Amazingly Short Forms of the WAIS-R

Abstract

Although valid short forms of the WAIS-R exist, they require a long administration time. This study developed new, extremely brief short forms of the WAIS-R that are both valid and reliable. In developing the abbreviated batteries, the administration and scoring time of the component subtests was considered, as was each task's placement in the administration sequence. The latter variable was important for the dyad and triad based on Thompson's research into the “motivation effect.” The selected dyad was composed of Information and Picture Completion, while the triad added Digit Span to this dyad. The tetrad was composed of Arithmetic, Similarities, Picture Completion, and Digit Symbol. Each of these abbreviated WAIS-Rs averages less than 20 minutes' administration time, yet each has a reliability of .90 or above and validity coefficients that average .88 for the dyad, .92 for the triad, and .95 for the tetrad.