Intelligence tests are used in a variety of settings such as schools, clinics, and courts to assess the intellectual capacity of individuals of all ages. Intelligence tests are used to make high-stakes decisions such as special education placement, employment, eligibility for social security services, and determination of the death penalty.…

Administration and scoring of cognitive assessments have evolved from a paper-based platform to a digital format. Since this advancement, Pearson has created a system (Q-interactive) that allows examiners to administer the WISC-V via two iPads. However, limited research exists exploring the effects of this new method of administration when…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) is the most widely used intelligence test in the world. Now in its fifth edition, the WISC-V has been translated and adapted for use in nearly a dozen countries. Despite its popularity, numerous concerns have been raised about some of the procedures used to develop and validate translated and…

This article is a commentary on McGill et al.'s (2020) article "Use of Translated and Adapted Versions of the WISC-V: Caveat Emptor." McGill et al. use caveat emptor in their title to indicate that the buyer of an assessment must be careful about the product being purchased, presumably because the seller of the assessment is not being…

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) taxonomy of cognitive abilities married John Horn and Raymond Cattell's Extended Gf-Gc theory with John Carroll's Three-Stratum Theory. While there are some similarities in arrangements or classifications of tasks (observed variables) within similar broad or narrow dimensions, other salient theoretical features and…

The purpose of this study was to use multidimensional scaling (MDS) to investigate relations among scores from the standardization sample of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Fifth edition (WISC-V; Wechsler, 2014). Nonmetric two-dimensional MDS maps were selected for interpretation. The most cognitively complex subtests and indexes…

The representativeness, recency, and size of norm samples strongly influence the accuracy of inferences drawn from their scores. Inadequate norm samples may lead to inflated or deflated scores for individuals and poorer prediction of developmental and academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to apply Kranzler and Floyd's method for…

As a result of the upcoming Federal reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), practitioners and researchers have begun vigorously debating what constitutes evidence-based assessment for the identification of specific learning disability (SLD). This debate has resulted in strong support for a method that…

Methods of identifying poor test-related motivation using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Digit Span subtest are based on identification of performance patterns that are implausible if the test taker is investing full effort. No studies to date, however, have examined the specificity of such measures, particularly when evaluating persons…

A total of 19 graduate students enrolled in a graduate course conducted 6 consecutive administrations of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC-IV, Canadian version). Test protocols were examined to obtain data describing the frequency of examiner errors, including administration and scoring errors. Results identified 511…

Under positive referral conditions testers obtained higher IQ scores, rated the child more favorably on Factors Affecting Test Performance and made more favorable recommendations than under negative referral conditions, thus supporting the hypothesis that the referral agent does influence the testing situation. (Author)

Protocols of 327 students referred for possible special education services were examined using brief forms of the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. The authors concluded that brief forms of the WISC-R should be avoided; however, if a brief form is necessary, K. Hobby's split-half technique is recommended. (Author/CL)

THE RELEVANCE OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS FOR EDUCATIONAL USES IS CHALLENGED ON TWO GROUNDS--(1) TESTS WHICH MERELY PREDICT THE LIKELIHOOD OF FUTURE SUCCESS DO NOT PROVIDE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO PRESCRIBE TREATMENTS TO ENHANCE PERFORMANCE, AND (2) INTELLIGENCE IS NOT DEFINED AND HENCE THE INTERPRETATION OF SCORES IS MISLEADING. IT IS…