Objective: This study explored how psychologists in Australia assess and diagnose adults with dyslexia. Psychologists' understandings about dyslexia were recorded alongside the tools used for diagnosing adults with dyslexia (and how these differ from practices with young people). Training experiences and influential factors on diagnostic…

Individuals trained in the use of cognitive tests should be able to complete an assessment without making administrative, scoring, or recording errors. However, an examination of 295 Wechsler protocols completed by graduate students and practicing school psychologists revealed that errors are the norm, not the exception. The most common errors…

Charles Spearman and L. L. Thurstone were pioneers in the field of intelligence. They not only developed methods to assess and understand intelligence, but also developed theories about its structure and function. Methodologically, their approaches were not that distinct, but their theories of intelligence were philosophically very different --…

This article provides guidelines for an entry-level course that prepares psychology students and practitioners to acquire entry-level skills, abilities, knowledge, and attitudes important to the individual assessment of intellectual abilities of children and youth. The article reviews prominent international, regional, and national policies,…

This study aimed to better understand predictors of evidence-based assessment practices for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nationwide, 402 school psychologists were surveyed for their knowledge of and training and experience with ASD on assessment practices, including reported areas of training needs. The majority of school psychologists reported…

This article provides a 24-year update on the 10 standardized tests used most frequently with children and youth by school psychologists. Data were acquired from 64 countries through an international survey, with one respondent from each country. The informants were solicited due to their expertise in the area of assessment. The data from the…

Background: Previous research with earlier versions of the WISC and WAIS has demonstrated that when administered to people who have intellectual disabilities, the WAIS produced higher IQ scores than the WISC. The aim of this study was to examine whether these differences still exist. A comparison of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third…

A recent study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimated that approximately 7.8 percent of U.S. children ages 4-17 are currently diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). For decades, most educators, physicians, psychologists, and parents have thought of ADD/ADHD as…

This paper focuses on challenges to psychologists and psychology graduate students who are blind or visually impaired in the administration and scoring of various psychological tests. Organized by specific tests, the paper highlights those aspects of testing which pose particular difficulty to testers with visual impairments and also describes…

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised protocols from two vocational counseling clients were scored by 19 psychologists and 20 graduate students. Regardless of scorer's experience level, mechanical scoring error produced summary scores varying by as much as 4 to 18 IQ points. (Author/RC)

Research on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) suggests that practicing clinical psychologists and graduate students make item-level scoring errors that affect IQ, index, and subtest scores. Studies have been limited in that Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) and examiner administration,…