Week 5: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Flashcards
What is intelligence testing?
It is the means by which an individual’s level of intelligence can be measured.
What are the strengths of intelligence tests?
- they have good predictive success in relation to academic achievement and work performance
- they can assist with identifying strengths and weaknesses
- they allow for comparison with age-related norms
- they provide an opportunity to make behavioural observations
- they provide a baseline for assessing change over time, helping to identify improvements and decline
- they are structured and able to be delivered consistently as they are less reliant on interpretation and variability of assessors
What are the limitations of intelligence tests?
- they do not always measure all the key attributes e.g., the WAIS does not assess creativity, imagination etc…
- they can be misinterpreted as a measure of innate capacity
- they focus on the end product rather than the way individuals arrive at their answers
- they are culturally biased
- they are impacted by socioeconomic factors
What is the WAIS?
It includes a number of intelligence tests that measure a range of intellectual functions.
What are the features of the WAIS-IV?
It includes 4 indexes, with are divided into 10 core subsets and 5 supplemental subsets.
What are the four indexes of the WAIS-IV?
- Verbal Comprehension Index
- Perceptual Reasoning Index
- Working Memory Index
- Processing Speed Index
What is the Verbal Comprehension Index?
It measures the person’s ability to work with abstract semantic information and assesses the quality of the educational background, their verbal memory and verbal fluency. It is the most sensitive to cultural influences.
What are the core and supplementary subsets of VCI?
Core
- similarities: identifying the common characteristics of a pair of objects
- vocabulary: defining words
- information: ability to recall a range of factual information
Supplementary
- comprehension: knowledge of norms and practical information
What is the Perceptual Reasoning Index?
It measures the person’s engagement with the
nonverbal environment and their ability to integrate perceptual stimuli with motor responses. It assesses the person’s ability to work in concrete situations and evaluate visuospatial information.
What are the core and supplementary subsets of PRI?
Core
- block design: consists of tasks that require an integration of visual and motor skills to construct block patterns in a timed test
- visual puzzles: consists of tasks that require the person to solve puzzles using only their mind
- matrix reasoning: tasks that assess the person’s non-verbal reasoning
Supplementary
- picture completion: tasks that require the person to identify what is missing in a picture
- figure weights: measures non-verbal mathematical reasoning and visual concentration
What is the Working Memory Index?
It assesses the person’s capacity to hold and manipulate information for short period of time. Performance can be impacted by test anxiety.
What are the core and supplementary subsets of WMI?
Core
- digit span: requires the person to retain and repeat back a sequence of numbers in the correct order
- arithmetic: requires the person to complete timed arithmetic problems in their mind
Supplementary
- letter-number sequencing: requires the participant to repeat back letters and numbers in the correct sequence
What is the Processing Speed Index?
It assesses mental and motor speed in solving non-verbal problems, as well as planning, organisation and strategy development.
What are the core and supplementary subsets of PSI?
Core
- coding: requires the person to record associations between symbols and numbers within time limits
- symbol search: requires the person to indicate the presence or absence of target symbols
Supplementary
- cancellation: the person marks off as many target pictures as possible from random arrays within the time limit
