An examination of woodcock-johnson suppressor effects with learning-disabled and gifted subjects

The Oral Language/Verbal Ability clusters and the Broad Reasoning/Reasoning clusters of the Woodcockjohnson Tests of Cognitive Ability were compared for two groups of elementary-aged children: (a) learning disabled, and (b) gifted and talented. Data indicated that the Oral Language and Broad Reasoning clusters were significantly lower than the Verbal Ability and Reasoning clusters for the learning disabled subjects and that the Broad Reasoning cluster was significantly higher than the Reasoning cluster for the gifted and talented subjects. Further subtest analyses indicated an overcompensating suppressor effect within the Reasoning cluster for both groups. The Oral Language and Broad Reasoning clusters provided a more accurate appraisal of student abilities.