how ,15 Intelligence Testing Pros and Cons (Chapter 5) 1

WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALES, The Wechsler intelligence scales are individually administered, composite intelligence tests in a battery format. They assess different areas of intellectual abilities and create a situation in which aspects of personality can be observed. Each of the different versions of the Wechsler intelligence scales provides three different IQ scores: an overall or Full-Scale IQ, a Verbal IQ, and a Performance IQ. More specific factor or index scores also can be calculated using various combinations of subtests. The Wechsler intelligence scales are considered to be among the best of all psychological tests because they have sound psychometric properties and produce information relevant to practitioners. As a result, they have become the most frequently used tests in clinical practice (Camera et al., 2000; Watkins et al., 1995).

TESTING OF INTELLIGENCE: PRO AND CON. Assets of intelligence tests are their accuracy in predicting future behavior intelligence tests can predict an extremely wide number of variables. In particular, IQ tests are excellent predictors of academic achievement, occupational performance, IQ tests are quite limited in predicting contest or nonacademic activity It should also be stressed that intelligence tests are measures of a person’s present level of functioning and, as such, are best used for making short-term predictions. In addition to predicting academic achievement, IQ scores have also been correlated with occupation, ranging from highly trained professionals with mean IQs of 125 to unskilled workers with mean IQs of 87 Another important asset of intelligence tests, particularly the WAIS-III and wishes, is that they provide valuable information about a person’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses. In addition, useful comparisons can be made regarding a person’s pattern of strengths and weaknesses used to observe the unique and personal ways the examinee approaches cognitive ask's critic some critics have even stressed that the current approach to intelligence testing has become a social mechanism used by people with similar values to pass on educational advantages to children who resemble themselves. Not only might IQ tests tend to place creative individuals at a disadvantage, but also they are limited in assessing non-academically-oriented intellectual abilities people are capable of many more cognitive abilities than can be measured on an intelligence test the IQ is not a measure of innate fixed ability, nor is it representative of all problem-solving situations. It is a specific and limited sample, made at a certain point in time, of abilities that are susceptible to change because of a variety of circumstances an important limitation of intelligence tests is that, for the most part, they are not concerned with the underlying processes involved in problem-solving. They focus on the final product or outcome rather than on the steps involved in reaching the outcome. They look at the “what” rather than the “how” A further concern about intelligence tests involves their limited usefulness in assessing minority groups with divergent cultural backgrounds. It has been stated that intelligence-test content is biased in favor of European American, middle-class values. Critics stress that minorities tend to be at a disadvantage when taking the tests because of deficiencies in motivation, lack of practice, lack of familiarity with culturally loaded items, and difficulties in establishing rapport.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

During the 1930s, Wechsler began studying a number of standardized tests and selected 11 different subtests to form his initial battery. His search for subtests was in part guided by his conception that intelligence is global and represents a part of the greater whole of personality. Several of his subtests were derived from portions of the 1937 revision of the Stanford (Comprehension, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Similarities, and Vocabulary). The remaining subtests came from the Army Group Examinations (Picture Arrangement), oh, Block Design (Block Design), Army Alpha (Information, Comprehension), Army Beta (Digit Symbol-Coding), Healy Picture Completion (Picture Completion), and the Panther-Paterson Test (Object Assembly). These subtests were combined and published in 1939 as the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale. The Wechsler-Bellevue had a number of technical deficiencies, primarily related to both the reliability of the subtests and the size and representativeness of the normative sample. Thus, it was revised to form the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) in 1955, and another revised edition (WAIS-R) was published in 1981. The 1981 revision was based on 1,880 individuals who were generally representative of the 1970 census and categorized into nine different age groups. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) became available in August 1997 and was developed to revise the earlier (1981) WAIS-R. The primary reason for the revision was to update the norms. Additional reasons included extending the age range, modifying items, developing a higher IQ “ceiling” and “floor,” decreased reliance on timed performance, developing index/factor scores, creating linkages to other measures of cognitive functioning/achievement, and extensive testing of reliability validity. Despite these changes, many of the traditional features of this history and Development 133

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muneeb akhtar - Mar 3, 2022, 8:21 AM - Add Reply

It is really informative for all of us…thanks sir

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muneeb akhtar - Mar 3, 2022, 8:21 AM - Add Reply

It is really informative for all of us…thanks sir

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