WAIS-IV, WMS-IV, and ACS: Advanced Clinical Interpretation

by James A. Holdnack, Lisa Drozdick, Lawrence G. Weiss, Grant L. Iverson

Overview

This book provides users of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) with information on applying the WAIS-IV, including additional indexes and information regarding use in special populations for advanced clinical use and interpretation. The book offers sophisticated users of the WAIS-IV and Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS-IV) guidelines on how to enhance the clinical applicability of these tests.

The first section of the book provides an overview of the WAIS-IV, WMS-IV, and new Advanced Clinical Solutions for Use with the WAIS-IV/WMS-IV (ACS). In this section, examiners will learn:

• Normal versus atypical score variability
• Low-score prevalence in healthy adults versus clinical populations
• Assessing whether poor performance reflects a decline in function or is the result of suboptimal effort

New social cognition measures found in the ACS are also presented. The second part focuses on applying the topics in the first section to specific clinical conditions, including recommended protocols for specific clientele (e.g. using demographically adjusted norms when evaluating individuals with brain injury). Common clinical conditions are discussed, including Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, traumatic brain injury, and more. Each chapter provides case examples applying all three test batteries and using report examples as they are obtained from the scoring assistant. Finally, the use of the WAIS-IV/WMS-IV and the ACS in forensic settings is presented.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780123869340
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	07/12/2013
Series:	Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	622
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Lawrence G. Weiss, PhD is Vice President of Test Development for Pearson Clinical Assessment. He oversees a department of 150 professionals and is responsible for all research and test development activities related to the company’s psychological, educational, speech, language, and occupational therapy assessment products as well as post college admissions tests. He also advises on test development activities for the company’s international business partners around the globe including Pearson Clinical Assessment offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, India, China, Spain, and Brazil.

Dr. Weiss has presented widely on intelligence in more than a dozen countries. He has authored or co-authored the following 7 graduate level text books:

• WISC-III Cross Cultural Analyses: Culture and Children’s Intelligence (2003)

• WISC-IV Clinical Use and Interpretation (2005)

• WISC-IV Advanced Clinical Interpretation (2006)

• WISC-IV Clinical Use and Intervention (2008)

• WAIS-IV Clinical Use and Interpretation (2010)

• BAYLEY-III Clinical Use and Interpretation (2010)

• Advanced Clinical Assessment with WAIS-IV and WMS-IV (2013)

Some of his books have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and Korean. In addition, he has authored or coauthored approximately 30 journal articles, 12 technical reports, and 10 other book chapters.

Dr. Weiss holds a PhD degree in industrial and organizational psychology from Texas A&M University, and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Trinity University. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife of 28 years, Judy Ann. The Weiss’ have two adult sons.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Overview of the WAIS-IV/WMS-IV/ACS

Lisa Whipple Drozdick, James A. Holdnack, Lawrence G. Weiss, and Xiaobin Zhou

Chapter 2 - Understanding and Using Multivariate Base Rates with the WAIS-IV/WMS-IV

Brian L. Brooks, Grant L. Iverson and James A. Holdnack

Chapter 3 - Understanding Index and Subtest Scatter in Healthy Adults

Howard Oakes, David Lovejoy, Sarah Tartar and James A. Holdnack

Chapter 4 - Demographic Adjustments to WAIS-IV/WMS-IV Norms

James A. Holdnack and Lawrence G. Weiss

Chapter 5 - Predicting Premorbid Ability for WAIS-IV, WMS-IV and WASI-II

James A. Holdnack, Mike R. Schoenberg, Rael T. Lange and Grant L. Iverson

Chapter 6 - Serial Assessment with WAIS-IV and WMS-IV

James A. Holdnack, Lisa Whipple Drozdick, Grant L. Iverson and Gordon J. Chelune

Chapter 7 - Assessing Performance Validity with the ACS

James A. Holdnack, Scott Millis, Glenn J. Larrabee and Grant L. Iverson

Chapter 8 - Assessing Social Cognition Using the ACS for WAIS-IV and WMS-IV

Yana Suchy and James A. Holdnack

Chapter 9 - Assessing Cognition in Older Adults with the WAIS-IV, WMS-IV, and ACS

Lisa Whipple Drozdick, James A. Holdnack, Timothy Salthouse and C. Munro Cullum

Chapter 10 - Using the WAIS-IV/WMS-IV/ACS Following Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Grant L. Iverson, James A. Holdnack and Rael T. Lange

Chapter 11 - Assessing Individual’s with Psychiatric and Developmental Disorders

Gerald Goldstein, Howard Oakes, David Lovejoy and James A. Holdnack

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Provides a single reference for advanced clinical interpretation of the WAIS-IV, WMS-IV, and new ACS including use with special populations

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Christopher J Graver, PhD, ABPP-CN(Madigan Healthcare System)
Description: The Wechsler set of tests is well known in the world of psychological practice and has become a standard in academic testing, as well as a part of many neuropsychological assessments. This book focuses on the use and interpretation of the latest edition of the tests.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide clinicians with an advanced guide to interpretation of these measures and the use of the new Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS) tools.
Audience: The intended audience is primarily clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists, as well as school psychologists. It is assumed that readers have at least a basic knowledge of the tests, test processes, psychometrics, and statistics. It is written by individuals deeply involved in the development of the instruments.
Features: The book gives an overview of the major sections of each test and describes the use of the new ACS in much more detail than anticipated for an opening chapter. It then details the tests that make up the indexes, relationships between indexes, and uses of the tests with specific conditions. The second chapter hits upon a critical point of test interpretation with bell curves and describes problems with attributing low scores to pathology rather than normal variability (e.g., average is not the new impaired). In this vein, multivariate base rates are discussed within the context of test interpretation. The next chapter follows this line of thinking with an exploration of index and subtest scatter. It dispels some of the myths in this area that pervade unsophisticated psychology training programs, while providing a plethora of useful reference tables to help determine what is clinically meaningful. General considerations to keep in mind during interpretation are well thought out and allow for a more sophisticated understanding of test scores. Some superb cases clearly illustrate advanced interpretation strategies, as well as common pitfalls for inexperienced examiners. Further information is provided about methods for calculating premorbid abilities followed by a rather thorough discussion of serial assessment factors, including across different versions of the test. Reliable change methods are described, which is vital to making sense of serial assessments, but incredibly rare to see in clinical practice, so its inclusion here is appreciated. Performance validity is discussed in its own chapter as it pertains to embedded and standalone measures in the ACS. The later chapters are geared towards the use of the measures in specific populations (e.g., geriatric) or disorders (e.g., schizophrenia). Chapters end with key learning points and recent and relevant references.
Assessment: This book truly provides an advanced look at the use and interpretation of these instruments that goes well beyond the simple cookbook-style offerings seen elsewhere. It is not geared towards beginning graduate students, but every practitioner should eventually read it to engage in competent assessment with these instruments.

Doody's Review Service

"Some superb cases clearly illustrate advanced interpretation strategies, as well as common pitfalls for inexperienced examiners…This book truly provides an advanced look at the use and interpretation of these instruments that goes well beyond the simple cookbook-style offerings seen elsewhere. It is not geared towards beginning graduate students, but every practitioner should eventually read it to engage in competent assessment with these instruments." Rating: 5 Stars—Doody.com, March 21, 2014 "Mental health researchers and practitioners provide a detailed overview of the psychometric instruments Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale — Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV), the Wechsler Memory Scale — Fourth Edition (WMS-IV), Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS), and the WMS-IV Flexible Approach. They also describe the cognitive abilities required to complete the tasks, and present normative data for new indexes."—Reference & Research Book News, October 2013

From the Publisher