WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALES

The Wechsler intelligence scales are individually administered, composite intelligence

tests in a battery format. They assess different areas of intellectual abilities and create
a situation in which aspects of personality can be observed. Each of the different versions
of the Wechsler intelligence scales provides three different IQ scores: an overall or Full Scale
IQ, a Verbal IQ, and a Performance IQ. More specific factor or index scores also can be
calculated using various combinations of subtests. The Wechsler intelligence scales are
considered to be among the best of all psychological tests because they have sound
psychometric properties and produce information relevant to practitioners.
As a result, they have become the most frequently used tests in clinical practice
(Camara et al., 2000; Watkins et al., 1995).

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

During the 1930s, Wechsler began studying a number of standardized tests and selected
11 different subtests to form his initial battery. His search for subtests was in
part guided by his conception that intelligence is global in nature and represents a part
of the greater whole of personality. Several of his subtests were derived from portions
of the 1937 revision of the Stanford-Binet (Comprehension, Arithmetic, Digit Span,
Similarities, and Vocabulary). The remaining subtests came from the Army Group
Examinations (Picture Arrangement), Koh’s Block Design (Block Design), Army Alpha
(Information, Comprehension), Army Beta (Digit Symbol-Coding), Healy Picture
Completion (Picture Completion), and the Pinther-Paterson Test (Object Assembly).
These subtests were combined and published in 1939 as the Wechsler-Bellevue
Intelligence Scale. The Wechsler-Bellevue had a number of technical deficiencies primarily
related to both the reliability of the subtests and the size and representativeness of the
normative sample. Thus, it was revised to form the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
(WAIS) in 1955, and another revised edition (WAIS-R) was published in 1981. The
1981 revision was based on 1,880 individuals who were generally representative of
the 1970 census and categorized into nine different age groups.
The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III ) became available in August
1997 and was developed to revise the earlier (1981) WAIS-R. The primary reason for
the revision was to update the norms. Additional reasons included extending the age
range, modifying items, developing a higher IQ “ceiling” and “floor,” decreased reliance
on timed performance, developing index/factor scores, creating linkages to
other measures of cognitive functioning/achievement, and extensive testing of reliability
validity. Despite these changes, many of the traditional features of the WAIS-R were
maintained, including the six Verbal subtests and the five Performance subtests.
This still enables practitioners to calculate the Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance
IQs. An added feature of the WAIS-III is the inclusion of three new subtests, which enables
the calculation of four index scores. Thus, the WAIS-III is not merely a renormed
“facelift,” but also enables the clinician to do more with the different test scores.
This might involve being able to assess persons with either greater age or IQ ranges as well
as linking scores with the Wechsler Memory Scales or calculating both IQ and
index/factor scores.
The above additions and arrangement of subtests represent the most obvious changes
on the WAIS-III. Although not as obvious, its restandardization also represents a major
development. The sample was composed of 2,450 adults between the ages of 16 and 89.
Each of the 13 age groups was composed of 200 participants with the exception of the
80 to 84 and 85 to 89 age groups, which contained 150 and 100 participants, respectively.
Gender and ethnicity closely corresponded to the 1995 U.S. Census data. This
included a slightly greater number of women than men at the higher age levels to represent
the greater proportion of females in this group. European Americans, African
Americans, and Hispanics were also represented in each age band according to the 1995
Census data. The sample was selected from all geographical regions in the United
States and stratified to represent the different educational levels in each age group.
The original Wechsler-Bellevue Scale was developed for adults, but in 1949, Wechsler
developed the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) so that children
from the age of 5 years 0 months could be assessed in a similar manner. Easier items,
designed for children, were added to the original scales and standardized on 2,200
European American boys and girls selected to be representative of the 1940 census.
However, some evidence shows that Wechsler’s sample may have been overrepresentative
of children in the middle and upper socioeconomic levels. Thus, ethnic minorities
and children from lower socioeconomic levels may have been penalized when compared
with the normative group. The WISC was revised in 1974 and standardized on a new
sample that was more accurately representative of children in the United States. The
WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991) was released in 1991 with the major change being the
inclusion of four factor/index scores (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization,
Freedom from Distractibility, and Processing Speed). The new Processing Speed factor
has involved the inclusion of the new subtest of Symbol Search along with the older
Coding subtest. As with the earlier WISC-R, the standardization and reliability are excellent.
The scales were standardized on 2,200 children between the ages of 6 and 16
who closely matched the 1988 census. The sample consisted of 100 boys and 100 girls
for each of the different age groups. The new materials are colorful, contemporary, and
easy to administer (see review by Little, 1992). The WISC-IV is anticipated to become
available in 2003/2004.
In 1967, the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) was
first published for the assessment of children between the ages of 4 and 6 years 6
months. Just as the WISC is a downward extension of the WAIS, so the WPPSI is generally
a downward extension of the WISC in which easier but similar items are used.
Although most of the scales are similar in form and content to the WISC, a number of
them are unique to the WPPSI. The WPPSI was revised in 1989 (WPPSI-R; Wechsler,
1989) and again in 2002 (WPPSI-III; Psychological Corporation, 2002).
 WECHSLER ADULT PERFORMANCE INTELLIGENCE SCALE (WAPIS)

This test is the Indian adaptation of WAIS performance scale by Prabha Ramalingaswamy
(1974). It is widely used in clinical settings in India because it is the first Indian adaptation of
WAIS performance scale.
With the rapid expansion of medical services in recent years in India, increasing demands are
being made on the clinical psychologists for an adequate psychological evaluation of an
increasing number of patients. Evaluation of intelligence is a preliminary step. There is not a
single individual intelligence test developed in India for use of the adolescent and adult
group. So, the clinical psychologist often used the so-called culture-fair tests such as Raven’s
Progressive Matrices and Koh’s Block Design inspite of the fact that psychological
evaluation made in this manner is neither valid nor reliable. This is the precisely the situation
in which the author found herself while working in the dept. of psychiatry, AIIMS.

The author then decided to work on developing an individual intelligence test suitable for
Indian population in the same line with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales.

WAIS consists of eleven sub-tests viz., Information, Comprehension, Arithmetic,

Similarities, Digit-span, Vocabulary, Digit symbol, Picture completion, Block design, Picture
arrangement and Object assembly. Out of these first six ,form verbal scale and last five form
performance scale.

There are fourteen major languages in India, which are well-developed. It would be a huge
task to develop the verbal scale in all the fourteen languages. Therefore the final form of
WAPIS consists of the performance scale of WAIS viz., Picture completion, Digit symbol,
Block design, Picture arrangement and Object assembly. Picture completion and picture
arrangement tests have undergone extensive modification. Digit symbol, Block design and
Object assembly remain the same as in the original WAIS.

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES:

Reliability- Reliabilty of Picture completion test ranged between .69 and .84 at all ages. The
reliability of Block design ranged from .725 to .80 whereas in the Wechsler studies it ranged from .82
to .86. The reliability of Picture arrangement ranged from .64 to .74.In the age groups 15-19 and 25-
34, it was higher than in Wechsler’s results. Reliability of all tests except Digit symbol was
determined using Cronbach’s alpha. Wechsler used split-half technique which isn’t used presently
because there is considerable difference in the number of items in each sub-test and in three tests the
number of items is rather small.

Validity – To establish the valiity of the tests , three techniques were used:

a) Construct validity
b) Factorial validity and
c) Comparison of results with those obtained by Wechsler for WAIS.
Construct validity – To establish construct validity, the mean scores of persons belonging to
different age-groups i.e., age, sex, education, and socio-conomic status were examined. ANOVA with
unequal numbers was used to test the significance of difference between the mean scores. The
difference between mean scores of these groups were found to be significant at 0.01 level thereby
establishing the construct validity of the test.

Factor analysis – FA of the sub-tests for the four age-groups and for both sexes was done separately.
The PCA method was employed followed by rotation using variances mehod. The factor matrices
show a common factor present in all sub-tests and in every group. This factor while it can be termed
as ‘general factor’ is akin to Spearman’s ‘G’ factor. The communality in WAPIS is close to the
communality of the ‘G’ factor in WAIS.

Comparison of results to the present study with the original study – WAIS is recognized as a test
of established validity and statistical soundness. The results presented on correlation, reliability,
standard error of measurement, and the ‘G’ factor show essentially a similar trend between the two
tests. In additon to the broad similarities of the results obtained in the present study with those of
WAIS with regard to correlations, reliability etc., the conforming behavior of ‘’ hold test’’ and ‘’don’t
hold’’ test groups in the present study serve to add to the validity of WAPIS.