How old is the child?
Step through ages in years:months. Tiles show which subtests the battery includes, which index each one feeds, and which count toward the Full Scale IQ.2,4
★ = Full Scale IQ subtest. Subtest age ranges, index make-up and Full Scale IQ lists follow the publisher-authorised handbook, the Buros review and a factor-analytic study of the norm sample.2,1,4 Core testing times are from Pearson.3,8 Ancillary indexes are left out.
Working memory, from two and a half
Earlier WPPSI editions had no working memory index. The two new tasks use pictures rather than spoken digits, and Pearson says they were designed to help spot emerging working memory difficulties early.8
Speed tests you answer with an ink dauber
Three new game-like processing-speed subtests use colourful art, and children mark answers with an ink dauber instead of a pencil. Pearson says each was designed around young children's cognitive, motor and language development.3 For ages 4:0–7:7 they replace the speed tasks the WPPSI had borrowed from the WISC-III.5
Five indexes, two years before the WISC-V
For ages 4:0–7:7 the WPPSI-IV reports visual spatial and fluid reasoning as separate composites, alongside verbal comprehension, working memory and processing speed.8 Like the WISC-IV and WAIS-IV before it, the primary index scores are the main level of interpretation.2 The WISC-V adopted the same five-index split for school-age children in 2014.7
Independent reanalysis offers a caution: a bifactor study of the norm sample found that performance across subtests is dominated by general ability (g). That makes the Full Scale IQ the most interpretable score.4
References
- [1]Canivez, G. L. (2014). Review of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–Fourth Edition. In The Nineteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. Buros Center for Testing (PDF).ux1.eiu.edu
- [2]Raiford, S. E., & Coalson, D. L. Essentials of WPPSI-IV Assessment, Chapter 1. Wiley (excerpt, PDF).catalogimages.wiley.com
- [3]WPPSI-IV brochure. Pearson, 2012 (PDF).pearsonassessments.com
- [4]Watkins, M. W., & Beaujean, A. A. (2014). Bifactor structure of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence–Fourth Edition. School Psychology Quarterly (PDF).edpsychassociates.com
- [5]Wikipedia contributors. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (accessed 1 Oct 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [6]Syeda, M. M., & Climie, E. A. (2014). Test Review: Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 32(3), 265-272.doi.org
- [7]Dombrowski, S. C., Canivez, G. L., & Watkins, M. W. (2017). Factor Structure of the 10 WISC-V Primary Subtests Across Four Standardization Age Groups. Contemporary School Psychology, 22, 90-104.doi.org
- [8]WPPSI-IV overview and scaled score descriptors (Pearson product summary, PDF).img1.wsimg.com
Related historical tests
Wechsler's 1967 preschool scale completed his three-test family. The WPPSI-IV keeps its purpose but replaces the Verbal/Performance split with age-specific index scores.
The WPPSI-IV's upper age was raised to 7:7 to overlap more fully with the WISC-IV. Children near the boundary can take either test, which is useful when a very able or struggling child needs a different ceiling or floor.
Two years later, the school-age test made the same split: Visual Spatial as one score, Fluid Reasoning as another. That left both editions with five main indexes.
Bayley measures infant and toddler development. Some research moves a child to Bayley after zero scores on WPPSI's opening subtests: neighbouring tools, not the same test.
SB5 runs one scale from preschool to adulthood. WPPSI-IV uses two batteries instead. Both were common choices for young-child assessment in the 2010s.