Why a preschool scale, and why then
Eleven subtests, two scales, one global score
Like the other Wechsler scales, it treats intelligence as a single global capacity, measured two ways through a Verbal and a Performance scale.1 All eleven original subtests survived into the 1989 revision.5,2
List assembled from the WPPSI-R subtests, which kept all the originals and added Object Assembly.2,1,5 The eleventh original is listed only as "Animal Pegs" or "animals/pegs"; its 1967 name isn't given in these sources. "WPPSI only" means the subtest doesn't appear on our WISC 1949 list.
Move through the years and watch the ages fill in
Pick a year and a child's age. The map shows which Wechsler scale was available for that age at the time.
WPPSI ranges come from the sources on this page.5,2,6 WISC and WAIS ranges are as documented on our WISC 1949 and WAIS 1955 pages. The chart stops at 20, but the WAIS continues through adulthood.
Four editions, each reaching younger
A UK version followed in 2003.5 Sources describe the 1967 range as 4 to 6½; some round it to "4 to 6".3 The size of the 1967 norm sample isn't given in these sources.
References
- [1]Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence: an overview. ScienceDirect Topics (Neuroscience).sciencedirect.com
- [2]The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (book excerpt, ISBN 9781118380628). Wiley (PDF).catalogimages.wiley.com
- [3]Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI test). Academia.edu (2021).academia.edu
- [4]Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI test), with reference to Wechsler (1967) manual. ResearchGate (2022).researchgate.net
- [5]Wikipedia contributors. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org
- [6]Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (test review). SciSpace (PDF).scispace.com
- [7]Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Encyclopedia entry, Springer Nature Link.link.springer.com
Related historical tests
The WPPSI was adapted from the WISC and shares most of its subtests. In 1967 the two overlapped between ages 5 and 6½.
With the WPPSI in place, Wechsler scales covered preschool, school age and adulthood. The WAIS is the adult end of that range.
A 10- to 15-minute drawing test for ages 3 to 15. Next to it the WPPSI is a full individual battery with eleven subtests.
The PPVT asks children to point to pictures. The WPPSI's Vocabulary subtest asks them to explain words out loud.
Printed mazes of increasing difficulty. Mazes reappears as a WPPSI performance subtest for young children.
Raven's version for young children relied on matrices from the start. The WPPSI only added a Matrix Reasoning subtest with its 2002 edition.