Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mary Lou Kelley

Abstract

The present study examined the discriminative validity of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML), using the individual subscales, original indexes, and a factor structure proposed by Burton, Donders, and Mittenberg (1996) that includes an Attention factor. The sample consisted of 57 non-learning disordered children who were enrolled in the first through the seventh grade and met criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 62 Control children. The groups were matched by age, race, SES, and estimated intellectual ability. Group comparisons by MANCOVA revealed that, after controlling for the effects of math and reading achievement, differences between the groups on the subtests, original indexes, and proposed (Burton et al., 1996) factors, including the Attention factor, were not significant. Following the recommendation of Barkley (1997), the analyses were repeated by MANOVA to explore group differences regardless of discrepancies in achievement scores. Results remained statistically nonsignificant. Discriminant function analyses conducted using the individual subtests, indexes, and proposed factors show that the WRAML is a poor predictor of ADHD status. The function employing the subtests accurately placed 65 percent of each group. The index function correctly identified 55 percent of subjects (ADHD, 39 percent; Control, 70 percent), and the function using the proposed factors appropriately classified 56 percent of each group. Overall, results suggest that non-learning disordered children with and without ADHD do not score significantly differently on the subtests, indexes, or proposed factors of the WRAML.

ISBN

9780599372696

Pages

99

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.6960

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