WAIS-IV: IQ Test for Ages 16-90, Cut Scores Explained - Research Paper

Introduction

Ideally, the WAIS-IV Test is primarily an IQ test that is often applied in assessing the cognitive abilities in adults as well as the educational placement or planning for children aging between 16:0-90:11 years (David, 2008). The first test was initially formulated in the years 1955 by a renowned scholar, namely David Wechsler, but the fourth edition, which is the latest version, was created and released in 2008.

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Cut Scores

The overall scores of this test are mainly recorded as a Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) as illustrated below (David, 2008).

69 and Below = extremely low

70-79 = Borderline

80-89 = Low Average

90-109 = Average

110-119 = High Average

120-129 = Superior

130 and Above = Very Superior

The average score for the WAIS-IV test is usually 100, while the standard deviation of the results is 15 (David, 2008). However, a lot of scores range between 85 and 115, and thus an individual with a score above 130 is perceived to be gifted whereas a score less than 69 is often regarded as a sign of retardation.

Cultural Concerns

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale -Iv test is not influenced or associated with any cultural concerns of the individuals taking the test primarily because it focuses on assessing the global intellectual working of the test takers. The implication of this is that no significant cultural sensitivities that can result in a specific group of people having lower scores because of possible misunderstandings (Hartman, 2009). Mostly, some of the terminologies used in the test can be somewhat hard for some people to comprehend, and this can effectively lead to the belief that individuals from a particular group are less intelligent.

Ethical Issues

There are no specific ethical issues related to the WAIS-IV test since it is often taken voluntarily and therefore, do not have any ethical considerations to follow.

Interpreting and Communicating Results

The results from this test are interpreted through scaled scores and to ensure appropriate understanding of the scores, the analysis must be guided by trained personnel to comprehensively understand the entire scoring process (Hartman, 2009). As such, the obtained scores are reliable for all the aspects assessed during the test.

Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III) Test Analysis

The MCMI-III is another significant test frequently used in assessing an individual's personality. The test gives critical information concerning the presence of psychological disorders, which includes twenty-four personality disorders and clinical syndromes for adults under psychological treatment or assessment (Craig, 2005). This test is often used in a clinical setting with individuals aged 18 years and above.

Cut Scores

The MCMI-Three test comprises of 175 true, and false questions and an average person will take approximately 30 minutes to complete the test. Once the test is undertaken, 29 scales are produced consisting of 24 clinical and personality scales as well as five scales that assist in validating how an individual approached and performed the test (Halfaker, Akeson, Hathcock, Mattson & Wunderlich, 2011). The MCMI-third edition uses the base rate scores in reporting and interpreting the results. The median score s represented by base rate 60 0r BR 60 in contrary to the T scores where the median is 50T (Halfaker et al., 2011). The highest score is BR115, while the lowest is BR0. The score BR75 often indicates the presence of a particular personality trait, while scores above BR85 shows the presence of personality characteristic entirely.

Cultural Concerns

Concerning the cultural aspect, the MCMI-III is not culturally sensitive and thus does not account for cultural differences. This is mainly because the base rate scores are primarily criterion and not the norm, implying that the scores do not show if a train is standard, but instead, they represent the presence of a characteristic.

Interpreting and Communicating Results

The results of the test are interpreted by the psychologist who requested for the administration after an interview with the patient. Basically, the MCMI-II involves a series test, and thus the overall score must consider the results of all the criteria to confirm the presence of the suggested disorder.

Clinical Formulation

Results

Evaluating the results of the WAIS-IV provided to Ms. G, her FSIQ was 94 that is found within the average range of 90-109 as well as within the scope of normal IQ. She also scored higher on the VCI that is 107, which is more than the average of 85-98. R (Bacon , C512_MCMI.ppt) results from the MCMI-III indicates that Ms. G has anxiety, major depressive masochistic, and schizoid.Diagnosis

The total of the MCMI-II results from the clinical setting indicates that Ms. G was diagnosed with a condition known as psychosis that is often associated with depression and feeling nervous.

Psychometric Data

The results of the MCMI-III show that Ms., G, has negative personality traits since she is suffering from anxiety, depression and other health concerns that would influence her interest in pursuing her college education successfully.

References

Bacon, S. F. Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III) [PPT document]. Retrieved from California State University's website: http://www.csub.edu/~sbacon/C512_MCMI.ppt

Craig, R. J. (Ed.). (2005). New directions in interpreting the Millon Clinical Multiaxial inventory-III (MCMI-III). John Wiley & Sons. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-1185-4_9

David, W. Wechsler (2008). Intelligence Scale- Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV), Pearsonassessments.com Retrieved from https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Cognition-%26-Neuro/Wechsler-Adult-Intelligence-Scale-%7C-Fourth-Edition/p/100000392.html

Halfaker, D. A., Akeson, S. T., Hathcock, D. R., Mattson, C., & Wunderlich, T. L. (2011). Psychological aspects of pain. Pain procedures in clinical practice (pp. 13-22). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/millon-clinical-multiaxial-inventory

Hartman, D. E. (2009). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV): the return of the gold standard. Applied neuropsychology, 16(1), 85-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/09084280802644466