The cylindrical structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV: A retest of the Guttman model of intelligence

A previous study on the underlying structure of the Wechsler intelligence test (WISC-R; [Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual WISC-R: Wechsler intelligence scale for children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation]), using smallest space analysis (SSA) [Guttman, L., and Levy, S. (1991). Two structural laws for intelligence tests. Intelligence, 15, 79-103] had indicated a three-dimensional cylindrical solution. The first described level of abstract thinking (rule inferring, rule applying, rule following or new learning tasks), the second related to mode of representation (verbal, numeral, visual), while the third dimension related to output mode (oral, manual, or pencil and paper). In view of the appearance of the recent version of this test (WISC-IV; [Wechsler, D. (2003). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation]), the purpose of the present study is to test Guttman's model of intelligence on the current version of the scale. Thus, the intercorrelation matrix of the WISC-IV subtests of the entire normative sample of 2200 children was submitted to SSA. This solution replicates Guttman and Levy three-dimensional cylindrical structure almost completely, and it offers further differentiation of the visual mode into geometric and pictorial modes and implies that the Block Design subscale relates to the "rule inferring" category. The Guttman model organization of the present solution provides an elegant description of the structure of intelligence and suggests the construction of new subscales for measuring different aspects of intelligence