Score Comparisons and Discrepancy Analysis Flashcards

Process scores on the WAIS-IV (e.g., Block Design No Time Bonus, Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward) are used to:

Answer: Provide qualitative information about how an examinee approached a task, beyond the total score alone

Process scores decompose performance into component strategies (e.g., speed vs. accuracy, forward vs. backward span), giving clinicians insight into the processes underlying an examinee's total score.

A pattern in which PRI is significantly higher than VCI is sometimes clinically associated with:

Answer: Language-based learning disabilities or early left-hemisphere dysfunction

PRI > VCI patterns can indicate relative weakness in left-hemisphere language-dependent reasoning, as seen in dyslexia or early left-hemisphere insult, though interpretation always requires corroborating data.

In ability-achievement discrepancy models, which approach is recommended in the WAIS-IV technical manual for predicting expected achievement scores?

Answer: The predicted-achievement (regression) method, which accounts for the correlation between ability and achievement

The predicted-achievement (regression) method is preferred because it corrects for regression to the mean, yielding more accurate estimates of expected achievement at any ability level.

When the WAIS-IV is used alongside the WMS-IV (Wechsler Memory Scale), a clinician can directly compare:

Answer: Auditory and Visual Memory Index scores to Working Memory Index scores to evaluate memory relative to cognitive ability

The WAIS-IV and WMS-IV were co-normed, allowing direct statistical comparisons between memory composite scores and the WMI, facilitating identification of memory impairment relative to measured intellectual ability.

Excessive reliance on subtest scatter (significant variability among individual subtest scores) without considering base rates is problematic because:

Answer: Most individuals in the normative sample show some degree of subtest scatter, making it a poor indicator of pathology on its own

Research shows that considerable subtest scatter is common in the normal population, so identifying scatter without consulting base rate tables leads to over-pathologizing normal cognitive variation.

A clinician compares a client's WAIS-IV Digit Span Forward and Digit Span Backward process scores. A significantly lower Backward than Forward score suggests:

Answer: Difficulty with the working memory manipulation demands added by the backward condition, beyond basic auditory attention span

Forward span primarily reflects passive phonological storage, while backward span requires active mental manipulation; a large Forward > Backward discrepancy points to a working memory manipulation deficit beyond simple attention.

When WAIS-IV results are used to establish eligibility for services under a specific diagnosis, which interpretive practice is most defensible?

Answer: Integrating WAIS-IV scores with background history, behavioral observations, and other test data rather than relying solely on score cutoffs

Ethical and professionally sound practice requires interpreting WAIS-IV scores within a comprehensive evaluative context; no single score or cutoff should be the sole basis for high-stakes diagnostic or eligibility decisions.