6% of participants identifying the photo of the missing man. Self-reported experience with several older age groups was related to recognition of the target, and female participants were more likely than males to identify the target photo. Recognition of the target was not related to participant age, race, or measures of empathy or conscientiousness. A similar procedure was used in Study 2 with a sample of college students (N = 610), with the addition of measures of attitudes toward the elderly and face recognition ability, which were not found to be related to recognition of the target. Overall recognition rates were again high (83.90%), and participants who reported more experience with the elderly were again more likely to recognize the target. Metacognitive confidence ratings were higher in both studies for individuals who recognized the missing man. The findings suggest that Silver Alerts can be effective under certain circumstances. Further research is needed to investigate whether increasing experience with elderly populations could increase the efficacy of Silver Alerts.

In a between-subjects' experimental design, we manipulated whether participants viewed an educational video on the importance of Silver Alerts before viewing an older Caucasian female in a Silver Alert. We also examined associations of target recognition with individual difference variables, including gender, ethnicity, Attitudes Towards Older People (ATOP), empathy, conscientiousness, as well as contact and experience with older adults. The results showed an advantage of the priming condition compared to the no-priming condition for correctly identifying the missing woman. Additionally, females correctly identified the missing woman more than males, and Caucasian participants correctly identified the missing woman more than African American participants. Lastly, participants who reported more experience with older adults were more likely to recognize the missing woman. The results suggest that preceding Silver Alerts with information about their importance may increase their effectiveness. Further research is needed to investigate how individual difference variables relate to recognition of missing senior citizens.

The seeking of support from others during times of need is a critical strategy for overcoming challenging life events and ameliorating associated stress. The larger percentage of research examining help-seeking behaviour has been conducted with nonclinical samples, and conclusions remain somewhat unclear due to several limitations, including methodological inconsistencies across studies. The Hesitation Scale (HS) was developed to measure social support seeking in patients with traumatic brain injury but has not undergone thorough psychometric evaluation. The goal of this study primarily was to provide a clearer understanding of the specific aspects of support-seeking behaviour assessed by the HS, which is fundamental to the identification of factors that can be modified through targeted clinical interventions. A principal components analysis of the HS in an outpatient sample of 89 patients with spinal cord injury revealed that although the HS may provide an overall indication of respondents' attitudes and beliefs regarding social support seeking, the six significant extracted components of the scale appear to assess distinct aspects of support seeking behaviour. Results also suggested that the HS may have clinical utility in evaluating social support seeking in individuals with spinal cord injury.

There is a need to promote growth past basic reading proficiency toward the more substantial idea of reading maturity. The reading maturity construct has a history of being valued, at least in prin...

The goals of the present study were to: (a) collect preliminary normative data on the 21-Item Test in children and adolescents and to determine if cutoffs for biased responding in adults can be generalized to a younger population; (b) determine if Caucasian and Hispanic children perform differently on the test; and (c) ascertain the relationships of age and verbal intelligence with effort test performance. The 21-Item Test was administered to 153 children attending either a public (n = 96) or private (n = 57) school. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) was also administered to the private school sample. The results indicated that the 21-Item Test has potential as a tool for identifying children who do not put forth maximal effort during formal assessment and that the adult cutoffs appear applicable to children 8 years and older. Caucasian and Hispanic participants performed similarly on the test. Forced-choice scores ≤12 were associated with age and lower levels of performance on the Verbal Comprehension Index of the WISC-IV.

Interpretive strategies for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) include Wechsler's four-factor structure and the five-factor Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model. The frequency of profile occurrence and the contribution of demographic- and ability-related variables to their incidence are unknown. Current participants were 291 referrals (males = 134; female = 157) for neuropsychological evaluation with mean years for age and education of 34.94 (

Objective Research has identified common genetic influences on handedness and neurological/mental health phenotypes. It also has been shown there may be increased risk for development of neurological disorders/diseases among individuals naturally left-handed or demonstrating non-right-hand preference. This investigation examined prevalence of right-handed versus non-right-handed individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) compared to controls. Method Participants were 264 patients with PD (mean age = 69.83 years) and 256 control volunteers (mean age = 71.42 years). Mean Dementia Rating Scale composites for the groups were 123.68 and 136.00, respectively. Participants self-identified their dominant hand for writing and usage was confirmed during the session. Results Proportions of non-right- and right-handed controls (7.0% and 93.0%) versus individuals with PD (6.8% and 93.2%) did not differ. Changes in proportions of non-right- and right-handedness across age ranges were not significant for controls or patients. There was a trend for a larger proportion of women (55.9%) versus men among controls (44.1%), □ 2 (1) = 3.29, p Conclusions This study is the first to assess handedness prevalence rates in PD. Results suggest prevalence of non-right handedness is similar in PD and healthy individuals and does not appear to differ markedly by gender or with advancing age. The occurrence of a trend for a larger proportion of women than men among controls is consistent with census-based statistics.

The Rey 15-Item Test and reliable digit span were evaluated in Japan. Participants were controls ( n = 15), healthy volunteers instructed to simulate memory impairment ( n = 12; 5 of 17 volunteers did not comply with instructions and were dropped), healthy elderly ( n = 12), and cognitively disabled nursing home residents ( n = 8). On the 15-Item Test, controls and elderly performed similarly and were combined. Nursing home residents could not cope with the 15-Item Test and were dropped. Total score was a fair predictor of dissimulation using a cutoff ≤ 8. Rows were fair predictors using a ≤2 cutoff. Sensitivities were low and specificities were excellent. Reliable digit span contrasts between simulators and each of the other groups demonstrated that reliable digit span discriminated controls and elderly from simulators (≤6 and ≤5 cutoffs). Sensitivities were moderate and specificities were excellent. Reliable digit span did not differentiate simulators from nursing home residents.

It has been suggested that men and women with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at comparable levels of global cognitive impairment perform differently on neuropsychological measures. Such differences may have practical implications for designing cognitive interventions that address symptoms of dementia.We compared men (n = 86) and women (n = 96) with AD on tests of immediate and delayed prose memory, verbal fluency, semantic fluency, semantic memory and confrontation naming. Mean years for age, education and duration of illness were 70.81 (SD = 7.55), 13.37 (SD = 3.38) and 2.17 (SD = 1.72) for men and 73.11(SD = 8.53), 12.27 (SD = 2.86) and 2.42 (SD = 1.92) for women. The groups were comparable in global cognitive functioning as indicated by Dementia Rating Scale total scores for men of 89.27 (SD = 29.80) and women of 90.86 (SD = 30.20).Men earned significantly better scores in immediate prose memory, semantic verbal fluency, semantic memory and response naming. Men and women performed similarly on the remaining tests. When the variables of age, education and duration of disease were controlled, the significant effect of gender was maintained only on tests of semantic fluency, semantic memory and confrontation naming.The hypothesis of the study was partially confirmed in that women with AD evidenced greater impairment than men with AD on three of six neuropsychological measures even after potentially confounding variables were controlled.

This study utilized a sample of 50 college students to assess the possibility that responding to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) Symbol Search subtest items with an "x" instead of a "single slash mark" would affect performance. A second sample of 50 college students was used to assess the impact on WAIS-IV Block Design performance of presenting all the items with only red surfaces facing up. The modified Symbol Search and Block Design administrations yielded mean scaled scores and raw scores that did not differ significantly from mean scores obtained with standard administrations. Findings should not be generalized beyond healthy, well-educated young adults.

We examined relationships between the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) General Ability Index (GAI) and Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) in two clinical samples. The mean pattern produced by 42 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 47 with traumatic brain injury (TBI) was the same, GAI > CPI. This pattern occurred in 61.9% and 78.7% of the protocols of patients with MS or TBI, respectively. The MS sample earned a significantly larger CPI mean than did patients with TBI. The group means did not differ on the GAI. Patients with TBI had significantly larger GAI-CPI discrepancy score means than those with MS. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis assessed the ability of GAI-CPI discrepancies to differentiate the samples. The area under curve (AUC) was 0.67, 95% [0.55, 0.78], which indicated low accuracy in terms of group classification.

College students in two sections of a general psychology course participated in a demonstration of a simple neural circuit. The activity was based on a neural circuit that Jeffress proposed for localizing sounds. Students in one section responded to a questionnaire prior to participating in the activity, while students in the other section responded to the questionnaire after participating in the activity. Students who had participated in the activity reported greater understanding of the concept of a neural circuit and of how the brain can produce complex behavior. The activity may be a useful addition to previously published class simulations on neural functioning. Instructors may wish to use the activity in classes such as general psychology, sensation and perception, and physiological psychology.

The purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether using an active learning technique, electronic highlighting, can eliminate the negative effects of pre-existing, poor highlighting on reading comprehension. Participants read passages containing no highlighting, appropriate highlighting, or inappropriate highlighting. We hypothesized that the act of using an electronic highlighter could reduce or eliminate the effects of inappropriate highlighting. We measured comprehension of the passages in addition to three measures of metacomprehension: Judgment of Learning (JOL), Prediction of Knowing (POK), and confidence ratings. The results indicated that using the electronic highlighter eliminated negative effects of pre-existing, poor highlighting on both comprehension and metacomprehension.

We investigated how well adults could recognize the faces of children when they differed in appearance from photographs shown in an alert. College students in three studies saw a mock AMBER Alert while watching a television show. The children appeared either well-groomed with positive affect (as in a school photograph) or disheveled with poor affect (as abducted children might appear). Recognition accuracy and confidence were significantly lower when the faces differed in appearance from the alert displayed during the television show. Thus, AMBER Alerts may be more effective if they are accompanied by more than one type of photograph of a missing child, particularly if a photograph is shown in which the child does not appear well-groomed and happy.

Mistaken eyewitness identifications are believed to contribute to a preponderance of wrongful convictions, underscoring the need to identify methods to help decrease the likelihood of false convictions based on eyewitness testimony. The present study tested the hypothesis that providing jurors with first-hand experience with eyewitness identification procedures could help further sensitize them to the limitations of eyewitness testimony. Eighty college students watched a videotaped mock trial in which the prosecution’s sole evidence was eyewitness testimony. In a 2 × 2 randomized factorial design, we manipulated whether participants heard expert psychological testimony (henceforth referred to as expert testimony) on the limitations of eyewitness identification and whether they experienced an eyewitness identification procedure. As predicted, experiencing the eyewitness identification procedure had a significant impact on juror decisions, suggesting that this procedure could further help reduce the likelihood of wrongful convictions.

The authors conducted 4 experiments to test whether hemispheric lateralization occurs for the processing of geometric word-shape combinations. In 3 experiments, participants responded to geometric shapes combined with geometric words (square, circle, triangle). In the 4th experiment, stimuli were combinations of geometric shapes and non-geometric words. The authors predicted that it would take longer to respond in incongruent conditions (e.g., the word "square" combined with the shape of a circle) than in congruent conditions. The authors found the strongest incongruency effects for the dominant hemisphere--that is, the left hemisphere for responding to words and the right hemisphere for responding to shapes. A Shape Interfering Properties hypothesis (SIP) is a possible explanation for these results.

This article describes 14 problem-based group activities for a sensation and perception course. The intent was to provide opportunities for students to practice applying their knowledge to real-world problems related to course content. Student ratings of how effectively the activities helped them learn were variable but relatively high. Students rated their ability to apply their knowledge of sensation and perception to real-world issues substantially higher at the end of the course than at the beginning. Furthermore, student performance on an objective assessment of knowledge was significantly higher at the end of the semester than at the beginning. The results provide preliminary evidence that it is possible to develop an effective sensation and perception course that incorporates problem-based learning activities.

Accurately detecting faces of children when their appearance has been altered is especially important in recognizing abducted or missing child. Face recognition studies have focussed on recognizing the adult perpetrator; however, there is lack of research on recognizing a child's face under different appearances. Two studies were conducted to determine what type of photos may increase recognition of missing children. In Experiment 1 participants were shown pictures of children's faces in a study phase in which their faces were either dirtied with negative affect or clean with positive affect, followed by a recognition phase. Accuracy and confidence were higher when the face at recognition was the same type as in the study phase. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, adding four delay conditions: 10-minute interval (10-MI), 3, 6 or 12 week. Accuracy and confidence decreased over time and we again found a significant interaction between face at study and face at recognition. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en

Previous research has shown that preexisting inappropriate highlighting of text could impair reading comprehension. In addition to replicating this effect, the authors investigated the impact of preexisting highlighting on measures of metacognition. In a 3 x 2 between-subjects factorial design, participants were 180 undergraduate college students randomly assigned to read passages that varied by type of highlighting (none, appropriate, or inappropriate) and text difficulty (low vs. high). Comprehension scores and metacognitive accuracy were impaired by inappropriate highlighting. Results show that when reading inappropriately highlighted passages, students' ratings of how well they had comprehended the text and how accurately they had answered comprehension questions were negatively correlated with their performance on a comprehension test. Inappropriate highlighting appeared to impair text comprehension and metacognitive accuracy.

Instructors often use Microsoft PowerPoint lectures and handouts as support tools to provide students with the main concepts of the lectures. Some instructors and researchers believe that PowerPoint encourages student passivity. We conducted 2 studies to determine whether the use of content-based questions (CBQs) would enhance learning when combined with traditional PowerPoint lectures. Our results indicated significantly higher quiz scores and exam scores when students used CBQs in comparison to using only the traditional PowerPoint lecture and handouts. The results suggest that it is possible to incorporate effective active learning methods into PowerPoint-based lectures.

Lindsay, Lea, and Fulford (J Appl Psychol 76:741–745, 1991) found that false identifications increased, correct rejections decreased, and correct identifications minimally increased when witnesses were allowed a second viewing of a sequential lineup. We conducted a similar study in which we allowed mock witnesses a second viewing of a sequential lineup. Results indicated that participants who were allowed a second viewing made mostly incorrect identifications. Participants correctly identified the perpetrator more often when they were not told in advance that they would have a second viewing than when they were told. Additionally, those participants who were told that they would be allowed a second viewing incorrectly rejected the lineup more often than those who were not told. The findings yielded conclusions similar to those of Lindsay et al. (J Appl Psychol 76:741–745, 1991) suggesting that witnesses should not be allowed to view the lineup a second time. The results also suggest that, if a repeated lineup is used, witnesses should not be informed of that in advance.

We examined whether using virtual reality (VR) technology to provide students with direct exposure to evidence-based psychological treatment approaches would enhance their understanding of and appreciation for such treatments. Students enrolled in an abnormal psychology course participated in a VR session designed to help clients overcome the fear of flying. We assessed students' understanding of how cognitive behavioral, exposure-based therapies work, as well as their attitudes toward various forms of intervention, prior to and after their participation in the VR session. We found that incorporating firsthand experience with evidence-based psychological treatments, such as VR exposure for overcoming the fear of flying, can be useful in enhancing students' understanding of such treatments.

The authors investigated the importance of boundaries between phonemes, syllables, onsets and rimes, and morphemes in English spelling. They analyzed oral spelling data from a previous sample of 17 college students to predict time between consecutive letters (pause time) on the basis of the presence or absence of each linguistic boundary. The authors used a parallel approach to analyze pause times of 30 college students when typing individual words and when typing words in an essay. For oral and typed spellings of individual words, syllable boundaries significantly predicted pause times. Phoneme boundaries also predicted pause times in typed spellings of individual words. For typing essays, only onset-rime boundaries significantly predicted pause times. The results support the importance of syllables in the spelling of individual words. Further, the results suggest that spelling in the context of writing is a qualitatively different process than is spelling individual words by dictation.

A Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) short form (SF) may be effective for ruling out subnormal intelligence. To create a useful SF, subtest administration should follow the order prescribed in the manual and, depending upon individual performance, be terminated after completion of 2, 3, 4, or 5 subtests. One hundred and twenty-two patients completed the WAIS-IV. In two analyses, Full-Scale IQs (FSIQs) ≤69 and ≤79 were classified as impairment. Classification accuracy statistics indicated that all SFs using both cutoff scores exceeded the base rate (i.e., 14% and 34%) of subnormal intelligence, with hit rates ranging from 84% to 95%. The FSIQ cutoff of ≤69 had poor sensitivity for detecting impaired intellectual functioning with the 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-subtest SFs; specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were excellent for each SF. With the FSIQ cutoff of ≤79, sensitivity was strong to excellent for the 3-, 4-, and 5-subtest SFs as were specificity, PPV, and NPV.

Base rates of impairment on the Temporal Orientation Scale (TOS; Benton et al.,) were reported for normal elderly (n=210) and patients with either Alzheimer’s disease (AD; n=112) or Parkinson’s disease (PD; n=189). The study hypothesis was that disorientation would be more frequent in ADs than in controls and PDs. Base rates for controls, PDs, and ADs were 1.00%, 22.22%, and 78.60% when disorientation was defined as ≥3 errors and 1.00%, 18.52%, and 72.30% when impairment was suggested by ≥4 errors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses indicated excellent discrimination between controls and AD (AUC=0.919, 95% CI=0.879-0.958) along with good Sn and excellent Sp. Conversely, discrimination between control and PD groups was poor (AUC=0.642, 95% CI=0.587- 0.697) with low Sn and excellent specificity.

For Digit Symbol-Coding (CD) and Symbol Search (SS) we tested the hypothesis that young adults (44 males, 60 females) would start out quickly and demonstrate steady increases in symbols/items completed across each of four 30-s intervals. The average number of CD symbols was 23.19 (S.D.=3.46) for 0-30s, 21.11 (S.D.=3.75) for 30-60 s, 21.98 (S.D.=3.70) for 60-90 s, and 22.46 (S.D.=3.55) for 90-120 s. For SS, the average number of items was 11.91 (S.D.=1.91) for 0-30s, 9.96 (S.D.=1.92) for 30-60s, 9.95 (S.D.=1.53) for 60-90 s, and 9.98 (S.D.=2.46) for 90-120 s. The hypothesis was not supported for either subtest. Cluster analysis revealed two CD groups with similar patterns which differed only in level of performance. On SS, cluster analysis identified two groups which differed in level of performance and pattern across the four 30-s intervals.

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, states that the language one knows affects how one thinks about the world. The hypothesis is most strongly associated with Benjamin Lee Whorf, a fire prevention engineer who became a scholar of language under the guidance of linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir. The claim that language influences thought predates both Whorf and Sapir. Wilhelm von Humboldt addressed the relation between the structure of one's language and one's worldview as early as the 1820s. Keywords: linguistics; Sapir, Edward; Whorf, Benjamin

The authors investigated the perceived relationship between spelling errors and cognitive abilities in a series of 3 experiments. Specifically, they examined whether college students' ratings of an author's intellectual ability, logical ability, and writing ability were affected by the presence of spelling errors. In the 1st experiment, the presence of 4 spelling errors in a short essay did not significantly affect the ratings. The spelling ability of college students, as measured by a standard oral dictation spelling test, was moderately conelated with a brief test of intelligence. In a 2nd experiment, college students rated the author of a short essay as having lower ability when there was a large number of spelling errors. The effect was more pronounced on the ratings of writing ability than it was on the ratings of logical ability or intellectual ability. This finding was replicated in a 3rd experiment, in which the essay contained misspellings actually made by writers. The results suggest that spelling errors can affect how people perceive writers, particularly when there are many spelling errors. College students appear to attribute spelling errors more to writing ability than they do to general cognitive abilities such as intelligence and logical ability.

The Digit Span (DS) subtest cannot be administered to individuals who are unable to effectively vocalize their responses. This study determined the feasibility of altering DS response requirements to accommodate such individuals. A total of 78 healthy adults served as participants. Twenty-six completed the DS using the standard oral response format, 26 wrote their responses to each DS item, and 26 were instructed to point to their responses on a stimulus board. Results indicated similar performance on all DS components regardless of whether responses were given orally, in writing, or by pointing. Research with vocally impaired clinical populations (e.g., stutterers) appears warranted.

We examined motor skill and memory components of the Digit Symbol-Coding subtest of the WAIS-III in a clinical sample. Research using previous versions of the WAIS in non-clinical samples has suggested that the age-related decline in Digit Symbol-Coding scores is more related to motor ability rather than to the memory requirements of the test. Our results extend this conclusion to a clinical sample, using the WAIS-III. Copy scores measure motor skill on the Digit Symbol-Coding subtest, and Incidental Learning scores (Free Recall and Pairing) measure memory. A large proportion of Digit Symbol-Coding variance was explained by Copy scores with Incidental Learning scores controlled, but Incidental Learning scores explained little additional variance when Copy scores were controlled. The same pattern was found when we used the Immediate Memory and General Memory Indexes from the Wechsler Memory Scale-III as independent measures of memory.

Reliability of the WAIS-III for 100 male patients with substance abuse disorders was determined. Means for age and education were 46.06 years (SD = 8.81 years) and 12.70 years (SD = 1.51 years). There were 63 Caucasians and 37 African Americans. Split-half coefficients for the 11 subtests (Digit Symbol-Coding, Symbol Search, and Object Assembly were omitted) ranged from .92 for Vocabulary and Digit Span to .77 for Picture Arrangement. The median subtest reliability coefficient was .86. Composite reliabilities were excellent for the Indexes (.94 to .95) and IQs (.94 to .97), with all coefficients? .94. Using the Fisher z test to compare correlation coefficients from independent samples, none of the reliability estimates differed significantly from those reported for the WAIS-III standardization sample. Similar findings emerged when reliabilities were determined separately for Caucasian and African American participants.

Metacognitive processes, such as monitoring one's knowledge and selecting appropriate strategies, may be important in skilled spelling. We hypothesized that skilled spellers have knowledge of which words they know how to spell and also that the accuracy with which people monitor their knowledge should be related to the spelling strategies they select. College students provided Feeling-of-Knowing ratings about the spellings of words and also spelled the same words and indicated whether they sounded out or remembered the spellings. Feeling-of-Knowing ratings were moderately correlated with Spelling Accuracy and were more strongly predictive of Spelling Accuracy when Feeling-of-Knowing ratings and spellings were done as part of the same task rather than as separate tasks. Analyses indicate that those who were better at monitoring their knowledge of spelling also chose more congruent spelling strategies. The results suggest that skilled spellers can monitor which words they know how to spell, but this ability to monitor is far from perfect and varies considerably. Further, the results suggest that ability to monitor spelling knowledge is related to strategy selection in spelling.

Volunteers for psychological research can differ in important ways from nonvolunteers and from the general population. The memory abilities of a sample of 80 college student research volunteers were measured using the Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised. Compared to general population norms, the sample scored significantly higher on General Memory and Visual Memory compared to those with more than 12 years of education, the sample scored significantly lower on General Memory, Verbal Memory, and Attention but significantly higher on Visual Memory. Although results may vary at different universities, researchers should be cautious in assuming that the memory abilities of samples of college student volunteers accurately represent the population.