A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of WRAML Scores in a Group of Academically Talented Students

• Main Author: Johnson, Patricia R.
• Other Authors: Ramos, Vincent
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2000
• Subjects: Gifted teenagers > Psychology.; Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning.; Memory > Testing.; Mechanical ability > Testing.; Space perception > Testing.; WRAML; memory; mechanical reasoning; spatial relations; gifted
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2716/

The purpose of this study was to confirm the original factor structure of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML) utilizing a non-clinical adolescent population. Additional analysis examined the relationship between SAT-M scores and spatial relations ability. Exploratory analyses were conducted to determine ethnic and gender differences on the WRAML and subtests from the DAT. Sixty-four academically talented adolescents completed the WRAML and the mechanical reasoning and spatial relations subtests from the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT). The confirmatory factor analysis found the data obtained to not be a good fit for the factor structure of the WRAML (Sheslow & Adams, 1990). Additional confirmatory analyses were conducted which examined data fit of a three factor model found by reanalyzing the standardization data (Burton et al., 1996; Wasserman & Cambias, 1991) as well as two null models. The data failed to fit any of these three models. No support was found for the second hypothesis that predicted a positive relationship between SAT-M scores and spatial relations ability. Ethnic and gender differences on the WRAML and two DAT subtests were examined and discussed. Limitations of this study were reviewed which may have accounted for the overall lack of results.