Reliability of the WAIS-R Full Scale IQ was calculated after each subtest had been omitted individually. The effect of removing the two to five Verbal and Performance subtests that lowered reliability most was then determined. Deletion of any individual subtest or the omission of the entire Performance scale produced negligible effects. Modest decreases were noted with deletion of combinations of Verbal subtests, but five verbal subtests were removed before reliability fell below the desirable level of .95. Cautions were expressed concerning the use of unvalidated short-forms even when reliability remains acceptably high.
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