This article was downloaded by: [Computing & Library Services, University of Huddersfield]On: 08 January 2015, At: 01:12Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UKApplied NeuropsychologyPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hapn20Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS IV): Returnof the Gold StandardDavid E. Hartman aa Medical and Forensic Neuropsychology , Chicago, IllinoisPublished online: 10 Feb 2009.To cite this article: David E. Hartman (2009) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS IV): Return of the Gold Standard,Applied Neuropsychology, 16:1, 85-87, DOI: 10.1080/09084280802644466To link to this article:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09084280802644466PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLETaylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditionsTest Review Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS IV):ReturnoftheGoldStandardDavidE.HartmanMedicalandForensicNeuropsychology,Chicago,IllinoisDavidWechsler continues tobe the most productivedeceased, bow-tied,psychological testdeveloperontheplanet. WithanoeuvrethathasbeenrevisedalmostasmanytimesasthemovieRocky, Wechslerandhispre-sumably still sentient colleagues Diane L. Coalson1andSusanEngi Raifordhave releasedthe WAIS-IV.Changingexpectationsandclinicianrequirementshaveraisedthe ante inthe interimbetweenthe WAIS-IIIand the IV, suggesting good reasons for the current revi-sion. In that same interval, Wechsler and company (i.e.,Pearson)werealsogiventheirrstreal competitionbythe still very much alive Dr. Cecil Reynolds and his psy-chometrically well-executed Reynolds Intellectual Assess-mentScalesorRIAS(Reynolds&Kamphus,2003).So what should a famous, dead psychologist testdeveloper do? David Wechsler did not take the competi-tionlyingdown, andtheWAIS-IVistheagshipofaPearsonbattleplanthatincludesaotillaofnewtestsandsoftwarereleases over thenext onetotwoyears.The Wechsler Memory Scale IVis due out in earlyJanuary2008. Demographically-adjustednormsaretobemadeavailableinthesummerof 2009. TherevisedWechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), a brief IQscreening measure, will be released as well. Alargeupgrade with the working title of Advanced ClinicalSolutionswill bereleasedin2009. Thisadd-onkitwillcontainseveral other subtests, includingameasureofsocial perception=facial expression and a measure ofexecutive function, where subjects have to plan ashoppingexpeditionandpickupgrocerylist itemsinamaze-likesupermarket area. Theadd-onwill alsoinclude the Cullum et al. (2001) Texas Functional LivingScale (presumably, normed outside of Crawford, Texas)and (at least pre-Internet) ecologically relevant taskssuch as check-writing and using a phone book. Neurop-sychologistswillbe giventhe opportunity toscore Reli-ableDigitSpan(Grieffenstein, Baker&Gola, 1994), asensitive measure of unrealistic motivation (althoughthe original normative data was not vettedwiththismeasure). Process scores are currentlybeinganalyzedtodetermineiftheywill beof clinical valueandif so,willbeincludedaswell.On its surface, the IV looks very similar to the III, butcliniciansdiggingintothepleasantyellowandblueboxfor the rst time will not nd either Object Assembly orPicture Arrangement stimuli, the rationale being toreduce motor demand and time bonus points. Twooptional procedures are no longer an option: Digit Sym-bol Incidental Learningand Copy trialshave been jetti-soned. We saw terminology change coming in theWAIS-IIIandthecoupdegracehasbeenachievedinthe IV: Verbal and Performance IQ are history, replacedbythemoreconceptuallyaccurateVerbal Comprehen-sion(VCI) andthe PerceptualReasoning(PRI) indices.Thismaybeabitofoldwineinnewbottles,however,sincethemanual states that theterms VCI andPRIshould be substituted for the terms VIQ and PIQ in clin-ical decision-making andother situations where VIQand PIQwere previously used (WAIS-IVTechnicalandInterpretive Manual, p. 9). Full Scale IQis stillthere, presumablyholdingout against thegrimmarchtowardscienticexactitude. AdditionalBostonProcessapproachscoring is providedfor True Believers, butusers are cautionedthat theymaynot be substitutedforanysubtestorcompositescore.GoalsoftheIVweretoupdatethetesttheoreticallyand psychometrically, and to improve developmentalappropriateness, user friendliness, and clinical utility.Note: This paper was acceptedunder theeditorshipof Cecil R.Reynolds.1Details regarding planned test introductions were kindly providedbyDr. CoalsoninatelephoneinterviewonNovember24, 2008. Allresponsibilityfor accuracyof informationcontainedinthis reviewremainswiththereviewauthor.Address correspondence to David E. Hartman, PhD, ABPP, ABN,Medical and Forensic Neuropsychology, 216 South Jefferson St., Suite302, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: drdavidhartman@forensicneuropsychology.netAPPLIEDNEUROPSYCHOLOGY,16:8587,2009Copyright # Taylor&FrancisGroup,LLCISSN:0908-4282print=1532-4826onlineDOI:10.1080/09084280802644466Downloaded by [Computing & Library Services, University of Huddersfield] at 01:12 08 January 2015 TheIVattemptstodeviseteststhatttheoriesofuidreasoning (Carroll, 1997), working memory (e.g.,Buehner, Krumm, Ziegler & Pluecken, 2006), andprocessingspeed, especiallyinitsrelationshiptoaging(e.g., Finkel, Reynolds, McArdle, &Pederson, 2007).Developmental appropriateness is the buzz-phrasedescribinghowthetestwasmademoreuseableforcli-ents with nonintellectual limitations. These changesincludeexplicitandconsistentinstructions; deemphasison time bonuses; attempts to eliminate similar soundingdigit and letters in Digit Span and Letter-NumberSequencing; using simpler, clearer artwork; and decreas-ing,butnoteliminating,nemotordemands.AsimilarapproachistakenbytheRIAS, whicheliminatedanymanipulandaintestadministration.User friendliness might be more properly calledmanaged care reality, in that the IVrequires anaverage of 67 minutes to obtain the 10-subtest core mea-sures. Thisislaudable, but still aboutdoublethetimenecessary tocomplete a full RIASbattery. BoththeWAIS-IVandthe RIASare signicantlybriefer thanthe WAIS-III, which took about 80 minutes for therequired 13 subtests. A briefer screening is possible usingtheGAI,whichisacompositescorebasedonthethreeVerbal Comprehensionsubtests andthethreePercep-tual ReasoningsubteststhatmakeuptheVCIandthePRI. TheGAIcorrelateswithFullScaleIQat.97andcanbeusedeitherasashortenedmeasureortoobtaina purer estimate of IQ in older or disabled adults withcompromisedmemoryand=ormotorfunction.Thereisno two-subtest screening IQ analogous to that providedby RIAS, which contains the Reynolds IntellectualScreening Test (RIST). Users concerned that fewer subt-ests mean less accuracy should remind themselves that gafter all is g; differentiationof subtest abilities intheservice of neuropsychological localization was nevertheprimaryfunctionofanIQtest.The WAIS-IV is normed on a population ages 1690with a normative sample totaling 2200 in 13 age groups.The nine younger groups contained200 participants,andeachofthefouroldergroupswererepresentedby100 subjects. The normative population contained equalnumbersof males andfemalesintheyoungergroups,withtheoldergroupscontainingmorewomen, consis-tentwithcensusdata. Race=ethnicitywasproportionaltothepopulation. Themanual indicatesaclosecorre-spondencebetweenOctober2005U.S.censusdataandnormative sample characteristics. This is more recentthanthe RIASs 2001 census estimates, althoughtheRIASsnormativegroupismuchwider:fromagethreeto the higher ceiling of age 94. There was no attempt byeither test developer to improve the normative base withadjunctive or embedded symptom validity testing,although WAIS-IV normative subject data wereexcludedif subjectsdemonstratedinsufcientcompli-ance (WAIS-IVmanual, p.31). Giventhateffortandmotivationhavebeenseentogreatlyinuencepsycho-metric test scores (e.g. Rohling, Green, Allen, Lees-Haley, 2000), one canonlyhope that this concernisnallyaddressedinthecontextofWAIS-VandRIAS-IInormativedatacollection.Published correlations of the WAIS-IV with theD-KEFS (Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001) Trail MakingandVerbalFluency Testsrangesweregenerallymoder-atetolargeformost WAIS-IVsubtests. Trail MakingLetter-Number(TMLN)switchingcorrelateswithFullScaleIQat.77forthenormativesampleand.82inthetraumatic braininjury group. TMLNcorrelates withWAIS-IVPSIat.88.CaliforniaVerbalLearning TestII(CVLT-II; Delis, Kaplan, Kramer, & Ober, 2000) corre-lations were low to moderate. RBANS (Randolph, 1998)Total Score correlated with the WAIS-IV FSIQ at .75.Userfriendlinessextendsonlypartiallytotheclini-cianwithabetterdesignedrecordform,stimuluspagesthatareturnedtowardtheexamineetoreducereachingdistance, andredesignedmanualswhichseparateinter-pretativefrompsychometricandtechnical data. How-ever, the WAIS-IVstill requires that test instructionsbe read fromthe manual, unlike the RIAS, whichincludestestinstructionsonthescoringform.ThestructureoftheWAIS-IVhasbecomesimilartothat of the WISC-IV, withfour index scales (VerbalComprehension; Perceptual Reasoning; ProcessingSpeed,andWorkingMemory).Thereare10coresubt-ests andve optional subtests, whichcanbe usedtoextendtherangeof functionsassessedortosubstitutefor invalidcoresubtests. All of thecoreandmost ofthe optional subtests will be familiar to WAIS-IIIand WISC-IVusers. Both of the two newsubtestsare part of Perceptual Reasoning: Visual Puzzles andFigureWeights. Theformerisakindof mental blockdesign, requiring the examinee to choose the correctcomponentsofanabstractdesignfromasetofdesignspresentedunderatemplategure. Thelatterpurportstomeasurequantitativeandanalogical reasoning bydepictingafulcrumscalecontaininggeometricgureson each of two plates. One scale plate has a missing itemand the subject is asked to choose the missing design thatwould balance the scale. Test developers considerFinger Weights to be an example of the uid reasoningespoused by Carroll (1997), Cattell and Horn (1978), andSternberg (1995), among others.Developers have investigated 13 clinical groups,includingtheintellectuallygifted,individualswithmildand moderate intellectual disability, various learningdisabilities, ADDH, andmoderate-to-severeTraumaticBrainInjurysustainedwithin618months of testing.Other investigated groups include: Autism andAspergers, MajorDepression, MildCognitiveImpair-ment,andprobablemildAlzheimersdisease.86 HARTMANDownloaded by [Computing & Library Services, University of Huddersfield] at 01:12 08 January 2015 Wechslers IQ tests have always been the mostpopular scales of intelligence, arguably one of thefew gold standards among clinical, school, andneuro-psychologists (e.g., Stanos, 2004). However,the price of gold has gone up substantially in thisiteration. The IVretails for $1,035.00 for the basickit (no briefcase, no software) and tops out at$1,685.00 for a combined WAIS-IV=WMS-IV kitwhenthelattertestisreleased.Scoringsoftware(Win-dows) is available separately for $225.00 (WAIS-IV)and$350.00(WAIS-IV=WMS-IV). Reportwritersoft-ware is being developed, but availability date andpricinghavenot beenreleasedat thetimethisreviewwasprepared. Atabout12poundsonmyofcescale,the basic WAIS-IV costs approximately $86.25 perpoundcheaper than Beluga, but not in the sameleague as the upstart RIASwhichis afrugal $39.50per pound for the 10-pound test. Nevertheless, it islikely that for educational WAIS-IV=WIAT-IIdecision-making, Atkins death penalty cases, caseswhere previous Wechsler scale results are availablefor comparison, or for examiners=researchers wishingto investigate the relationship of IQto co-normedWMS-IVmemorytestingor other Pearson-correlatedtests, the WAIS-IVwill remainapopular andhighlyregarded choice. Planned add-on tests and softwarepromisetomaketheWAIS-IVmoreuseful toneuro-psychologistsaswell.Overall,theWAIS-IVisbetterdesignedandismuchmoreresponsivetoclinicalrealitiesandexamineevaria-tion than its predecessor. Its LEGO-like interconnectionswithplannedadd-onsandotherPearsontestsallowittobe more adaptable tovarious educational, clinical,neuropsychological,orforensictasksthananypreviousWAIS version. The WAIS-IV may no longer be the onlygood choice for IQ testing, but there is no denying that itis formidable and exible choice for psychological, educa-tional, and neuropsychological assessment. The man withthe bow-tie would be proud of this one.REFERENCESCarroll, J. B. (1997). Thethree-stratumtheoryof cognitiveabilities.In D. P. Flanagan, J. L. Genshaft, &P. L. Harrison (Eds.),Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests and issues(pp.122130).NewYork:GuilfordPress.Cattell,R.B.I.,&Horn,J.L.(1978).Acheckonthetheoryofuidand crystallized intelligence with description of new subtests designs.JournalofEducationalMeasurement,15,139164.Cullum, C. M., Saine, K., Chan, L. D., Martin-Cook, K., Gray, K. F.,&Weiner, M. F. (2001). Performance-basedinstrument toassessfunctional capacity in dementia: The Texas Functional Living Scale.Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, andBehavioral Neurology, 14,103108.Delis, D. C., Kaplan, E., &Kramer, J. H., &Ober, B. A. (2000).California verbal learning test (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: HarcourtAssessment.Delis, D. C., Kaplan, E., & Kramer, J. H. (2001). Delis-Kaplan xecutivefunctionsystem.SanAntonio,TX:HarcourtAssessment.Grieffenstein, M. F., Baker, W. J., &Gola, T. (1994). Validationof malingered amnesia measures with a large clinical sample.PsychologicalAssessment,6,218224.Randolph, C. (1998). Repeatable battery for the assessment ofneuropsychological status. San Antonio, TX: The PsychologicalCorporation.Reynolds, C. R., &Kamphaus, R. W. (2003). Reynolds IntellectualAssessment Scales and the Reynolds Intellectual Screening Test. Lutz,FL:PsychologicalAssessmentResources,Inc.Rohling,M.L.,Green,P.,Allen,L.M.,&Lees-Haley,P.R.(2000).EffectsizesthatareassociatedwithsymptomexaggerationversussevereTBI:Ananalysisofasampleof657patientsandcounting.ArchivesofClinicalNeuropsychology,15(8),843.Stanos, J. F. (2004). Test review: Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelli-gence.RehabilitationCounselingBulletin,48,5657.Sternberg, R. J. (1995). In search of the human mind. Fort Worth, TX:HarcourtBraceCollege.Wechsler, D., Coalson, D. L., &Raiford, S. E. (2008). WAIS-IVtechnicalandinterpretivemanual.SanAntonio,TX:Pearson.TESTREVIEW 87Downloaded by [Computing & Library Services, University of Huddersfield] at 01:12 08 January 2015