title: Psychometric scatter in retarded, autistic preschoolers as measured by the Cattell.
abstract: To determine whether psychometric scatter is characteristic of the developmental profile of young autistic children, the performance of 38 autistic children, as measured by the Cattell, was compared with the performance of MA matched samples of normal, Down's Syndrome and non-Down's Syndrome children with mental retardation. Results indicated significantly more psychometric scatter in the autistic group than in the other groups. Similarly, 66% of the autistic children vs 13, 26 and 32% of the normal, Down's and non-Down's samples, respectively, had significant scatter. Further analyses revealed that autistic children showed consistent relative strength in non-language and weakness in language.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine 90024-1759.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mundy
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kasari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sigman
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics