Investigating the Structure of the French WISC-V (WISC-V^FR) for Five Age Groups Using Psychometric Network Modeling.

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics and Psychological Assessment
• Network Psychometrics
• Intelligence Measurement

Background:

• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are standard for examining psychological instrument dimensionality.
• Network psychometrics offers a novel approach with Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the dimensionality of the French Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V^FR) using EGA across five age groups.
• To determine the number and structure of WISC-V^FR dimensions and assess their reproducibility and generalizability.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) applied to WISC-V^FR data from five age standardization samples.
• Bootstrap Exploratory Graph Analysis (bootEGA) used to evaluate the reproducibility and generalizability of identified dimensions.

Main Results:

• EGA and bootEGA consistently identified three dimensions within the WISC-V^FR across all age groups.
• The identified dimensions align with processing speed, verbal comprehension, and a general perceptual reasoning factor.
• Results did not support a distinction between visual-spatial and fluid reasoning dimensions.

Conclusions:

• EGA and bootEGA provide valuable tools for assessing the construct validity of psychological instruments like the WISC-V^FR.
• The findings suggest a three-factor structure for the WISC-V^FR, challenging the distinction between visual-spatial and fluid reasoning.
• Network psychometrics offers a robust alternative for psychological instrument evaluation.