WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE

SCALE FOR CHILDREN -v

 Versions of test

1949: The Beginning of time (WISC)

1974: WISC-R

1991: WISC-III

2003: WISC-IV

2014: WISC-V
 Purpose of WISC

 The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

was developed by David Wechsler.
 It is an individually administered intelligence test for
children between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive that can be
completed without reading or writing.
 The WISC-V takes 48–65 minutes to administer.
 IQ tests don't assess learned knowledge such as reading
and math. Instead, they measure a child's learning capabilities
through verbal and non-verbal exercises.
 It generates a Full Scale IQ (formerly known
as an intelligence quotient or IQ score) which
represents a child's general intellectual ability.
 It also provides five primary index scales i.e.

1) Verbal Comprehension Index

2) Visual Spatial Index

3) Fluid Reasoning Index

4) Working Memory Index

5) Processing Speed Index

All these represent a child's abilities in more discrete

cognitive domains.

 Five ancillary composite scores can be derived from various

combinations of primary or primary and secondary subtests.

 Five complementary subtests yield three complementary

composite scores to measure related cognitive abilities

relevant to assessment and identification of specific

learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia and dyscalculia.

 Full Scale IQ –FSIQ won’t necessarily include
all primary index-score subtests .
 Quicker to obtain
 Subsets
Primary Index Scales
1) Verbal Comprehension Index : VCI measures verbal
reasoning, understanding, concept formation, &
crystallized intelligence.
2) Visual Spatial Index :VSI measures a child’s nonverbal
reasoning and concept formation, visual perception and
organization, visual-motor coordination, ability to
analyze and synthesize abstract information, and
distinguish figure-ground in visual stimuli .
3) Fluid Reasoning Index :FRI assesses a child’s
quantitative reasoning, classification and spatial ability,
knowledge of part to whole relationships. It also
evaluates a child’s fluid reasoning abilities, which is
the ability to solve novel problems independent of
previous knowledge.

4) Working Memory Index: WMI evaluates a

child’s ability to sustain auditory attention, concentrate,

and exert mental control.

5) Processing Speed Index: PSI estimates how quickly

and accurately a child is able to process information.It

includes tasks involving motor coordination, visual

processing, and search skills under time constraints.

 Subsets
Verbal Comprehension :

Similarities SI :

The child is presented with two words that

represent common objects or concepts and
describes how they are similar.

Milk – Water / Frown – Smile

Vocabulary VI :

For picture items, the child names pictures that are displayed in
the stimulus book. For verbal items, the child gives definitions
for words that the examiner reads aloud.

Ex. (picture) train

(verbal) umbrella, absorb, garrulous

Information - general knowledge questions.

Comprehension - questions about social situations or
common concepts.
 Visual Spatial
Block Design (BD):

While viewing a constructed model or a picture in the

stimulus book, the child uses red-and-white blocks to re-
create the design within a specified time limit.

Ex.
Visual Puzzles:

 Child views a completed puzzle and selects

three response options that would combine to

reconstruct the puzzle.

 Item time limit of 30 seconds.

 Measures ability to analyze and synthesize

abstract information
 Fluid Reasoning
Matrix Reasoning:

The child looks at an incomplete matrix and selects the

missing portion from five response options.

Ex.
Figure Weights:

 Child views scale with missing weight(s) and

selects the response option that balances the scale.
 Item time limit of 20 or 30 seconds.
 Measures quantitative and analogical fluid
reasoning.
Figure Weights
Picture Concepts:

The child is presented with two or three rows of

pictures and chooses one picture from each row to
form a group with a common characteristic.

Example
Arithmetic (AR):

The child mentally solves a series of orally presented

arithmetic problems within a specified time limit.

Example (Picture): How many nuts will be left if

each squirrel eats one?

(No picture): If I cut an apple in half, how many

pieces will I have?
 Working Memory

Digit Span :
Examiner reads a sequence of numbers; examinee
recalls the numbers in ascending order.
 Digit Span Sequencing is similar to other tasks
that are designed to measure working memory and
mental manipulation.
 Picture Span:

 Child views one or more pictures, then selects them in

sequential order from a larger picture array.
 Two points for correct pictures in the correct order and one
point for correct pictures in the incorrect order.
 Simple visual span task with proactive interference.
 Research indicates proactive interference increases
processing demands of working memory tasks
Picture Span
Letter-Number Sequencing (LN):

The child is read a sequence of numbers and letters and

recalls the numbers in ascending order and the letters in
alphabetical order.

Ex. 5-A-2-B AB25 or 25AB

S-3-K-4-Y-1-G 134GKSY or GLSY134

 Processing Speed
Coding (CD):

The child copies symbols that are paired with

simple geometric shapes or numbers. Using a key,
the child draws each symbol in its corresponding
shape or box within a specified time limit.
Symbol Search (SS):

The child scans a search group and indicates

whether the target symbol(s) matches any of the
symbols in the search group within a specified time
limit.
Cancellation (CA):

The child scans both a random and a structured

arrangement of pictures and marks target pictures within
a specified time limit.
Method

In this exercise, a page is covered with pictures of

animals and other common objects, either randomly
scattered on the page or arranged in rows and columns.
The child then marks through - or cancels - the animals
as quickly as possibly.
Complementary Index Scales

Naming Speed
Child names elements as quickly as possible.
 Child takes two or three tasks, depending on age.
 Each task has a sample item and a 2-page test item.
 Quantity naming added to improve sensitivity to
math disability.
1) Naming speed literacy : The child names stimuli
(e.g objects of various size n color ;letters n
numbers) as quickly as possible .

2) Naming speed quantity : The child names

quantities of squares as quickly as possible .
 Symbol Translation
 Child learns associations between symbols and
words and is then asked to translate symbol strings.
 Immediate subtest teaches visual-verbal
associations in a stepwise manner, with repetition of
associations introduced in the previous step.
 Delayed subtest administered 20 to 30 minutes
after completion of Immediate subtest.
 Immediate ST: learns symbols and recall task .

Delayed ST: Recall immediate ST.

Recognition Symbol Translation (RST)

The child views a symbol and selects the correct translation,

from response options the examiner reads aloud, using
recalled visual-verbal pairs from Immediate Symbol
Translation.
 Subtest Changes

1) Dropped
2) New
3) Updated and Improved
 Dropped WISC–IV Subtests

 Word Reasoning

Redundant measure of verbal comprehension

(high correlation with Information)
 Picture Completion –Construct not as representative
of visual spatial ability as others (secondary verbal
loading)
 Subtest Changes: New

 Visual Spatial subtest

Visual Puzzles
 Fluid Reasoning subtest – Figure Weights
 Working Memory subtest

Picture Span

Digit Span Sequencing task added to Digit Span

 Learning and Memory subtests

Immediate Symbol Translation

Delayed Symbol Translation

Recognition Symbol Translation

Naming Speed(Literacy and Quantity)

 Clinical Uses
 ADHD
 Learning disabilities
 To identify intellectual giftedness, learning difficulties
 Cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
 Used in school setting to evaluate specific cognitive deficits that may
contribute low academic achievement.