Cortical and subcortical constructs of the dean-woodcock sensory motor battery: a construct validity study

The factor structure of the Dean-Woodcock Sensory Motor Battery was examined using exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation. Participants (n = 1,651) were composed of 701 neurologically impaired individuals and 950 normal individuals. Three factors, accounting for almost 58.2% of the total test variation, emerged from the data and were labeled Simple Sensory Skills, Motor and Complex Sensory Skills, and Subcortical Motor Skills and Auditory/Visual Acuity. Hypothesized cross loadings were present, especially between the first two factors, which highlighted the parallel nature of sensory-motor skills. The third factor demonstrated the least amount of cross loadings, which reinforced the demarcation of cortical and subcortical motor skills measured by the DWSMB. The results also indicated that the factors were separated by the complexity of the cortical sensory-motor tasks. The factor structure, combined with an analysis of the interfactor correlations, provides evidence for construct validity of the DWSMB.