Estimating WAIS IQ of Neuropsychiatric Patients at Three Educational Levels

Abstract

In this study the relative accuracy of the WAIS Vocabulary subtest and the Shipley Scale subtests, Conceptual Quotient (CQ), and Shipley Total Score to predict WAIS Full Scale IQ in three groups of 48 each mixed male neuropsychiatric patients with different educational achievement (grammar school, high school, and college) was examined. These patients were matched on age case by case. Discharge diagnoses across the three groups were similar. The WAIS Vocabulary was a better estimate of over-all intelligence than the individual Shipley subtests and the CQ, although the Shipley Total Score seems to compare as well as WAIS Vocabulary. Observed differences in the correlations across educational groups are probably associated with the variances within each group. No evidence supports a differential prediction for Full Scale IQ based on educational achievement. These data generally support the work which suggests that WAIS Vocabulary and the Shipley Total Score can be used to obtain a brief but accurate estimate of IQ, although the role of educational achievement does not appear important enough to include in currently available formulae for predicting WAIS IQ.