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Social Processes: Methodology · Types of test


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This article provides an overview of the intelligence measure. Details of each version, are available in seperate articles.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is a general test of intelligence (IQ), published in February 1955 as a revision of the Wechsler-Bellevue test (1939), a battery of tests that is composed from subtests Wechsler "adopted" from the Army Tests (Yerkes, 1921). Wechsler defined intelligence as "The global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his/her environment."[1] The fourth edition of the test was released in 2008 by Pearson.

Versions[]

The WAIS has undergone steady development over the years and has been published as a number of versions.

  • WAIS
  • WAIS-R or WAIS-Revised was standardised in 1981 on a sample of 1,880 US subjects, ranging from 16 to 89 years of age, broken down into 9 different age groups.
  • WAIS-II
  • WAIS-III (1997).
  • WAIS-IV is the current version first published in 2008.

Overview[]

The full scale IQ test is broken down into 14 sub tests, comprising the verbal (seven sub tests) and performance scales (seven sub tests). Wechsler's tests provide three scores:

  1. a verbal IQ (VIQ)
  2. a performance IQ (PIQ)
  3. a composite, single full-scale IQ score based on the combined scores.

The median full-scale IQ is centered at 100[2], with a standard deviation of 15. In a normal distribution this IQ range (1σ above and below the mean - that is, between 85 and 115) is where approximately 68% of adults would fall.

See also[]

References[]

  1. Wechsler, David (1939). The measurement of adult intelligence, 229, Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
  2. Distribution of IQ Scores. MSN Encarta. URL accessed on 2007-07-08.

External links[]

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