Correlations of Wechsler-Bellevue Rank Orders of Subtest Means in Lateralized and Non-Lateralized Brain-Damaged Groups

Abstract

Rank difference coefficients of correlation were computed between Wechsler-Bellevue (Form I) rank orders of subtest means in 20 groups of adult Ss with verified brain damage. Six groups with right hemisphere damage, 6 groups with left hemisphere damage, and 8 groups with non-lateralized brain damage were included, with the groups composed according to a variety of lateralizing criteria including independent conclusions drawn from neurological, neurosurgical and neuropathological findings, EEG lateralization, visual field defects, suppression phenomena, dysphasia and difficulty in copying spatial configurations. Consistencies in rank orders of subtest means far beyond chance expectancies were demonstrated within the lateralized brain-damaged categories, while highly significant differences in subtest rank orders were shown between the right and left hemisphere groups. The results suggested that lateralization of brain lesions has a striking effect upon the rank order of Wechsler-Bellevue subtests and that consistent relationships obtain across a wide range of structural, electrophysiological and behavioral criteria of lateralized brain dysfunction.