Six fixes for the examinee across the table
Pearson's development goals put "developmental appropriateness" beside theory: each change removed something other than reasoning that could lower an older adult's score.2
Returned to the store room
Twelve subtests were kept with changes and three were new.5 After these removals, only one subtest still used objects the examinee handles: Block Design.1
Set an age. Pick a composite.
Ten core subtests produce the four indexes and the Full Scale IQ. The five supplemental subtests can stand in when needed.8 Tap any subtest to see what it measures.
Subtest roles and age limits follow the Buros review and a subtest guide.1,7 CHC labels are Pearson's own mapping. CPI is a composite from later research, not one of the manual's original scores.10 No scores are calculated here: composites need the publisher's norm tables.
2,200 adults, one ruler
The standardization sample was stratified by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education level (parents' education for ages 16–19) and region. Education was used as a proxy for socioeconomic status, since accurate income data is hard to collect.1 Composite scores are placed on the usual scale of mean 100 and SD 15.
- 16:0–90:11
- age range1
- 10 of 15
- subtests needed for the Full Scale IQ and four indexes; five more are supplemental1
- .87–.96
- test–retest stability of the composites; subtests ranged from .74 to .905
- PRI
- showed the largest practice effects on retest, led by Block Design, Visual Puzzles, Figure Weights and Picture Completion1
References
- [1]Canivez, G. L. (2010). Review of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition. In The Eighteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. Buros Institute (PDF).ux1.eiu.edu
- [2]Introducing the WAIS-IV (presentation). Pearson Education, 2008 (PDF).pearsonassessments.com
- [3]Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition: product details and FAQs. Pearson Assessments.pearsonassessments.com
- [4]WAIS-IV brochure. Pearson (PDF).pearsonassessments.com
- [5]Test review: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition. ResearchGate.researchgate.net
- [6]Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: an overview (Geriatric Neuropsychological Assessment). ScienceDirect Topics.sciencedirect.com
- [7]Outcome measure: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV (WAIS-IV). Moving Ahead, UNSW Sydney (PDF).movingahead.psy.unsw.edu.au
- [8]Common factor structure of the ten-subtest WAIS-IV in a clinical sample and 15-subtest version in the standardization sample. PubMed Central.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- [9]The WAIS V: changes to test structure and content. BPS Faculty for People with Intellectual Disabilities Review 23(1).explore.bps.org.uk
- [10]Alternate form reliability of the Cognitive Proficiency Index. Archives of Assessment Psychology 15, NSUWorks (PDF).nsuworks.nova.edu
Related historical tests
The WAIS-III reported Verbal, Performance and Full Scale IQs alongside four optional indexes. The WAIS-IV dropped the two IQs and made the indexes the main scores. It also cut the WAIS-III's 13 core subtests to 10.
The children's Wechsler moved to four indexes first, with ten core subtests. The WAIS-IV brought that design to adults, even keeping Cancellation as a supplemental speed task.
Pearson released the fourth Wechsler Memory Scale a year later for the same 16–90 age range, giving each its own technical manual. Pairing them lets an examiner set memory scores against general ability.
The 1955 WAIS set up the Verbal/Performance format that lasted through three adult editions. Object Assembly and Picture Arrangement were part of it from the start, until the WAIS-IV dropped both.
Block Design, Digit Span, Similarities and Arithmetic go back to David Wechsler's first scale. Nearly seventy years later they are still core WAIS-IV subtests.
The fifth adult edition replaced the WAIS-IV in 2024 with new norms. It revised the structure and content again, after research had found five factors in WAIS-IV data.