A REVIEW OF MEASUREMENT PROPERTIES OF INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR CHILDREN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1075.2026-0013Keywords:
assessment, intellectual ability, comparison, reliability, validityAbstract
The purpose of this study is to systematically review and compare the measurement properties (reliability and validity) and application scope of five commonly used intelligence assessment tools for children: WISC-V, SB-5, RPM, KABC-II, and UNIT-2. Using a systematic literature review combined with a comparative analysis approach, the study synthesizes and objectively evaluates academic evidence related to these five individual intelligence scales. The results indicate that WISC-V, SB-5, and KABC-II are comprehensive tools with high reliability and validity, suitable for clinical diagnosis and specialized educational interventions. In contrast, RPM and UNIT-2 demonstrate advantages in large-scale screening and assessment of specific populations due to their nonverbal nature and cultural fairness. The study concludes that selecting the most appropriate tool should be based on specific assessment objectives, individual child characteristics, and contextual factors, while emphasizing the critical role of professional expertise in interpreting results.
Downloads
References
[1] Flanagan DP & Alfonso VC, (2017). Essentials of WISC-V assessment. John Wiley & Sons. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Essentials+of+WISC-V+Assessment--9781118980873
[2] Wechsler D, (2014). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fifth Edition: Technical and interpretive manual. NCS Pearson.
[3] Fuchs D, Fuchs LS & Vaughn S, (2014). What is intensive instruction and why is it important?. Teaching Exceptional Children, 46(4), 13-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059914522966
[4] Guralnick MJ, (2001). A developmental systems model for early intervention. Infants & Young Children, 14(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001163-200114020-00004
[5] Gottfredson LS, (1997). Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life. Intelligence, 24(1), 79-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(97)90014-3
[6] Wechsler D, (1940). The measurement of adult intelligence. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 91(4), 548. https://doi.org/10.1037/10020-000
[7] Canivez GL, Watkins MW & Dombrowski SC, (2017). Structural validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fifth Edition. Psychological Assessment, 29(4), 458. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000358
[8] Lecerf T & Canivez GL, (2018). Correction to Lecerf and Canivez (2018). Psychological Assessment, 30(8), 1009. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000638
[9] Daniel MH, (2019). Equivalence of Q-interactive and paper administrations of cognitive tasks: WISC-V. Pearson. https://www.pearsonassessments.com/content/dam/school/global/clinical/us/assets/wisc-v/q-interactive-wisc-v.pdf
[10] Ryan JJ & Schnakenberg-Ott SD, (2003). Scoring reliability on the Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-III). Assessment, 10(2), 151-159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191103010002006
[11] Roid GH, (2003). Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition: Technical manual. Riverside Publishing.
[12] Roid GH & Barram RA, (2004). Essentials of Stanford-Binet intelligence scales (SB5) assessment. John Wiley & Sons.
[13] Mei C, Sharon PE, Finch WH, David ME & Barbara RA, (2014). Joint confirmatory factor analysis of cognitive ability tests. Psychology in the Schools, 51(1), 32–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21734
[14] Raven J, Raven JC & Court JH, (2000). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales. Section 1: General overview. Harcourt Assessment.
[15] Court JH & Raven J, (1995). Manual for Raven’s Progressive Matrices and Vocabulary Scales. Section 7: Research and references: Summaries of normative, reliability, and validity studies and references to all sections.. Oxford University Press; The Psychological Corporation.
[16] Kazlauskaite V & Lynn R, (2002). Two-year test-retest reliability of the colored progressive matrices. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 95, 354-354. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.2002.95.2.354
[17] Kaufman AS & Kaufman NL, (2004). Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children–Second Edition (KABC-II): Technical manual. AGS Publishing.
[18] Mitchell JM et al., (2018). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Kaufman assessment battery. South African Journal of Psychology, 48(4), 434-452. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246317741822
[19] Reynolds CR, (2007). Review of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition. In Geisinger KF, Spies R, Plake BS, Carlson JF & Murphy LL, (2007). The seventeenth mental measurements yearbook. (No Title). Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.
[20] Friedlander Moore A, McCallum RS & Bracken BA, (2017). The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test: Second Edition. In McCallum RS. (Ed.), (2003). Handbook of nonverbal assessment. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50604-3_7
[21] Richardson E, (1995). Reliability and validity of the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test for children with hearing impairments. Master’s Thesis, Western Kentucky University. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/921
[22] McCallum RS, (2003). The universal nonverbal intelligence test. In Handbook of nonverbal assessment (pp. 87-111). Springer US.
[23] Guo B, Aveyard P & Dai X, (2009). The Chinese Intelligence Scale for Young Children. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69(3), 459–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164409332209
[24] Watkins MW, Canivez GL, Dombrowski SC, McGill RJ, Pritchard AE, Holingue CB & Jacobson LA, (2022). Long-term stability of WISC-V scores. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 11(3), 422–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622965.2021.1875827
[25] Brouwers SA, Van de Vijver FJ & Van Hemert DA, (2009). Variation in Raven’s Progressive Matrices scores. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(3), 330–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2008.10.006
[26] Mackintosh NJ & Bennett ES, (2005). What do Raven’s Matrices measure?. Intelligence, 33(6), 663–674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2005.03.004
[27] Raven J, (2003). Raven Progressive Matrices, In McCallum, R. S (Ed.), Handbook of Nonverbal Assessment. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0153-4_11
[28] Mayes SD & Calhoun SL, (2006). WISC-IV and WISC-III profiles in children with ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 9(3), 486-493. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054705283616
[29] Lichtenberger EO & Kaufman AS, (2009). Essentials of WAIS-IV assessment. Wiley.
[30] Hu LT & Bentler PM, (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
[31] Friedlander Moore A, McCallum RS & Bracken BA, (2017). The Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test: Second Edition. In McCallum RS, (Ed.), (2003). Handbook of nonverbal assessment(Vol. 30). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50604-3_7
[32] Handargule AS, Taksande A, Meshram R, & Uke P, (2024). Applicability of Various Intelligence Scales Utilised in Paediatric Population: An Overview. Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, 18(8), SE01–SE06. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2024/67521.19752
[33] Skorupiński PM, (2015). American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, Standards for educational and psychological testing. Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny, 238(4), 201-203.
