Comparative validity of three Wechsler short forms for delinquents

Abstract

Investigated the validity of Vocabulary‐Block Design short forms for the WISC‐R, WAIS, and WAIS‐R in a clinical population of 126 adjudicated male delinquents age 16 years. The difference between the means of each short form and its corresponding Full Scale IQ was small and nonsignificant. The correlations between each short form and corresponding Full Scale IQ ranged between 0.88 and 0.92 and therefore accounted for between 77% and 84% of the variance shared by the measures. The WAIS and WAIS‐R were superior of the WISC‐R in correctly classifying Ss by intelligence category. It was concuded that Wechsler short forms, especially the WAIS and WAIS‐R, are useful as screening devices for older delinquents, but inadequate for making individual treatment program decisions.

Validity and usefulness of WAIS—R, WISC—R, and WPPSI short forms: A critical review.

“…The samples were composed primarily of men, with Veterans Administration hospitals being the research setting. In these studies, combinations of two, four, and six subtests were evaluated (see Table 2; Haynes, 1983; Reynolds, Willson, & Clark, 1983; Roth, Hughes, Monkowski, & Crosson, 1984; Ryan, 1983; Ryan, Larsen, & Prifitera, 1983; Ryan & Rosenberg, 1984b). For each selected subtest combination, the short-form FSIQ correlated highly with the WAIS-R FSIQ in all surveyed samples; the short-form IQ, however, generally deviated significantly from the original-form IQ or failed to classify a substantial number of the subjects into their appropriate intellectual classifications.…”

“…For the selected-subtest method, a number of subtest dyads, triads, tetrads, and so on were evaluated (Dirks, Wessels, Quarfoth, & Quenon, 1980; Elman, Blixt, & Sawicki, 1981; Fell & Fell, 1982; Finch et al, 1979; Haynes, 1982, 1983, Haynes & Bensch, 1982; Karnes & Brown, 1981; Killian & Hughes, 1978; Kramer, Shanks, Markley, & Ryabik, 1983; Ryan, 1981; Silverstein, 1974, 1975). Four populations were focused on throughout the studies: the gifted, behavioral and academic problem students, delinquents, and the WISC-R standardization sample.…”

An appraisal of three criteria for evaluating the usefulness of WAIS-R short forms

“…The very last column of Table 1 shows, in parentheses, the estimated percentage of disagreements that correspond to the correlation of a short form with the Full Scale in the sample. In only two cases (Haynes, 1983;Ryan, 1983) does the estimated percentage differ from that actually observed by more than 5%. It appears safe to conclude that no matter how high the correlation between a short form and the Full Scale (as long as it is not perfect), the percentage of disagreements will prove unacceptably high.…”

Test-retest evaluation of a four-subtest WAIS-R short form with young offenders

“…A second comment concerns the use of short forms for screening delinquent youth. In a related study, Haynes (1983) concluded that a Vocabulary-Block Design short form was sufficiently valid to be useful as a screening device for a sample of male delinquents 16 years of age. Haynes' conclusion was based on the same criteria used in the current investigation, but his method was that of rescoring the short form after the standard full administration.…”