WAIS-5 Structure: Fluid Reasoning (FRI) and Visual Spatial (VSI) Indexes Flashcards

On the WAIS-5, the WAIS-IV Perceptual Reasoning Index was replaced by which two primary indexes?

Answer: Fluid Reasoning Index and Visual Spatial Index

Factor-analytic evidence showed that perceptual reasoning held two separable abilities: fluid reasoning (Gf) and visual-spatial processing (Gv). The WAIS-5 follows the WISC-V model and reports them as separate primary indexes, the FRI and the VSI.

Within the five-factor Wechsler model used by the WAIS-5, Matrix Reasoning contributes to which index?

Answer: Fluid Reasoning Index

Matrix Reasoning asks the examinee to work out the rule behind a visual pattern. That is induction applied to new material, the defining feature of fluid reasoning, so it loads on the FRI.

Block Design, which counted toward the PRI on the WAIS-IV, belongs to which index in the five-factor model?

Answer: Visual Spatial Index

Block Design mainly measures visual-spatial analysis and synthesis: breaking a design into parts and rebuilding it. That puts it in the Visual Spatial Index.

Figure Weights, where the examinee works out which option balances a scale, is classified under which index in the five-factor Wechsler structure?

Answer: Fluid Reasoning Index

Figure Weights measures quantitative and inductive reasoning with new visual material, which is fluid reasoning. It is a core FRI subtest.

In Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory, which the FRI/VSI split follows, 'Gf' refers to:

Answer: Solving new problems by reasoning, independent of prior learning

Gf (fluid intelligence) is the ability to reason through new problems by induction and deduction without relying on learned knowledge. Learned knowledge is Gc (crystallized intelligence).

What is the main clinical advantage of reporting separate FRI and VSI scores instead of one combined PRI?

Answer: It can separate weak abstract reasoning from weak visual-spatial processing

A low PRI could mean weak reasoning, weak visual-spatial processing, or both. Separate FRI and VSI scores let the clinician tell these apart, which matters for diagnosis (for example, right-hemisphere injury versus executive reasoning deficits) and for recommendations.