Abstract
A critical focus of neuropsychological research is to identify unbiased ways to compare heterogeneous groups on background variables relevant to neuropsychological performance. Whereas recent work has pointed to single word reading as a less culturally biased measure of educational experience than years of education, the extent to which reading score captures a broad range of educational experience and does so consistently across ethnic and language groups is unknown. The current study evaluated reading in relation to years of education in English-speaking Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, and Spanish-speaking Hispanic older persons (n = 342). Consistent with previous work, reading scores at each grade level were lower in English speaking ethnic minorities than in Whites, supporting the idea that variables related to lifetime educational experience are often confounded with ethnicity. Standardized reading scores were highest in the Spanish speakers; however, interpretation of this difference is limited because scores were necessarily derived using separate normative samples. Importantly, the slopes of reading score by years of education were comparable across all groups. That is, reading scores rose consistently with years of education independently of ethnicity or language, suggesting that such scores can be treated comparably for theoretical and statistical purposes in multiethnic and multilingual samples.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 228-236 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2007 |
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Keywords
- Culture
- English
- Ethnicity
- Language
- Neuropsychological testing
- Spanish
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Neurology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Neuroscience(all)
- Psychology(all)
Cite this
Do reading tests measure the same construct in multiethnic and multilingual older persons? / Cosentino, Stephanie; Manly, Jennifer; Mungas, Dan M.
In: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, Vol. 13, No. 2, 03.2007, p. 228-236.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Do reading tests measure the same construct in multiethnic and multilingual older persons?
AU - Cosentino, Stephanie
AU - Manly, Jennifer
AU - Mungas, Dan M
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - A critical focus of neuropsychological research is to identify unbiased ways to compare heterogeneous groups on background variables relevant to neuropsychological performance. Whereas recent work has pointed to single word reading as a less culturally biased measure of educational experience than years of education, the extent to which reading score captures a broad range of educational experience and does so consistently across ethnic and language groups is unknown. The current study evaluated reading in relation to years of education in English-speaking Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, and Spanish-speaking Hispanic older persons (n = 342). Consistent with previous work, reading scores at each grade level were lower in English speaking ethnic minorities than in Whites, supporting the idea that variables related to lifetime educational experience are often confounded with ethnicity. Standardized reading scores were highest in the Spanish speakers; however, interpretation of this difference is limited because scores were necessarily derived using separate normative samples. Importantly, the slopes of reading score by years of education were comparable across all groups. That is, reading scores rose consistently with years of education independently of ethnicity or language, suggesting that such scores can be treated comparably for theoretical and statistical purposes in multiethnic and multilingual samples.
AB - A critical focus of neuropsychological research is to identify unbiased ways to compare heterogeneous groups on background variables relevant to neuropsychological performance. Whereas recent work has pointed to single word reading as a less culturally biased measure of educational experience than years of education, the extent to which reading score captures a broad range of educational experience and does so consistently across ethnic and language groups is unknown. The current study evaluated reading in relation to years of education in English-speaking Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, and Spanish-speaking Hispanic older persons (n = 342). Consistent with previous work, reading scores at each grade level were lower in English speaking ethnic minorities than in Whites, supporting the idea that variables related to lifetime educational experience are often confounded with ethnicity. Standardized reading scores were highest in the Spanish speakers; however, interpretation of this difference is limited because scores were necessarily derived using separate normative samples. Importantly, the slopes of reading score by years of education were comparable across all groups. That is, reading scores rose consistently with years of education independently of ethnicity or language, suggesting that such scores can be treated comparably for theoretical and statistical purposes in multiethnic and multilingual samples.
KW - Culture
KW - English
KW - Ethnicity
KW - Language
KW - Neuropsychological testing
KW - Spanish
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33947646445&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1355617707070257
DO - 10.1017/S1355617707070257
M3 - Article
C2 - 17286880
AN - SCOPUS:33947646445
VL - 13
SP - 228
EP - 236
JO - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
JF - Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
SN - 1355-6177
IS - 2
ER -