Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment this has always bugged me - WISC "comprehension"

Maybe just our southern usage but we say dishes all the time...take the dishes to the sink, set the table please the dishes in the dishwasher are clean. But then we refer to plates, cups, silverware, bowls as specific items...from the nursery rhyme they would probably have known singular dish as a plate or serving platter is also a serving dish.

So culturally and maybe even just regionally biased. I am sure us southerners get dinged all the time because of our unique word usage.

That's a southernism? I (from California) use it all the time, and so does my Chicago-raised husband.

Generally speaking, the language used in cognitive assessments is biased toward midwestern dialects, which historically was considered broadcast English (though the locus of broadcast/standard English appears to have shifted further west over the years). Some even have recorded listening selections, which are definitely biased toward midwestern pronunciation. I have heard some amusing regional usages reflected in answers. Actually, I once wrote to a test author (not of the WISC) to ask for suggestions to address a regional difference that was so pervasive that it was a rarity for a child to provide the "correct" answer--and he actually responded with alternate scoring!

aeh, since you have deep knowledge on the details of these tests, may I ask you another related question? Suppose there is a child who has little to no exposure to mass media, popular music, advertisements, electronics, movies etc and he reads books that his mom chooses for him, and his friends are more interested in active vigorous outdoor playing than chatting, would this kid be at a disadvantage when it comes to certain aspects of IQ tests? Is this part of the cultural bias?
(the reason that I am asking is because, my son came out of his WPPSI test at 4 years old and asked me what a candy bar was and what a fountain pen was, which I presume the tester referred to - he had neither seen nor read about either one of them at that point).

Yes. He would be at a slight disadvantage, primarily on the verbal portions, and mainly in the younger years, when his environmental exposure was framed predominantly by his family.

Yes, I can see this. I mean dd14 pays attention to the stories on the radio, and then is interested in further discussion. Dd8 pays no attention and shows no desire to engage on these issues. But...I can imagine scenarios where a kid just like dd14 is not exposed at all and then would be at a disadvantage.

I am not sure about the "comprehension" subtest but I remember one of the pictures one being bad. I think the person testing looks at a bunch of pics together (maybe three, not sure) and has to say what they all have in common or something. Anyway, my son came out and said there was a picture of what appeared to be a keyboard but it had no monitor and, like a printer, paper was coming out of it. It was obviously a typewriter something a 6 year old would have never seen (at least not where we are). Also he described an iron - he recognized as a monopoly piece but had no idea it was an "iron" that it gets hot and one irons clothes with it. When I was a kid my mom ironed every Thursday while watching her soaps. Yeah. I have no idea where our iron is and we have never had an ironing board. I don't think people really do that anymore... I know of no one who irons regularly. I am sure many many many kids in this day and age have not seen I real iron in use. And that was just the two I remember. I remember there more!

I believe the WISC V no longer has "comprehension subtest" right? I believe the picture one that I am complaining about has also been taken out. AEH, is that right?

Irena I think you need to edit to remove specifics, many psychs are still using WISC IV. But yes, my kids also very rarely see the item you mentioned--like maybe once year. Not a weekly activity here!

Yes, WISC-V no longer includes comprehension as a core subtest, though it has been retained as a supplementary/alternative subtest. Picture concepts is not a core subtest, though it is necessary for one of the ancillary index scores...but the images have been updated. There are still items that would be affected by exposure, but a certain amount of that is unavoidable when using concrete images, rather than abstract-figural images.

Imagine the average 21st century child taking the original WISC, which had questions about farming on it!