Considering New Information About the WAIS-III

¶ … Client Performance on Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) The Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) for this client is 102, a score that is considered to be in the Average range. The Verbal IQ (VIQ) is 111 and the Performance IQ (PIQ) is 90. The client's 21-point score difference between the VIQ and the PIQ is significant, which means that the full-scale IQ score does not represent the client's abilities as well as the VIQ and the PIQ do individually.

The client exhibits High Average verbal skills and performance skills that fall into the low end of the Average classification. The client is unlikely to be proficient in tasks that require visual-spatial coordination, and may experience non-verbal reasoning as a bit more difficult than verbal reasoning. Attention to detail in non-verbal tasks or activities may be somewhat lacking. The client performed in the Average range on the Verbal Comprehensive Index score with a score of 109.

The client also performed in the average range on the Perceptual Organization Index, attaining a score of 109. The client's performance on the POI is a measure of nonverbal reasoning skills, eye-hand coordination, and attentiveness to detail. The client performed in the Low Average range on the Working memory index. The client's score of 86 indicates how well multitask demands are managed. The client's performance on the Processing Speed Index score is also in the Low Average range. The score of 86 gives one measure of how well visual information is quickly processed.

The client's subtest scaled scores show considerable variability compared to age-related peers. High Average scores were obtained by the client for Vocabulary, and Comprehensive in the Verbal Subtests, and on Picture Completion and Matrix Reasoning in the Performance Subtests. The client obtained Average scores for Similarities, Information, Arithmetic, and Digit Span in the Verbal Subtests, and on Picture Arrangement, Block Design, and Coding (Digit Symbol) in the Performance Subtests.

Low Average scores were obtained by the client for Letter-Number Sequencing in the Verbal Subtests, and on Symbol Search in the Performance Subtests. This client is comfortable approaching activities and problem solving tasks from a perspective that relies highly on her verbal skills. The client may not prefer to multitask, a variable that can influence performance in tests that measure this capacity. Since the WAIS-III IQ and Index scores are the most reliable scores for both test-retest and internal consistency.

For the WAIS-III Subtests, more confidence may be associated with the Arithmetic, Digit Span Information, Matrix Reasoning, and Vocabulary index scores (Iverson, 2001). Many subtests are considered to have reliabilities that limit the degree to which they may be considered independent measures of specific cognitive abilities (Iverson, 2001). Generally, one standard deviation serves as a good cut-off since stricter standard deviations result in trading modest improvements in specificity for greater losses in sensitivity. The subtest scores support a profile of a.