This study aims to systematically evaluate the scoring errors made by psychologists in training, in the hopes of providing strong, empirically based guidelines to training programs. Survival analysis was used to determine the number of attempts required for graduate students to achieve proficiency in scoring standardized record forms from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). The results suggest that the majority of students will require at least six attempts prior to achieving proficiency in the standardized scoring procedure associated with the WISC-IV. The significant contribution of this study stems from its notably larger sample size (N = 546 record forms) and increased ecological validity compared with previous studies. As a result, this study is likely to improve training in an area that has been established as a core competency for school, clinical, and counselling psychologists.
AlfonsoV. C.JohnsonA.PatinellaL.RaderD. E. (1998). Common WISC-III examiner errors: Evidence from graduate students in training. Psychology in the Schools, 35(2), 119-125.
AlperJ. (2012). Graduate students’ administration and scoring errors on the WISC-IV: Reducing inaccuracies with training and experience (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). St. John’s University, New York, NY.
4.
BelkM. S.LoBelloS. G.RayG. E.ZacharP. (2002). WISC-III administration, clerical, and scoring errors made by student examiners. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 20, 290-300.
5.
BrazeltonE. W.JacksonR.BuckhaltJ.ShapiroS.ByrdD. (2003). Scoring errors on the WISC-III: A study across levels of education, degree fields, and current professional positions. Professional Educator, 25(2), 1-8.
6.
ChanP. E.KonradM.GonzalezV.PetersM. T.RessaV. A. (2014). The critical role of feedback in formative instructional practices. Intervention in School and Clinic, 50, 96-104.
7.
CodyM. S.PrietoL. R. (2000). Teaching intelligence testing in APA-accredited programs: A national survey. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 190-194.
8.
CormierD. C.KennedyK. E.AquilinaA. M. (2016). Test review: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth edition: Canadian. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 31, 322-334. doi:10.1177/0829573516648941
9.
CormierD. C.WangK.KennedyK. E. (2016). Linguistic demands of the oral directions for administering the WISC-IV and WISC-V. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 31, 290-304. doi:10.1177/0829573516643314
10.
ErdodiL. A.RichardD. C. S.HopwoodC. (2009). The importance of relying on the manual. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27, 374-385.
11.
FlanaganD. P.KaufmanA. S. (2004). Essentials of WISC-IV assessment (Vol. 46). New York, NY: John Wiley.
12.
GilmoreL.CampbellM. (2009). Competence in intelligence testing: A training model for postgraduate psychology students. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 26, 165-173.
13.
GohD. S.TeslowJ.FullerG. B. (1981). The practice of psychological assessment among school psychologists. Professional Psychology, 12, 696-706.
14.
KaufmanA. S.RaifordS. E.CoalsonD. L. (2016). Intelligent testing with the WISC-V. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
15.
KohL. C. (2008). Refocusing formative feedback to enhance learning in pre-registration nurse education. Nurse Education in Practice, 8, 223-230.
16.
KozoraE.KongsS.BoxT.SchooleyL.HamptonM.BerkowitzS.. . . ShroyerA. L. (2007). Training and management of a multisite neuropsychological testing protocol for the Department of Veterans Affairs cooperative study evaluating on- and off-pump coronary artery bypass graft procedures. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 21, 653-662.
17.
KozoraE.KongsS.HamptonM.ZhangL. (2008). Effects of examiner error on neuropsychological test results in a multi-site study. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 22, 977-988.
18.
KranzlerJ. H.BensonN.FloydR. G. (2016). Intellectual assessment of children and youth in the United States of America: Past, present, and future. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 4, 276-282.
19.
KuentzelJ.HetterscheidtL.BarnettD. (2011). Testing intelligently includes double-checking Wechsler IQ scores. Journal of Psychoeducationalassessment, 29, 39-46.
20.
LauA. M. S. (2016). “Formative good, summative bad?” A review of the dichotomy in assessment literature. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 40, 509-525.
21.
LingerM. L.RayG. E.ZacharP. (2007). Decreasing scoring errors on Wechsler scale vocabulary, comprehension, and similarities subtests: A preliminary study. Psychological Reports, 101, 661-669.
22.
LoeS. A.KadlubekR. M.MarksW. J. (2007). Administration and scoring errors on the WISC-IV among graduate student examiners. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25, 237-247.
23.
MrazikM.JanzenT. M.DombrowskiS. C.BarfordS. W.KrawchukL. L. (2012). Administration and scoring errors of graduate students learning the WISC-IV issues and controversies. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 27, 279-290.
24.
NaS. D.BurnsT. G. (2016). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-V: Test review. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 5, 156-160.
25.
PereraJ.LeeN.WinK.PereraJ.WijesuriyaL. (2008). Formative feedback to students: The mismatch between faculty perceptions and student expectations. Medical Teacher, 30, 395-399.
26.
PlattT. L.ZacharP.RayG. E.LobelloS. G.UnderhillA. T. (2007). Does Wechsler Intelligence Scale administration and scoring proficiency improve during assessment training?Psychological Reports, 100, 547-555.
27.
R Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
28.
RyanJ. J.Schnakenberg-OttS. D. (2003). Scoring reliability on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–third edition (WAIS-III). Assessment, 10(2), 151-159.
29.
SadlerD. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional science, 18(2), 119-144.
SlateJ. R.HunnicuttL. C. (1988). Examiner errors on the Wechsler Scales. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 6, 280-288.
32.
SlateJ. R.JonesC. H. (1990). Student error in administering the WISC-R: Identifying problem areas. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 23, 137-140.
33.
SlateJ. R.JonesC. H.MurrayR. A. (1991). Teaching administration and scoring of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised: An empirical evaluation of practice administrations. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 22, 375-379.
34.
TherneauT. (2015). A Package for Survival Analysis in R version 2.38. 2015. Reference Source.
35.
WahlstromD.WeissL. G.SaklofskeD. H. (2016). Practical issues in WISC-V administration and scoring. In WeissL. G.SaklofskeD. H.HoldnackJ. A.PrifiteraA. (Eds.), WISC-V assessment and interpretation: Scientist-practitioner perspectives (pp. 25-62). Cambridge, MA: Academic Press.
36.
WechslerD. (1991). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Third edition. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
37.
WechslerD. (2003). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth edition. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
38.
WechslerD. (2014). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fifth edition. San Antonio, TX: NCS Pearson.
39.
Wolfe-ChristensenC.CallahanJ. L. (2008). Current state of standardization adherence: A reflection of competency in psychological assessment. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 2, 111-116.
40.
WrightR. E. (2000). Survival analysis. In GrimmL. G.YarnoldP. R. (Eds.), Reading and understanding more multivariate statistics (pp. 363-407). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
41.
YsseldykeJ.BurnsM.DawsonP.KelleyB.MorrisonD.OrtizS.. . . TelzrowC. (2006). School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice III. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.
42.
ZedeckS. (2014). APA dictionary of statistics and research methods. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
