Performance of black and white South African children on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised and the Kaufman Assessment Battery.

The validity of traditional intelligence tests for cultural groups that differ from those for whom the tests were normed has come under scrutiny. This is particularly the case for the previously disadvantaged black majority in South Africa. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) is reportedly a relatively nondiscriminatory test of intellectual functioning. This study compared the performance of 21 black and 35 white third-grade South African children on the K-ABC and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale--Revised (WISC-R) at two schools for children with learning problems. While the WISC-R Verbal and Full Scale IQ of black children were significantly lower than that of whites, there was no significant difference between these groups on the K-ABC. Teachers' ratings for white and black pupils were acceptably concordant with students' performance on the K-ABC but not on the WISC-R. Support is provided for the usefulness of the K-ABC as a relatively nondiscriminatory alternative to the WISC-R for South African children.

Adjustment of children and interaction of parent and child among single mothers in a disadvantaged South African community.

This study investigated the relationships among family status (intact vs single parent), socioeconomic status, parent-child interaction, and children's adjustment in a disadvantaged "Coloured" community in South Africa. Data were collected from 48 mothers, including 12 married mothers of higher socioeconomic status, 12 single mothers of higher socioeconomic status, 12 married mothers of low socioeconomic status, and 12 single mothers of low socioeconomic status. Low socioeconomic status, single mothers rated their children as significantly less adjusted than mothers in the other three groups. These and other findings suggest the importance of taking both family status and socioeconomic status into account. While the findings of this study are not conclusive, they could have implications for the "Coloured" community of South Africa and similar groups.

Cognitive modifiability of adolescents with schizophrenia: a research note.

It is well documented that schizophrenic patients suffer from numerous cognitive defects. In a preliminary investigation, the Learning Potential Assessment Device was used under controlled conditions to examine the cognitive modifiability of institutionalized adolescent schizophrenics (N = 12) and a contrast group of adolescents with severe conduct disorders (N = 10). Feuerstein's theory of structural cognitive modifiability was thus applied in assessing potential for change. Results are encouraging in that there was evidence of the modifiability of the experimental subgroups of both the schizophrenic and conduct disorder groups.