Application of recategorized WISC-R scores for adjudicated adolescents

Bannatyne's recategorization of WISC-R scores was applied to 97 juveniles who had been adjudicated by the juvenile court system to a diagnostic and evaluation unit in Eastern Alabama. Mean ranks werre analyzed using the Friedman test for repeated-measures analysis of variance. The total sample exhibited a significant mean rank pattern of scores in the following descending order: Spatial, Conceptual, Sequential, and Acquired Knowledge. Subgroup patterns varied for those youths with IQs 90 and above (Conceptual, Spatial, Sequential, and Acquired Knowledge) and IQs below 90 (Spatial, Sequential, Conceptual, and Acquired Knowledge). Pairwise comparisons using the Scheffé procedure indicated significant differences between the Spatial score and Acquired Knowledge score for the total group and those youths with IQs below 90. The study extended the application of recategorized scores for adjudicated youth suggested by Bannatyne (1968, 1971, 1974). This investigation affirms the need for further studies of the differential effect of IQ on the patterns of WISC-R scaled scores.