Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (wisc-III)

Intelligence can manifest itself in many forms and has been defined and measured in various

ways. According to David Wechsler's conception intelligence is not a particular ability, but "the

aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal

effectively with his or her environment." Intelligence is closely intertwined with aspects of one's

personality and overall adaptive functioning.

In development of IQ tests, Wechsler was guided by his focus on the global nature of

intelligence-being a part of the whole personality. Although he selected items and scales to

measure specific functions, he took into account factors that contribute to the total intelligence of

the individual. Thus, the overall IQ obtained represents an index of general mental ability.

The WISC-III is one of the most widely used tests of cognitive ability. It is useful and

appropriate for psychoeducational assessment, as part of educational planning and placement,

neuropsychological assessment, and clinical assessment.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

The WISC-lII is the latest version of the Wechsler scales for children ages 6 through 16 years.

The original version of this test, the WISC, was developed by Wechsler in 1949 as a downward

extension of the adult intelligence test, the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale. Easier items

were added to the beginnings of the subtests to make the original adult scale more suitable for

children. The second version of the WISC developed in 1974, was called the Wechsler

Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Individual subtest reliability was improved,

as many of the ambiguous, obsolete, or unfair WISC items were discarded. In addition, more up-

to-date items were added or created through revision,

The WISC-III was developed in 1991 with several goals in mind. The primary goal was to

update norms. Research indicates that average performance on intelligence tests increases over

time. Updated norms are therefore necessary in order to compensate for such gradual increase.

Without updated norms, a child's IQ will appear higher than should be the case if compared to

current norms. A second goal of the revision was to maintain the basic structure and content of

the WISC R to help maintain longitudinal stability and to maintain the theoretical underpinnings

of the Wechsler scales. A third goal was the further investigation and enhancement of the

underlying factor structure of the WISC-R. This structure includes the two major factors, Verbal

and Performance, which have been repeatedly identified over years of research. A third factor,

Freedom from Distractibility, had been identified in studies. Wechsler added a new subtest,

Symbol Search, to better distinguish this third factor. The final goal of WISC-III development

was improvement of subtest content, administration, and scoring rules. Bias of content was

minimized through empirical analysis and psychologist review. Artwork was refined and

updated. New items were created in order to extend accurate measurement both downward and

upward in age groups. In addition, minor changes in administration procedures and scoring rules

were made.

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES

The WISC-III was standardized on 2200 children; 100 boys and 100 girls in each of II age

groups from 6 through 16 years. The birth month for each age group was the 6th month. The

sample was stratified on age, race ethnicity, geographic region, and parent education. Within

each age group, were selected to match as closely as possible the proportions found in the 1988

U.S. Census Data. This sampling procedure is better than the one used on the WISC-R, where

stratification was less detailed (only white versus non-white).

Reliability--Reliability on the WISC-III is quite good. The three scales have internal reliability

coefficients of .89 or above over the entire age range covered by the test. Although there is less

research on its validity, substantial correlations and item overlap between the WISC-R and the

WISC-III suggest similar validity data. In fact, studies indicate adequate construct, concurrent,

predictive, and discriminate validity for the WISC-III.

Subset of W.I.S.C III

The WISC-III contains 13 subtests: 6 in the Verbal Scale and 7 in the Performance Scale. Five

subtests in each scale are designated as standard subtests. These two scales measure two separate

factors or underlying cognitive abilities. Below is a list of the subtests according to order of

administration The Verbal and Performance tests are given in alternating order to help maintain

the child's interest during testing.

WISC-IlI Subtests

Verbal

1) Information 2) Similarities 3) Arithmetic 4 Vocabulary 5)Comprehension 6) Digit

Span

Performance

1) Picture Completion 2) Coding 3) Picture Arrangement 4) Block Design

5) Object Assembly 6) Symbol Search 7) ( Mazes)

Note that while Symbol Search, Digit Span, and Mazes are all supplementary subtests, Mazes

can substitute only for Coding

ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING

There are a number of factors that should be considered when administering the WISC-III. It is

important for the examiner to be aware of such factors and take them into consideration both

when administering the test and interpreting results. Examiner variables include professional role

and status, training and experience, personal and professional identity, gender, race, test

administration style, and expectations for the child. A competent examiner should genuinely

enjoy working with children and be flexible, vigilant, and self-aware. Child or examinee

variables include the child's perception of being the "client," developmental status, child

expectations, gender, race, and situational variables such as mood, affect, fatigue, and hunger.

Aspects of the test situation include the physical surroundings (e.g., room, lighting, seating

arrangement) and time allowed for testing. In addition, the examiner/examinee relationship can

significantly impact the overall results of the testing. Especially important is building and

maintaining of rapport

Administration of the regular battery of 10 subtests, according to the manual, requires

approximately 50-70 minutes. The three supplementary subtests may add an additional 10-15

minutes. Variations in examinees' test-taking styles and in the examiner's administration style

may affect overall time. It is recommended that the entire test be administered in a single session

to prevent flaws in the data. However, if a child's motivation wanes or fatigue degrades interfere

performance, it is better to stop the session and resume within the week than to continue and

obtain a nonvalid result.

Scoring of IQ After each subtest is scored, raw scores are converted to standard scores or scaled

scores (mean = 10, standard deviation = 3) within the child's own age group through the use of
tables in the WISC-IlI manual. Standard scores allow for the same distributional characteristics

across all ages. Age groups are divided into four-month intervals between the ages 6-0-0

(years,months, days) and 16-11-30. The Verbal score is the sum of scaled scores on the five

regularly administered Verbal subtests, while the Performance score is the sum of the scaled

scores on the five regularly administered Performance subtests. The Full Scale score is the sum

of the Verbal and Performance scores. These scaled scores are then converted into IQs by use of

another table in the manual, resulting in a Verbal IQ, a Performance IQ, and a Full Scale IQ. The

WISC-III, like the other Wechsler scales, uses the Deviation IQ (mean = 100, standard deviation

= 15) for the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs. A score of 100 on any scales suggests

average performance for that age on that scale

The subtests of Digit Span and Mazes are supplementary and are not used in the calculation of

the child's IQs, although they may be administered to obtain additional information about the

child's intellectual functioning and are recommended for use to determine the factor scores. Digit

Span may substitute for any Verbal subtest, and Mazes may substitute for any Performance

subtest if one of the standard subtests has been invalidated or cannot be administered. Care

should be taken when using the WISC-III for repeated evaluation as there appears to be practice

effects, especially with the Performance scale. If the results are used for placement, eligibility, or

diagnostic decisions, this is especially true.

RESULT AND INTERPRETATION

Client G.R was administered WISC-III, which is an individually administered test of children for

their intellectual abilities, cognitive strengths and weaknesses. The WISC-III characterizes

child’s specific abilities into two groups, viz., Verbal Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) and
Performance Intelligence Quotient (PIQ). VIQ measures verbal skills and PIQ measures how

intelligently the child involves in the manipulation of concrete material to solve non-verbal

problems.

Socio-demographic details

Name: G.R

Age: 8 years 2 month

Gender: MALE

Occupation: Student

Languages spoken: Hindi, English

Rural/Urban: Urban

Socio-Economic Status: Upper Socio-economic Status

Results: Table showing the results of client G.R on the W.I.S.C III

DOMAINS SCALED SCORE I.Q PERCENTILE

VERBAL SCALE 74 130 95
PERFORMANCE 62 117 86

SCALE
FULL SCALE 136 126 96
INTERPRETATION--On the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (W.I.S.C-III), client

G.R achieved a Verbal IQ of 130 (95st percentile) and a Performance IQ of 117 (86th

percentile), resulting in a Full Scale IQ score of 126 This score places him in the overall well

above average range of intellectual functioning This score places him in the superior range of

intellectual functioning and ranked in the 96st percentile. The chances that the range of scores

from 120-129 includes his true IQ are about 96 out of 100. Current test results suggest that this is

a valid measure of his intellectual functioning.

Difference between verbal scaled score and Performance scaled score is 12 which is minor

significant discrepancies (p<.05=12—15) It indicates that client G.R performs better when

solving verbal problems , tasks that require him to understand verbal concepts and express his

ideas verbally as on visual-motor tasks that assess nonverbal thinking

There is a significance difference is client G.R Verbal and Performance IQs, suggesting that his

verbal and nonverbal reasoning abilities are generally different He is likely to be functioning at

about the different level on tasks that require him to understand verbal concepts and express his

ideas verbally as on visual-motor tasks that assess nonverbal thinking.

It was observed in counseling session that client has good command over English language as

client had reported that English is his mother-tongue language. It is basic language of

communication at home. Client also has reported that he likes to read English story books and

even write his own stories

.RESULTS OF SUBTEST OF WISC III

 Verbal Test Scaled Score Performance Test Scaled Score
Information 12 Picture-Competition 15
Comprehension 18 Picture-Arrangement 15
Arithmetic 13 Block-Design 14
Similarities 20 Object-Assembly 10
Vocabulary 16 Coding 12
Digital -span 13 Mazes 13

Examination of individual subtest on WISC-III provides a clearer picture of his abilities

Client G.R exhibited a significant strength on similarities and comprehension subtest. It shows

that he can adequately apply information that he learns. It also indicate that his ability to perceive

verbal relationships, especially abstract relationships very high he has a well developed social

knowledge and ability to get along with others

Client G.R has score high in vocabulary which indicate client has a well developed command of

the language; ability to communicate well, ability to express oneself well, good exposure to the

environment

Client G.R exhibited a significant strength on Picture-Competition, Picture-Arrangement, and

Block-Design it shows client has Ability to attend to detail; good visual memory; ability to

concentrate; alertness to the visual aspects of the environment, also indicate Good nonverbal

reasoning ability; .good perceptual organizational ability

Within the Performance domain client demonstrated a strength in his ability to visually analyze

a whole into its component parts and then synthesize those parts into an identical design (Block

Design). Strengths in this area indicate good spatial visualization and orientation, perceptual

motor coordination, and visual-perceptual skills. Within this domain, less strength were found in
client ability to hold attention and demonstrate flexibility in new learning situations requiring

visual-motor dexterity (Coding) As it was observed client was less attentive at end of testing . It

was even observed during play therapy that client performance gets affected by time pressure.

Conclusion

Results of this evaluation revealed that client P.R is of well above average intellectual

functioning. Although his verbal and nonverbal reasoning abilities has minor discrepancies He

has demonstrated less difficulties in sustaining attention, concentrating, processing information

quickly,

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