The WJ IV Cognitive and Oral Language include new measures of auditory processing (Ga) that are much more cognitively complex auditory measures of intelligence. This short presentation provides an overview of the WJ IV Ga tests and presents evidence supporting the importance of Ga as a major component of human intelligence.

1. The WJ IV Measurement of
Auditory Processing (Ga)
Kevin S. McGrew, PhD.
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
www.themindhub.com
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

3. Kevin McGrew Affiliations
• Institute of Applied Psychometrics (IAP)-Director
• University of Minnesota - Visiting Professor (Educ. Psych.)
• Interactive Metronome - Director of Research and Science
(External Consultant) *
• Darhma Berkmana Foundation (YDB; Indonesia) –
Intelligence expert for development of first Indonesian
CHC-based intelligence battery for children
* Conflict of interest disclosure: Financial relationship and interest in IM;
Coauthor of WJ III and WJ IV (royalty interest)

4. The New Ga
Auditory Processing (Ga) abilities should no
longer be considered the Rodney Dangerfield
of CHC abilities
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

5. The WJ IV Auditory Processing (Ga) cluster
is not your father’s Ga measure.
WJ IV still has the Oldsmobile Ga
(Phonetic Coding) in OL: COG now has
more cognitively complex Ga measures
The WJ IV has taken a broader
contemporary view of the domain of Ga
© Institute for Applied © Institute for Applied P Pssyycchhoommeettrricicss;; K Keevvinin M MccGGrreeww 0 066--1280--1144

6. There has been an explosion of research on auditory
abilities since Carroll’s (1993) seminal work
(Schneider & McGrew, 2012). A wide-ranging
collection of Ga characteristics have been related to
disorders of reading, speech, and language. For
example, Ga abilities are now recognized as playing
a pivotal scaffolding role in the development of
language and general cognitive abilities (Conway,
Pisoni, & Kronenberger, 2009).
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-18-14

7. Auditory
Processing (Ga)
Phonetic
Coding (PC)
PHNPRO* NWDREP
* Test in GIA
Short-Term Working
Memory (Gwm)
Memory for
Sound Patterns (UM)
SEGMNT SNDBLN
(Phonetic Coding cluster-PC)
(Ga cluster)
Author/expert
CHC narrow
factor
classifications
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14
Memory Span
(MS)

8. Auditory
Processing (Ga)
Phonological
Processing
(PC/Glr-LA)
Sound Awareness
(PC)
Segmentation
(PC)
Nonword
Repetition
(PC/UM-MS)
Sound Blending
(PC)
Short Term
Wrk Mem (Gwm)
Most complex
Least complex
An auditory
processing
battery ?
COG
OL
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

9. New WJ IV Ga tests

10. COG Test 5: Phonological
Processing
• Ga (PC) / Glr (LA/FW)
•3 subtests (Word Access; Word Fluency; Substitution
• Measures three aspects of speech sound processing
that requires the efficient construction of sound-based
lexical representations
• High in cognitive complexity and g. Best single Ga
test predictor of achievement. High loading on Ga
and secondary low loading on Gc (accessing the
lexicon). Also loaded on narrow LA factor in
broard+narrow bottom-up CFA models.
• In GIA, Ga, and all reading and writing scholastic
aptitude clusters
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 6-20-14

11. Ga (UM)
COG Test 12: Nonword
Repetition
Examinee listens to a nonsense word and then must
repeat the word exactly.
Requires temporary storage of phonological segments in
immediate awareness.
Significant body of research has found such tasks to
be significantly related to (and be possible “markers”
of) reading disabilities, dyslexia and SLI (specific language
impairment)
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 6-20-14

12. OL Test 3: Segmentation
• Ga (PC)
• Examinee listens to words and identifies word parts
• In OL Phonetic Coding (PC) cluster
• Highest loading test on Ga factor across all ages
• A moderate measure of g and predictor of ach. across
all ages; much more so (and more cognitively complex)
than Sound Blending.
• Such tasks have been reported to be strong predictors
of early reading (Bouwmeester et al, 2011; Geuden &
Sandra, 2003)
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 6-20-14

13. g-loadings of WJ IV COG tests across 5 norming age groups
CHC Ages Ages Ages Ages Ages
Tests Factor 6 thru 8 9 thru 13 14 thru 19 20 thru 39 40 thru 90+ Median
n = 823 1572 1685 1251 1145
Object Number Seq. Gwm 0.72 0.69 0.74 0.75 0.79 0.74
Oral Vocabulary Gc 0.66 0.67 0.72 0.75 0.75 0.72
Phonological Processing Ga 0.73 0.63 0.68 0.71 0.77 0.71
Concept Formation Gf 0.63 0.62 0.66 0.70 0.67 0.66
Numbers Reversed Gwm 0.63 0.59 0.65 0.67 0.69 0.65
Analysis-Synthesis Gf 0.64 0.63 0.64 0.67 0.70 0.64
Verbal Attention Gwm 0.61 0.62 0.64 0.65 0.70 0.64
Number Series Gf 0.62 0.61 0.64 0.59 0.65 0.62
Memory for Words Gwm 0.60 0.58 0.61 0.64 0.66 0.61
Visualization Gv 0.60 0.57 0.61 0.66 0.67 0.61
General Information Gc 0.44 0.52 0.59 0.63 0.65 0.59
Story Recall Glr 0.58 0.53 0.58 0.54 0.62 0.58
Letter-Pattern Matching Gs 0.57 0.55 0.60 0.57 0.65 0.57
Number-Pattern Matching Gs 0.56 0.53 0.54 0.53 0.59 0.54
Nonword Repetition Ga 0.55 0.51 0.52 0.51 0.56 0.52
Visual-Auditory Learning Glr 0.52 0.47 0.49 0.59 0.60 0.52
Pair Cancellation Gs 0.45 0.47 0.52 0.51 0.54 0.51
Picture Recognition Gv 0.52 0.43 0.36 0.45 0.47 0.45
Shading indicates tests in GIA cluster.
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

14. Comparison of WJ III and WJ IV CHC cluster g-loadings in
respective norm samples (first unrotated principal component)
Fluid Reasoning (Gf) 0.78
Auditory Processing (Ga) 0.77
Short-Term Working Memory (Gwm) 0.76
Comprehension-Knowledge (Gc) 0.74
Long-Term Retrieval (Glr) 0.72
Visual Processing (Gv) 0.68
Cognitive Processing Speed (Gs) 0.62
Fluid Reasoning (Gf) 0.79
Comprehension-Knowledge (Gc) 0.79
Long-Term Retrieval (Glr) 0.78
Auditory Processing (Ga) 0.69
Short-Term Working Memory (Gsm) 0.69
Processing Speed (Gs) 0.62
Visual Processing (Gv) 0.60
Note changes in
relative g-loadings
for Ga
and Gwm © Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

15. Gs g-loading
LETPAT 0.58
NUMPAT 0.55
PAIRCN 0.52
Ga
PHNPRO 0.75
SNDAWR 0.71
SEGMNT 0.64
SNDBLN 0.59
NWDREP 0.58
Glr
STYREC 0.59
RETFLU 0.58
VAL 0.56
RPCNAM 0.51
Gv
VISUAL 0.63
PICREC 0.48
g-loadings of WJ IV COG/OL
tests across ages 6-90+
Gc g-loading
ORLVOC 0.76
ORLCMP 0.71
PICVOC 0.67
GENINF 0.63
Gf
CONFRM 0.67
ANLSYN 0.64
NUMSER 0.63
Gwm
OBJNUM 0.72
UNDDIR 0.67
VRBATN 0.67
MEMWRD 0.65
NUMREV 0.64
SENREP 0.62
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

16. Yet to be published preliminary cross-battery g-loading
and cognitive complexity analysis of
primary WJ IV/external IQ battery special studies
g
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10 T11 T12
(1a) Spearman’s general Factor model
Spatial position
from center of MDS
Guttman radex
analysis “maps”
g-loadings based on
factor/principal
component analysis
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

17. 1-factor (unrotated) common-factor solution for WJ IV
COG / WISC-IV composite scores (n=173)
Loadings on
first unrotated
common factor
Communality
Estimates
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14
Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) 0.809 0.654
Auditory Processing (Ga) 
0.804 0.646
Fluid Reasoning (Gf) 0.804 0.646
Perceptual Reasoning Index (PR) 0.800 0.639
Comprehension-Knowledge (Gc) 0.779 0.607
Short-Term Work. Memory (Gwm) 0.764 0.584
Working Memory Index (WMI) 0.749 0.562
Long-Term Retrieval (Glr) 0.683 0.466
Visual Processing (Gv) 0.604 0.365
Processing Speed Index (PSI) 0.569 0.323
Cog. Processing Speed (Gs) 0.537 0.288

18. GWM
PRI WMI


-2 -1 0 1 2
2
1
0
-1
-2
GIA
GC
GF
GS
GA
GLR
GV
VCI
PSI
2 MDS solution for WJ IV / WISC-IV
composite and g-scores (n=173)
•The WJ IV GIA score is as
good (better?) a measure of
general intelligence (g) as
the WISC-IV FS IQ when
defined by g-loadings and
MDS cognitive complexity
analysis.
• The WJ IV Ga cluster is a
measure of complex
cognitive abilities;
comparable to WJ IV &
WISC-IV Gf/PRI composites.
•The WJ IV measures
cognitive abilities not
represented in the WISC-IV
(Ga, Glr, and possibly Gv).
Measures closer to the center of
the radex are more cognitively
complex
FSIQ

© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

19. Component Ldgs.
PHNPRO 0.83
AR 0.81
VOC 0.80
ORLVOC 0.80
INF 0.78
SNDAWR 0.78
CONFRM 0.76
SIMS 0.75
MR 0.74
VRBATN 0.73
SPLSND 0.72
NUMSER 0.71
NUMREV 0.70
GENINF 0.69
SEGMNT 0.69
BD 0.69
CMP 0.68
LNQ 0.68
DS 0.65
SNDBLN 0.63
NWDREP 0.63
OBJNUM 0.63
PCCN 0.63
VAL 0.62
SS 0.61
ANLSYN 0.61
NUMPAT 0.59
RETFLU 0.58
STYREC 0.58
PAIRCN 0.57
VISUAL 0.54
PICREC 0.48
LETPAT 0.47
COD 0.46
RPCNAM 0.43
CAN 0.42
First (unrotated)
principal
component for
WJ IV COG/OL
WISC-IV tests
(n=173)

20. Remember that there was a paucity
of Ga factor studies when Carroll
completed his 1993 treatise
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

21. Auditory Processing (Ga) abilities
should no longer be considered the
Rodney Dangerfield of CHC abilities
School psych. and SLD have had a myopic “lamp
post-search ” blinder focus on only one part of the
very broad domain of Ga
There has been an explosion of research (since
Carroll’s 1993 treatise) that has identified potentially
new important and cognitively complex Ga narrow
abilities
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 06-20-14

22. Visual-Spatial
Processing (Gv)
Comprehension-
Knowledge (Gc)
(Adapted slide from original Gv genius
slide of Dr. Joel Schneider)
Resistance to auditory
stimulus distortion (UR)
Reading-
Writing
(Grw)
Short-Term
Memory
(Gwm)
Phonetic
coding (PC)
Musical Discrimination
& Judgment (U1 U9)
Language
Development (LD)
Speech sound
discrimination (US)
Maintaining &
Judging Rhythm (U8)
Absolute
Pitch (UP)
Spelling
Reading (SG)
Decoding (RD)
Memory
Span (MS)
Memory for
Sound Patterns (UM)
Sound
Localization (UL)
Auditory
Processing (Ga)
School psych. and SLD have had a myopic “lamp post-search
” blinder focus on only one part (phonetic coding)
of the very broad domain of Ga
Click to
activate
animation

23. Long-term retrieval (Glr)
Visual-Spatial
Processing (Gv)
Comprehension-
Knowledge (Gc)
(Adapted slide from original Gv genius
slide of Dr. Joel Schneider)
Resistance to auditory
stimulus distortion (UR)
Reading-
Writing
(Grw)
Short-Term
Memory
(Gwm)
Phonetic
coding (PC)
Musical Discrimination
& Judgment (U1 U9)
Language
Development (LD)
Speech sound
discrimination (US)
Maintaining &
Judging Rhythm (U8)
Absolute
Pitch (UP)
Spelling
Reading (SG)
Decoding (RD)
Memory
Span (MS)
Memory for
Sound Patterns (UM)
Sound
Localization (UL)
Auditory
Processing (Ga)
There has been an explosion of research that has identified
potentially new important Ga and related (LA) narrow abilities
Click
repeatedly
to activate
animation
Speed of Lexcial
Access (LA)
Auditory
Imagery ?
Auditory gap
Detection ?
?

24. Sampling of range of Ga abilities being studied:
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin
McGrew 01-23-14

25. © Institute for Applied Psychometrics;
Kevin McGrew 01-23-14
Sampling of range of Ga
abilities being studied:

26. Sampling of range of Ga
abilities being studied:
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 01-23-14

32. Dr. Nina Kraus

34. Auditory Processing (Ga) abilities, when
properly measured, should have a
prominent chair at the roundtable of
cognitive CHC abilities
© Institute for Applied Psychometrics; Kevin McGrew 6-20-14