The Effects of Culture on WASI Test Performance in Ethnically Diverse Individuals

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine differences between fluent English-speaking ethnically diverse (ED) individuals (from Hispanic, Asian, and Middle-Eastern descent) and monolingual English-speaking Anglo-Americans (MEAA) on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). A sample of 86 (50 ED and 36 MEAA) healthy individuals participated. The results revealed that the MEAA group outperformed the ED group on the verbal (i.e., Vocabulary and Similarities), but not the nonverbal (i.e., Block Design and Matrix Reasoning) subtests. Various cultural factors such as the level of acculturation and the degree to which the English language was used correlated with verbal skills. Number of years the education was obtained outide of the US was an important predictor of verbal and some nonverbal performance in the ED group. The findings from this study underscore the importance of taking cultural factors, particularly level of acculturation, into account when interpreting test scores of ED individuals.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was supported by NIMH grant MH067851-01 to JR. Additional support for the project was provided by NIGMS grants GM63787 (Minority Biomedical Research Support Program-Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement) & GM08395 (Minority Access to Research Career). The authors also thank the two reviewers for their helpful and insightful comments.

Notes

*p < .01; D = ethnically diverse, MEAA = monolingual English-Speaking Anglo-American.

Variables that analyses that met the p ≤ .025 criteria are in bold.

⁺ p ≤ .05

Variables entered into the equation that met the p ≤ .025 criteria are in bold.