A Revalidation of the Thurstone Test of Mental Alertness as a Brief Measure of Intelligence through Comparison with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–III

Abstract

In earlier research, Rossini, Wygonik, Barrett, and Friedman (1994) demonstrated that the Thurstone Test of Mental Alertness (TMA) is a valid, brief measure of intelligence by comparing it to the Wechsler Scale of Adult Intelligence–Revised, which was at that time the “gold standard” of IQ assessment. Since that study, the WAIS has again been revised and reissued in a third edition, the WAIS–III. We assessed the relationship between scores on the Thurstone Test of Mental Alertness and this latest WAIS test to see if there is still a predictive relationship between the two tests. Correlations between the two tests and the accuracy of TMA point estimates of IQ indicate that the Thurstone Test of Mental Alertness remains a viable brief measure of adult intelligence.