Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities
The Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities is a set of intelligence tests first developed in 1977 by Richard Woodcock and Mary E. Bonner Johnson (although Johnson's contribution is disputed).[1] It was revised in 1989, again in 2001, and most recently in 2014; this last version is commonly referred to as the WJ IV.[2] They may be administered to children from age two right up to the oldest adults (with norms utilizing individuals in their 90s). The previous edition WJ III was praised for covering "a wide variety of cognitive skills".[3]
Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities | |
---|---|
Purpose | assess cognitive skills |
Content of the tests
The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities include both the Standard Battery and the Extended Battery. The Standard Battery consists of tests 1 through 10 while the Extended Battery includes tests 11 through 20. There is also a Woodcock-Johnson III Diagnostic Supplement to the Tests of Cognitive Abilities with an additional 11 cognitive tests.[4] All of which combined allows for a considerably detailed analysis of cognitive abilities. The Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory factors that this test examines are based on 9 broad stratum abilities which are: Comprehension-Knowledge, Long-Term Memory, Visual-Spatial Thinking, Auditory Processing, Fluid Reasoning, Processing Speed, Short-Term Memory, Quantitative Knowledge and Reading-Writing.[4] A General Intellectual Ability (GIA) or Brief Intellectual Ability (BIA) may be obtained. The BIA score is derived from three cognitive tests which include Verbal Comprehension, Concept Formation, and Visual Matching. These three cognitive tests measure three abilities; Comprehension-Knowledge (Gc), Fluid Reasoning (Gf), and Processing Speed (Gs), which best represents an individual's verbal ability, thinking ability, and efficiency in performing cognitive tasks. The BIA takes about 10 to 15 minutes to administer and is especially useful for screenings, re-evaluations that don't require a comprehensive intellectual assessment, or research that needs a short but reliable measure of intelligence.[5] On the other hand, the GIA obtained from the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities provide a more comprehensive assessment of general ability (g) and the score is based on a weighted combination of tests that best represents a common ability underlying all intellectual performance.[5]
List of tests
Test | Broad Ability | Narrow Ability | Test Description |
---|---|---|---|
Numerical Reasoning | Gf | Quantitative Reasoning | Participants must determine numerical sequences and
determine a two-dimensional numerical pattern |
Concept Formation | Gf | Induction | Participants must identify rules that make up geometric figures after
being exposed to concepts. |
Analysis Synthesis | Gf | General Sequential Reasoning | Participants must analyze the structure of an incomplete logic puzzle and solve the missing parts |
Block Rotation | Gv | Mental rotation, Visualization | Participants must choose geometric designs that
match another design which have been physically rotated to a different position. |
Spatial Relations | Gv | Spatial Relations | Participants must select the component parts of
whole shape |
Picture Recognition | Gv | Visual Memory | Participants must study five images, remember them and recognize them in a larger set of other arranged images. |
Visual Matching | Gs | Perceptual Speed | Participants must quickly find and circle two identical numbers in a row of six numbers in 3 minutes. |
Decision Speed | Gs | Mental Comparison Speed | Participants must quickly analyze a row of images and
mark two images that are the most closely related in 3 minutes. |
Cross out | Gs | Perceptual Speed & Rate of Test Taking | Participants must mark drawings that are identical to
the first drawing in the row in 3 mins. |
Rapid Picture Naming | Gs | Naming Facility | Participants must quickly name a series of
pictures as fast as possible. |
Retrieval Fluency | Glr | Ideational Fluency | Participants must state as many words from specified
categories as possible in 1 minute |
Visual Auditory Learning : Delayed | Glr | Associative Memory | Participants must recall and relearn (after a 30-
minute to 8-day delay) symbols presented in Visual-Auditory Learning |
Visual Auditory Learning | Glr | Associative Memory | Participants must translate visual symbols after being given
orally presented words that are associated with them. |
Memory For Names | Glr | Associative Memory | Participants must remember an increasingly large
number of names of novel cartoon characters |
Memory For Names: Delayed | Glr | Associative Memory | Participants must recall and relearn (after a 30-
minute to 8-day delay) names of novel cartoon |
Sound Blending | Ga | Phonetic Coding Synthesis | Participants must listen to a series of individual
syllables, individual phonemes, or both that form words and name the complete words |
Incomplete Words | Ga | Phonetic Coding Analysis | Participants must listen to words with one or more
phonemes missing and name the complete words |
Sound Patterns | Ga | Speech Sound Discrimination | Participants must indicate whether pairs of complex
sound patterns are the same or different. The patterns may differ in pitch, rhythm, or sound content |
Auditory Working Memory | Gsm | Working Memory | Participants must listen to a mixed series of words
and digits and then to rearrange them by first saying the words in order and then the numbers |
Numbers Reversed | Gsm | Working Memory | Participants must repeat a series of random numbers
backward |
Memory For Words | Gsm | Memory Span | Participants must repeat lists of unrelated words in
the correct sequence |
Memory For Sentences | Gsm | Memory Span | Participants must repeat complete sentences |
Picture Vocabulary | Gc | Lexical Knowledge | Participants must name familiar and unfamiliar
pictured objects |
Verbal Comprehension | Gc | Language Development & Lexical Knowledge | Participants must name familiar and unfamiliar
pictured objects and then say words similar in meaning to word presented, say words that are opposites in meaning to the word presented, and complete phrases with words that complete analogies |
General Information | Gc | General Information | Participants must provide
characteristics of objects by responding to questions, such as “Where you would find . . .?” and “What you would do with . . .? |
Academic Knowledge | Gc | General Information | Participants must provide information about
biological and physical sciences, history, geography, government, economics, art, music, and literature |
Oral Comprehension | Gc | Listening Ability | Participants must listen to a short passage and orally
supply the word missing at the end of the passage |
Story Recall | Gc | Listening Ability | Participants must listen to a short passage and
describe the details |
Verbal attention (WJIV only) | Gsm | Working memory capacity | Participants must listen to a series of numbers and animal words mixed together and answer questions regarding the sequence. |
Number series (WJIV only) | Gf | Quantitative reasoning | Participants have to identify the correct number in a series of number that correctly completed the series. Ex. (2,4,?,8,10.....) |
Letter-Pattern Matching (WJIV only) | Gs | Perceptual speed | Participants must quickly find and circle identical letters and patterns. |
Visualization (WJIV only) | Gv | Mental rotation, Visualization | Participants must identify two sets of 2D pieces that form a specific shape. Participants must also identify two sets of 3D rotated blocks that match another shape. |
Phonological Processing (WJIV only) | Ga | Phonetic coding, Word fluency | Participants must name words that begins with a certain sound. Participants must also use parts of words to create new ones. |
Nonword Repetition (WJIV only) | Ga | Phonetic coding | Participants must listen to a nonsense word and repeat the word exactly. |
Segmentation (WJIV only) | Ga | Phonetic coding | Participants must listen to words and break it into syllables and phonemes. |
G | General factor |
---|---|
Gf | General Factor - Fluid Intelligence |
Gv | General Factor - Visual-spatial ability |
Gs | General Factor - Processing Speed |
Glr | General Factor - Long Term Retrieval |
Ga | General Factor - Auditory Processing |
Gsm | General Factor - Short Term Memory |
Gc | General Factor - Crystallized Intelligence |
Published versions
The test is currently in its fourth edition.[10]
References
- Mary E. Bonner Johnson, Appellant, v. Richard W. Woodcock, Appellee
- Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret; Phyllis Anne Teeter Ellison (2009). Child Neuropsychology: Assessment and Interventions for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Springer. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-387-88962-7.
- Hale, James B.; Catherine A. Fiorello (2004). School Neuropsychology: A Practitioner's Handbook. Guilford. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-59385-011-1.
- Schrank, F.A. (2006). Specification of the cognitive processes involved in performance on the Woodcock-Johnson III (Assessment service Bulletin No. 7). Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.
- "Woodcock-Johnson III Normative Update (NU) Tests of Cognitive Abilities". Riverside Publishing. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- Taub, Gordon E.; Keith, Timothy Z.; Floyd, Randy G.; Mcgrew, Kevin S. (2008). "Effects of general and broad cognitive abilities on mathematics achievement". School Psychology Quarterly. 23 (2): 187–198. doi:10.1037/1045-3830.23.2.187.
- "WJ IV™". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- Schrank, Fredrick A. (2010). "Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities" (PDF). iapsych. Handbook of Pediatric Neuropsychology.
- McGrew, Dr. Kevin. "The New WJ IV Battery: Introduction and Overview" (PDF). conference.esc13. Institute for Applied Psychometrics.
- Schrank, Fredrick A.; Nancy Mather; Kevin S. McGrew (2014). Woodcock–Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities Examiner's Manual, Standard and Extended Batteries. Itasca: Riverside.
Further reading
- Kaufman, Alan S. (2000). "Chapter 20: Tests of Intelligence". In Sternberg, Robert J. (ed.). Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 445–476. ISBN 978-0-521-59648-0. Lay summary (22 July 2013).
- McGrew, Kevin S. (1995). "Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability—Revised". In Sternberg, Robert J. (ed.). Encyclopedia of human intelligence. 2. Macmillan. pp. 1152–1158. ISBN 978-0-02-897407-1. OCLC 29594474.
- Urbina, Susana (2004). Essentials of Psychological Testing. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471679011. Lay summary (10 October 2013).
- Urbina, Susana (2011). "Chapter 2: Tests of Intelligence". In Sternberg, Robert J.; Kaufman, Scott Barry (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 20–38. ISBN 9780521739115. Lay summary (9 February 2012).