The Kaufman Ability Battery for Children Mental Processing Scale: A Valid Measure of “Pure” Intelligence?

Abstract

The Kaufman Ability Battery for Children (K-ABC) is predicated on the distinction between intelligence (measured by the Mental Processing scale) and achievement (measured by the Achievement scale). This article questions the validity of this distinction and the interpretation of the K-ABC’s Mental Processing score as a measure of “pure” intelligence, uncontaminated by schooling. Schooling was found to affect raw scores on all Mental Processing subtests in the Israeli standardization sample of the K-ABC. More-over, for five of the eight subtests, the effect of schooling exceeded the effect of age. No difference was found between the Mental Processing and Achievement scales in the relative magnitude of the age and schooling effects.