Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth UK Edition (WISC-IV)

D. Wechsler

While maintaining the integrity of the Wechsler tradition, the WISC IV build on contemporary approaches in cognitive psychology and intellectual assessments, giving you a new, powerful and efficient tool to help develop and support your clinical judgements.

Even Stronger Clinical Utility

Understanding of learning difficulties and attention disorders has greatly expanded since the publication of the WISC III. WISC IV makes important advances from previous edition in order to provide the most effective clinical tool representing cutting edge research and thinking.

Benefits of WISC-IV

• Expand and strengthen clinical utility to support your decision making

• Develop the four Index Scores as the primary interpretive structure

• Improve the assessment of fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed

• Improve subtest reliabilities, floors and ceilings from WISC-III

• Co-normed with the forthcoming WAIT-II

• Updated, colourful, child-friendly artwork

• Instructions to both the examiner and the child are improved to make the WISC-IV even more user friendly

Subtest Changes

Three WISC-III subtests have been eliminated from WISC-IV. Object Assembly, Mazes and Picture Arrangement. WISC-III subtests that are now supplemental include Picture Completion, Arithmetic and Information. Several new subtests are added to reflect current clinical knowledge and practice:Word Reasoning - measures reasoning with verbal material; child identifies underlying concept given successive clues.

• Matrix Reasoning - measures fluid reasoning (a highly reliable subtest on WAIS–IIIUK and WPPSI-IIIUK); child is presented with a partially filled grid and asked to select the item that properly completes the matrix

• Letter-Number Sequencing - measures working memory (adapted from WAIS–III); child is presented with a mixed series of   numbers and letters and repeats them numbers first (in numerical order), then letters (in alphabetical order). 
• Cancellation - measures processing speed using random and structured animal target forms (foils are common non-animal    objects).

•  In addition, new optional recall procedures have been added to the Coding subtest, including free recall, cued digit recall  and cued symbol recall.

Four Composite Scores

In order to make interpretation more clinical meaningful, the dual IQ and Index structure from WISC-III has been replaced with a single system of four composite scores (consistent with the Four Index Scores in WISC-III) and the Full Scale IQ. This new system helps you better understand a child’s needs in relation to contemporary theory and research in cognitive information processing.