Revisiting the Relations Between the WJ-IV Measures of Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Cognitive Abilities and Reading Achievement During the School-Age Years

Abstract

This study examined associations between broad cognitive abilities (Fluid Reasoning [Gf], Short-Term Working Memory [Gwm], Long-Term Storage and Retrieval [Glr], Processing Speed [Gs], Comprehension-Knowledge [Gc], Visual Processing [Gv], and Auditory Processing [Ga]) and reading achievement (Basic Reading Skills, Reading Rate, Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension) in a nationally representative school-age sample. Findings indicate that some cognitive abilities were stronger predictors of reading achievement than previously found (e.g., Gf, Ga, and Gs). Most notably, the Woodcock-Johnson–IV Gf cluster was found to be the strongest and most consistent predictor of reading achievement. A secondary analysis suggests that this effect was likely due to the new Number Series test. The results of the study suggest revisions to previous conceptualizations of the associations between the broad Cattell-Horn-Carroll abilities and areas of reading achievement.