Ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and pattern of WISC scores as variables that affect psychologists' estimates of...

Psychologists estimated "true IQs" or "effective intelligence" from WISC profiles that varied for ethnicity (black, Mexican-American, or white), social class (lower or middle), profile (three scatter patterns), and direction of Verbal-Performance Scale discrepancy. Psychologists gave higher IQ estimates to black and Mexican-American children's profiles than to the same profiles of white children. Social class was not a significant factor. Profiles with much scatter received higher IQs than profiles with limited scatter. The pattern of subtest scores also affected estimates, while the direction of the Verbal-Performance discrepancy was not significant. Finally, the WISC was judged to be more valid for white than for black and Mexican-American children. Explanations of the findings were discussed.