The Nature and Structure of Children's Abilities: Evidence from the Differential Ability Scales

Abstract

The nature and the structure of children's abilities are considered in the light of evidence from the Differential Ability Scales (DAS), a newly published, individually administered cognitive test battery for children age 2 years 6 months through 17 years 11 months. The DAS was developed primarily to assess children's cognitive profiles. Evidence is presented on its relatively high levels of reliable specific variance (a requirement for identifying reliable intertest differences in a profile). The DAS cognitive battery also yields a number of focused composite scores: a measure of psychometric g, called General Conceptual Ability (GCA) and measures of Verbal and Nonverbal Ability at the preschool level, and of Verbal, Nonverbal Reasoning and Spatial Ability at the school-age level. The case is argued against the use of terms “intelligence” and “IQ” in describing children's abilities, and evidence on the factorial structure of the DAS is presented through both confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses.