Relationship Between the Socio-Educational Context and the Cognitive Performance Based on the WISC–IV Index Scores

Abstract

Background: National and international studies attach special importance to the shared social and educational environment as an explanatory variable for intellectual performance in psychometric tests. Objective: To analyse the relationship between maternal education, number of books available at home, school starting age and extracurricular activities -as variables to measure socioeconomic, educational and environmental level- with WISC-IV level cognitive production. Method: A survey was implemented to 154 children, aged 6 to 12, who attend public schools2 in the city of San Luis (Argentina). This sociodemographic survey was designed ad hoc and was implemented together with the Argentine version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. ANOVA and Student's t-Tests were used to analyse the differences between the variables proposed from the data obtained and WISC-IV. Results: Associations were found between mothers’ educational level and their children’s Verbal Comprehension Production, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory and total IQ. In addition, significant differences were found between number of books available at home, school starting age, extracurricular activities and some WISC-IV index scores. Conclusion: the need to acknowledge the socioenvironmental factors to develop a proper interpretation of the test production is ratified. In this context, an extended and integrated diagnostic device is proposed as a means to capture the complex scheme that emerges from the combination of capacities consolidated thanks to the stimulation provided by the environment and the development of specific abilities less influenced by environmental factors.