Title
Differential ability structure in deaf and hearing children
Abstract
The Hiskey-Nebraska Test of Learning Ability (H-NTLA) is the only individually administered intelligence
test designed for use with deaf subjects that has been standardized separately on deaf and
hearing samples (Hiskey, 1966). In addition to its popularity among psychological examiners of the
deaf (Levine, 1974), the H-NTLA has been favorably evaluated when used with mentally retarded and
bilingual children (Lewis, 1969; Shutt & Hannon, 1974). Thus, it is surprising that no factor analytic
studies of the H-NTLA have been reported.
In contrast to the numerous comparative investigations of the cognitive functioning of deaf and
hearing subjects (for reviews see Furth, 1964, 1966, 1971; Vernon, 1968), only three studies have directly
addressed the issue of differential ability structure. Farrant (1964) administered a comprehensive
battery of ability tests to 120 hearing-impaired children and 120 normal-hearing children. Parallel
factor analyses suggested that the intellectual abilities of the hearing-impaired children were "less
integrated" and "distorted" relative to those of the normal-hearing children (p. 324). Holmberg
(1966) analyzed a battery of tests from selected categories of Guilford’s structure of intellect model for
154 deaf adolescents and found that the factor structure was unlike that of hearing adolescents. The
most sophisticated of the reported investigations was conducted in Finland by Juurmaa (1963). Extensive
comparisons of the separate factor analyses of a carefully selected battery of tests for 94 hearing-impaired
adolescents and 100 hearing subjects matched for age produced the general conclusion that
"the ability structure of the deaf is less differentiated than that of the hearing (p. 103)."
Identifiers
other: doi:10.1177/014662167800200114
Previously Published Citation
Bolton, Brian. (1978). Differential ability structure in deaf and hearing children. Applied Psychological Measurement, 2, 147-149. doi:10.1177/014662167800200114
Suggested Citation
Bolton, Brian.
(1978).
Differential ability structure in deaf and hearing children.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/99243.