Abstract
The factor structure of the 16 core and supplementary Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model subtests for the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (KABC-II; Kaufman and Kaufman, 2004a) standardization sample samples aged 7–18 (N = 2025) was examined using exploratory factor analytic techniques (EFA) not included in the KABC-II manual (Kaufman and Kaufman, 2004b). The present results failed to replicate the five-factor CHC-based structure posited by the test publisher at school age. Factor extraction for the core battery suggested four factors, whereas five factors were supported for the total battery configuration. When these structures were transformed with the Schmid and Leiman (Psychometrika, 22, 53–61, 1957) orthgonalization procedure, the second-order general factor accounted for larger portions of total and common variance when compared to the reliable variance accounted for by the resulting four and five first-order factors. Users are encouraged to interpret the KABC-II primarily at the level of the Fluid-Crystallized Index (FCI), with additional consideration of the factor-based scores employed with more caution. Implications for clinical interpretation are discussed.
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Notes
At ages 4–6, it is suggested that the KABC-II measures four CHC-based factors. However, at these ages, Fluid Reasoning and Visual Processing measures combine to form a complexly determined factor which the publisher curiously chose to label Visual Processing.
To be fair, some of the dimensional complexity issues for the KABC-II are noted in the XBA system as Pattern Reasoning is included as an indicator for both Fluid Reasoning (Gf) and Visual Processing (Gv). Nevertheless, practitioners using the XBA system must arbitrarily assign the test to one dimension at the expense of the other which the present results suggest may obscure important sources of influence on that particular task.
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Standardization data from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II). Copyright © 2004 NCS Pearson, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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McGill, R.J., Dombrowski, S.C. Factor Structure of the CHC Model for the KABC-II: Exploratory Factor Analyses with the 16 Core and Supplementary Subtests. Contemp School Psychol 22, 279–293 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-017-0152-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-017-0152-z