Actuarial assessment of Wechsler Verbal-Performance Scale differences as signs of lateralized cerebral impairment.
Long-standing clinical lore holds that a discrepancy between Wechsler-Bellevue (W-B) Verbal/Performance Scale weighted scores is a more sensitive sign of lateralized brain damage than a discrepancy between Verbal/Performance Scale IQ. To assess this question, two step-wise discriminant functions using W-B Verbal and Performance Scale weighted scores (Function 1) and IQs (Function 2) as independent variables were derived and cross-validated on right- and left-hemisphere-lesioned subjects. Cross-validation hit rates were statistically comparable through disappointingly low (Function 1-67%, Function 2-64%). These results do not support the clinical lore which favors a weighted discrepancy score over an IQ-discrepancy as a sign of lateralized cerebral impairment.
D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014888:Wechsler Scales