The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is a tool for testing the intellect quotient in children and adults. The scale was developed in 1939 in Bellevue Hospital, by a clinical psychologist, Dr. David Weschler. The scale for children is administered to young ones from the age of six years to sixteen, and it is completed without reading or writing (Myers, Maddigan, & Santa Maria, 2019). In adults, the tests are made up of ten subtests and five supplemental assessments, making up the entire IQ scale. The test is aimed at measuring the ability to adapt and solve problems constructively in a given environment.
Description of the Test
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is administered to individual children. They have to be from the age of six to sixteen years. The assessments do not require reading or writing to be complete and take about sixty-five to eighty minutes. The IQ score generated reflects the cognitive ability of the child. The trials are usually divided into fifteen subtests, where ten are retrieved from the previous versions (Nuñez, Zink, Barchard, San Miguel, & Allen, 2018). The additional tests are meant to accommodate rare cases or make up resulting from interruptions.
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In adults, the scale contains ten subtests and five supplementary. The tests take ninety minutes to be complete and aimed for adults from the age of sixteen to ninety years. The IQ results indicate the ability of an individual to act and think logically, and effectively deal with the surrounding (Lang, Matta, Parolin, Morrone, & Pezzuti, 2019).
Administration
Every test is made up of two subtest groups; performance and verbal. Verbal scales are for measuring language, reasoning, general knowledge, and memory skills. Performance assessments measure problem-solving skills, sequencing, and spatial abilities. A trained examiner is in charge of administering each test individually, with the help of a complex set of materials to complete the quizzes. The score of the full-scale IQ is established by a formula that sums up both performance and verbal score.
Interpretation
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale uses numbers to interpret different levels of IQ. A score more than 130 indicates a superior or gifted individual. A score between 120 and 129 represents a very high IQ. Scales of 110 to 119 illustrate bright, normal individuals (Lang, Matta, Parolin, Morrone, & Pezzuti, 2019). A score below 9- is considered as average to low average and below 70, it is an indication of borderline mental functionality. Any score below 69 portrays mental retardation.
Description of the Tests Construction
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale was created after the Wechsler– Bellevue Intelligence Scale (WBIS) was revised. The WBIS was a battery of tests created in 1939 by Wechsler. The research on testing intelligence indicated that both verbal and non-verbal tests would help understand the intelligence levels of people. The investigation led to the release of different forms of test scales. The adult's scale, for example, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was revised severally, from WAIS-R which had six verbal and five performance subtests based on comprehension, information, arithmetic, vocabulary, similarity and digital span (Lang, Matta, Parolin, Morrone, & Pezzuti, 2019). The test was then revised to give WAIS-III. Where more test factors such as matric reasoning, block design, and symbol search were added.
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children ( WISC ), on the other hand, is constructed from five principal index scores. These are the “Fluid Reasoning Index (FRI), Processing Speed Index (PSI), Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Working Memory Index (WMI), and Visual-Spatial Index (VSI) (Nuñez, Zink, Barchard, San Miguel, & Allen, 2018). The same process of testing is upheld in children and adults to ensure norms maintenance.
Validity and Reliability
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is well-established with relatively high consistency. When taken from 2 to 12 weeks, the test and re-test reliabilities range from seven subscales to two subscales. The inter-score coefficients are usually high and above 0.90. The test manual indicates the scale aim of establishing neuropsychiatric and organic dysfunction, psychoeducational disability, and giftedness. There is high correction between the score and Stanford-Binet IV test, with the high concordance with measures of language, cognitive ability, memory, attention, motor speed, and skill.
Usefulness and Role in Clinical Assessment
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is useful for both school and clinical assessment. The scale for children can guide educators when planning the teaching strategies. The teachers will create a strategy depending on the IQ and learning abilities of the students. Since the learners will have varying IQ levels, the educator has to determine how to accommodate all and create an effective learning environment.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale can be used in the clinical assessment of the mental abilities of individuals. A scale of below 70 portrays borderline mental functionality, and below 69 shows mental retardation (Myers, Maddigan, & Santa Maria, 2019). The information can be used in diagnosing individuals and helping them develop coping mechanisms.
Summary
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is designed to determine the capacity for coping, learning, and solving-problems. The tests help get clinical data that can be used by parents and administration staff in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of children. It assists in developing ways to support challenged individuals to cope with the environment. The score results describe the actions and behaviors of a person in relation to the surrounding. The score tests can be used in diagnosing learning differences such as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Attention deficit disorder ( ADD ).
Conclusion
The intelligence levels of individuals determine how they interact with the surrounding, solve problems, language, and cognitive abilities. The use of verbal and performance assessments measure how people perform. The verbal IQ illustrates working memory and verbal comprehension abilities. Performance IQ is based on processing speed and perpetual organizational index. Understanding the IQ of different people helps understand how to cope with them, or assist with education, especially in children.
References
Lang, M., Matta, M., Parolin, L., Morrone, C., & Pezzuti, L. (2019). Cognitive Profile of Intellectually Gifted Adults: Analyzing the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Assessment , 26 (5), 929-943.
Myers, M., Maddigan, A., & Santa Maria, M. (2019). B-19 Intelligence and Memory in Neurofibromatosis Type I. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology , 34 (6), 964-964.
Nuñez, A., Zink, D. N., Barchard, K. A., San Miguel, L. E., & Allen, D. N. (2018). Factor Structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Edition Spanish in a Clinical Sample. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology , 34 (1), 89-95.
