Child Neuropsychology, 2012, 18 (5), 512–519 http://www.psypress.com/childneuropsych ISSN: 0929-7049 print / 1744-4136 online http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2011.628308 Generalizability of WISC-IV index and subtest score profiles in children with traumatic brain injury Christopher Rackley 1 , Daniel N. Allen 2 , Laura J. Fuhrman 3 , and Joan Mayfield 4 1 Department of Psychiatry/Psychology, Blythedale Children’s Hospital, Valhalla, New York, USA 2 Department of Psychology, Universityof Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 3 Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Bronx, New York, USA 4 Our Children’s House at Baylor, Dallas, Texas, USA The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC-IV) is often used to assess children with traumatic brain injury (TBI); although limited information is available regarding its psychometric properties in these children. Two recent reports suggest that the Perceptual Reasoning Index is not uniquely sensitive to TBI, which differs from the Perceptual Organization Index of the WISC-III. The current study examined WISC-IV profiles in two independently gathered samples of children with TBI. Examination of profiles indicated similarities between the current findings and those reported in other studies, in that the greatest deficits were present on the Processing Speed Index and its component subtests of Coding and Symbol Search, while the Perceptual Reasoning index score was comparable to the Verbal Comprehension Index. Also, no significant index or subtest score differences were present when the current sample was compared to the children with TBI reported by Allen, Thaler, Donohue and Mayfield (2010). The present findings are consistent with two prior studies of the WISC-IV in children with TBI, providing additional evidence for profile differences between the WISC-III and WISC-IV. The results also suggest that WISC-IV profiles reported in prior studies are generalizable across TBI samples and study sites. Keywords: WISC-IV; Traumatic brain injury; Processing speed index; Children; Assessment; Neuropsychology. The Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC) are commonly used to assess chil- dren with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Prior research suggests that some WISC subtest and IQ or index scores are sensitive to TBI, including a pattern of decreased perfor- mance on IQ and on index scores reflecting visuospatial and constructional abilities, as well as processing speed (Bawden, Knights, & Winogron, 1985; Calhoun & Mayes, 2005; Chadwick, Rutter, Brown, Shaffer, & Traub, 1981; Goldstein & Levin, 1987; Mayes & Calhoun, 2004; Tremont, Mittenberg, & Miller, 1999). For example, in severely injured children, Kay and Warschausky (1999) found that Perceptual Organization and Processing Address correspondence to Christopher Rackley, Blythedale Children’s Hospital, 95 Bradhurst Ave. Valhalla, NY 10595-1697, USA. E-mail: Christopherr@blythedale.org © 2012 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business