An abbreviated form of the WISC-R for use with emotionally disturbed children

Abstract

Two sets of transformations were made in scoring WISC-R Information, Block Design, Comprehension, Picture Arrangement, and Coding subscales in order to estimate the FSIQ of 100 ED children beginning day psychiatric treatment. One set was derived by Kennedy and Elder (1982) (FSIQ-KE) from a sample of 400 children referred for psychological evaluation by a large, urban southern public school district. The other set was developed from the same five subscale scores of the present ED sample (FSIQ-ED). FSIQ-KE scores and FSIQ-ED scores were then compared to FSIQ scores computed according to the standard procedure including all 10 subscales, using paired t-tests and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. No significant differences were found between the mean FSIQ scores on the short and long forms of the WISC-R. Correlation coefficients were highly significant, ranging from .958 to .997. Furthermore, only one child shifted IQ classifications when using the short forms. Thus, both FSIQ-KE and FSIQ-ED formulations provided cost-effective, time-saving estimates of the general intellectual performance of ED children beginning day psychiatric treatment.