Wechsler Memory Scale: First standardized memory test

About the Wechsler Memory Scale

Before 1945, clinical memory assessment was unstandardized - clinicians used informal questions and rough impressions. David Wechsler's 1945 Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) changed this. The WMS had 7 subtests: Personal and Current Information, Orientation, Mental Control (count backward, alphabet, count by 3s), Logical Memory (story recall), Memory Span (digits forward and backward), Visual Reproduction, Associate Learning. Scores combined to produce a Memory Quotient on the same scale as Wechsler's IQ tests (mean 100, SD 15).

The WMS quickly became standard in neuropsychology. It was sensitive to amnesia, Korsakoff's syndrome, dementia, and frontal lobe injury. Different patterns of subtest performance helped differentiate diagnoses: Korsakoff patients failed Logical Memory and Associate Learning but kept Personal Information; Alzheimer's patients failed Orientation early; ECT effects showed up as recent memory failures with intact remote memory.

WMS has been revised in 1987 (WMS-R), 1997 (WMS-III), and 2009 (WMS-IV, current). All editions are copyrighted by Pearson. The 1945 original is in the literature but Pearson actively protects the modern editions. The WMS remains one of the 5 most-used neuropsychological tests in clinical practice.

The 7 subtests

Sample Items (Illustrative)

Items are presented verbally or visually, and responses are scored based on accuracy, completeness, and recall ability. Some sections require verbal responses, while others involve written or drawn outputs.

These are illustrative samples, not actual items from the protected test.

Source

All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:

Wechsler, D. (1945). A standardized memory scale for clinical use. Journal of Psychology, 19, 87-95.

The 1945 WMS was the first standardized clinical memory battery. Current editions (WMS-IV, 2009) are Pearson copyrighted. The original 1945 paper is the source we document.