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Overview of WAIS-5 Clinical, Psychometric, and Structural Changes | Pearson Clinical Assessments | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Overview of WAIS-5 Clinical, Psychometric, and Structural Changes
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Summary
Core Theme
This webinar provides an overview of the significant clinical, psychometric, and structural changes introduced in the new Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition (WAIS-5), highlighting its enhanced theoretical foundations, improved user-friendliness, and increased clinical utility compared to its predecessor.
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Hello and welcome to our webinar, an
overview of the ways five clinical
psychometric and structural changes. I'm
Erin Gunnelsson, senior product manager.
Our presenter today is Dr. Gail Rhoden.
Dr. Dr. Rhoden is a clinical
neurossychologist who majored in
psychology as an undergraduate at Yale
University and completed her PhD in
clinical psychology at New York
University. In 1994, she opened the
center for attention learning and memory
in Rally through which she offered
clinical assessment services as well as
training for fellow professionals. She
worked as an assessment consultant for
Pearson Clinical Assessment for 22 years
after which she founded consulting for
attention learning and memory LLC. Her
clinical interests include learning disorders,
disorders,
psychoppharmacology and the integration
of scientific findings into public
policy. This webinar is being presented
in broadcast audio. Please turn up your
computer speakers as there are no dialin
options. We are also presenting with
closed captioning. The webinar handout
will be posted in the chat box in a few
minutes. Please download the document
during the live presentation. There is
also a Q&A box in Zoom. Please type your
questions, concerns, or comments into
the Zoom Q&A. Questions in the chat box
will not be monitored, so please
leverage the Q&A. We will answer
questions live at the end, time
permitting. If your question is not
answered during the live presentation or
you wish to speak with a representative,
please fill out the follow-up form in a
link that will pop up after the webinar.
Webinar certificates of attendance will
be automatically emailed to you within a
few days. As noted in the registration,
you must participate the entire 30
minutes to be eligible for the
certificate. With all of that being
said, I will turn it over to Gail.
Thank you, Erin. Good morning or good
afternoon depending on where you're
logging in from. My name is Gail Rhoden
and today I'll be covering some of the
most important clinical, psychometric,
and structural changes to the new waist
5. As I'm sure you all know, the waist 5
is an individually administered test of
cognitive ability for adults and
adolescents ages 16 and above. It's the
leading adult intellectual ability
measure in the world and now has 20
subtests measuring five cognitive
domains as well as producing a measure
of global intelligence, the full scale
IQ. Here's an overview of what we'll be
covering today. So, let's get started. I
did not put Q&A at the bottom because we
never quite know how long it's going to
take to go through this, but I hope
we'll have at least five minutes at the
questions. We'll look first at the
revision goals in moving from the waist
four to the waist
five. Here were the major goals. We
wanted to update the theoretical
foundations of the test. This includes
things like reviewing the latest
neurodedevelopmental and neurocognitive
research and looking carefully at recent
models of working
memory. Increasing developmental
appropriateness includes improving the
phrasing of both instructions and items.
making some changes to scoring criteria
and improving the test's
accessibility, especially for older
adults who may have compromised or
declining fine motor and/or expressive language
language
abilities. Increasing user friendliness
means making the test easier to navigate
for both examiners and clients. It
includes things like improving
administration and scoring directions
and reducing testing
time. We've improved the test
psychometric properties by updating its
norms as well as our norming method and
by providing evidence of strong
reliability and validity, improving
ceilings and floors and working hard to
minimize item bias.
Increased clinical utility means making
the test more useful for different types
of clients and different referral
questions. Examples include changing the
test structure to a five factor model,
developing new ancillary index scores,
linking to adult measures of
achievement, and providing new special
group studies.
Finally, we've significantly reduced
testing time. On average, it should now
take you about 45 minutes to obtain a
full-scale IQ and about 60 minutes to
scores. Another feature that will help
reduce the time to test some clients is
different, that is later start points.
for examinees you suspect may be
intellectually gifted. These will allow
you to administer 30 fewer items across
the seven subtests used to calculate the
full scale IQ while following the
subtest. Because the age ranges of the
WHISK 5 and waist five overlap for
examinees age 16, I'm often asked which
test practitioners should use with this
age group. For examinees suspected of
below average cognitive ability, the
Whisk 5 is generally the better choice
because of its lower floor for this age
range. It's also often the better test
with referral questions like whether a
client has a specific learning
disability because of its additional
composite scores and links to
achievement tests. By contrast,
examinees of high cognitive ability are
generally better served by the waist
five due to its higher ceiling for this
age group. For the examinee of average
ability, the choice between the WHISK 5
and the waist 5 requires clinical
judgment from the educational or
psychological professional will be
administering the test. Now both the
whisk five and waist five provide a
nonverbal index that requires no
expressive responses which may be useful
for examinees who are English language
learners or who have expressive language
difficulties. But for examinees who are
primarily Spanish-speaking with limited
English proficiency and limited exposure
to American culture, the Whisk 5 Spanish
is the best choice to reduce the
confounding effects of language on composite
scores. Let's turn now to some of the
First of all, two subtests on the waist
4 have been dropped. Picture completion and
and
cancellation. In addition to
psychometric issues, picture completion
was the least used of the subtests on
waist 4, which made it a good candidate
for removal. And there were a number of
reasons why cancellation was removed,
including its very low G loading and its
relatively low correlation with the
other processing speed tasks. And
importantly, removing cancellation
opened up a slot to add a
measure. Here are the new subtests
you'll find in waist 5. Notice that they
improve coverage of fluid reasoning,
working memory, and processing speed,
while two of them are shared with the
whims 5 and allow examiners to obtain a
visual working memory composite score
from waste 5. This slide is really a
tease as I'm not going to say anything
more today about these new subtests
since we'll be devoting a complete
webinar next Wednesday. at the same time
that will cover their administration and
detail. Now let's move on to changes in
test structure which are an important
feature of the new
revision. Instead of the four factor
model in waist 4, the waist 5 has five
primary index scales like the whisk
five. What was the perceptual reasoning
scale has been divided into two scales,
visual spatial and fluid reasoning.
Again, just as on the Whisk
5. For those of you who haven't used the
Whisk 5, it may take a little time to
get used to this new five factor model
and understand the differences between
the two new primary index scales. I find
this slide helpful in differentiating
between them. The visual spatial index
is assessing the skills needed to be a
good architect. That is the ability to
take in visual information and use it to
build a geometric design that matches a
model. Subtests on this index scale are
block design and visual puzzles. In
contrast, to do well in the fluid
reasoning index, a client needs the
skills of a detective. That is the
ability to use visual information to
identify a common theme or concept and
then apply that concept to solve a
problem or select the appropriate
This slide shows you how the waist 5
subtests retained from waist 4 align
with the five primary index scales.
Notice that digit span has been divided
into three separate subtests on waist 5.
One of these new subtests, digits
forward, must be administered prior to
digit sequencing, but does not
contribute to either the full scale IQ
score or the working memory index scale.
The other change in allocation is that
the arithmetic subtest has been moved
from the working memory index to the
fluid reasoning index as it better
So here again is the factor structure of
waste 5 which aligns with the clinical,
theoretical and psychometric information
test. The subtests you see here in blue
are those you need to administer to
obtain a full scale IQ score along with
digits forward. as I mentioned for which
the score will not contribute to the
full scale IQ. The subtests in italics
are those available should you need to
make a
substitution. But note the rule at the
bottom of the slide. You may make only
one substitution when deriving the full
scale score and that substituted subtest
must come from the same domain as the
substituting. Excuse me. It's allergy
This slide shows you the subtests that
you must administer in order to
calculate the five primary index
scores. Those subtests are printed in
them. This slide showing ancillary index
scales has a lot of information packed
into it. So I'm going to break it down
and go over it in subsequent
slides. What I want to stress in this
slide is the fact that the nonmotor
index scale is also ideal for remote or
teleaalth administration since its component
component
Now let's look at that busy slide, a
piece at a time. Along the top row, you
see one type of ancillary index scale.
There's an expanded index scale for each
of the five domains. And this slide
one. Here's a second type of ancillary
domainspecific. Note that we have scores
for verbal reasoning, quantitative
reasoning, and motor reduced processing
speed, which is not to be confused with
the non-motor ancillary scale. In the
working memory column, you'll see three
new domain specific scores. One measures
visual working memory. The other two
look at auditory working memory. One
specifically at the ability to register
and briefly retain auditory information.
The other to evaluate manipulation of
auditory information after it's been registered.
Finally, there are four ancillary index
scores that serve to summarize
performance across multiple domains.
Most of you are probably familiar with
the GAI or general ability index, which
assesses what I like to call the
horsepower of an examinees cognitive
ability without including any subtests
that measure working memory or
processing speed. The GI is often
important to look at for examiners with
ADHD, a specific learning disability,
and other conditions that may make
processing slower or more subject to
simple errors attributable to working
memory deficits. It's also the
appropriate score to compare to other
components of cognitive functioning such
as memory.
Its partner is the cognitive proficiency
index which looks at how efficiently the
examinee processes relatively simple
tasks, those from the working memory and
processing speed domains.
The other two summary index scores are
the nonverbal index for those with
limited English exposure or expressive
language disorders and the non-mo index
helpful when testing individuals with
motor impairment as well as for remote
This slide again shows you the subtests
that contribute to each of these summary
index scores. And again, a reminder that
that non-motor index can be used easily
assessment. Finally, this slide shows
all the ancillary index scales and the
subtests that contribute to each of
them. The important point of this slide
is near the top in red. It tells us that
subtest substitution is not permitted
for any of these ancillary indexes with
the exception of the nonmo
index. More information is available in
the waist 5 administration and scoring manual.
Let's turn next to a brief look at the
administration and scoring options for
5. For administration, you can use the
traditional paper kit or use Q
interactive to administer digitally
using two
iPads. In addition, there are scoring
options. If you administered using the
traditional paper kit, you can either
score by hand or opt for digital scoring
using Pearson's online Q Global system.
If you're administering using Q
Interactive, digital scoring is included
in the QI system.
Digital scoring, whether from Q Global
or Q Interactive, is a great timesaver
and provides quality control because we
don't have to do all those table lookups
which are prone to error. Both Q options
5. I'd like to say just a few words
As you can see, there were over 2,000
individuals in the sample, which was
stratified by sex, education level,
country. Did you know that we had almost
half of the sample collected when COVID
19 hit in March 2020 and we had to pause
data collection? We hoped that we'd be
able to continue with examiners and
examinees wearing
PPE, personal protective equipment, but
a pilot study showed that the scores
collected with PPE were not equivalent
to those we had collected previously.
So, we opted to discard the pre2020 data
and start over in January
on. Let's talk a little bit about the
psychometric properties, reliability,
and validity of the waist
5. Looking first at reliability for
composite scores, we want to see values
of 0.90 or higher. And that's exactly
what we see for the reliability
coefficients for the full scale IQ and
primary index
scores. For the ancillary scores, all
had reliability coefficients in the
excellent range with the exception of
the motor reduced processing speed index
which was in the good range. Looking at
internal consistency, you'll see it was
0.98 for the full scale IQ and all the
index scores scored 0.90 or
above. Test retest stability was
calculated for both the full scale IQ
and that was
93 and for all index and subtest scores.
We expect these to show more variability
which they did ranging from 71 to
0.93. An intercorer agreement was
evaluated in a special study for the
verbal comprehension subtests producing
Turning to validity, we evaluated
construct validity in a number of ways,
all of which produce strong results. And
as you can see here, we found moderate
to high correlations with other measures
of cognitive ability and related
concepts such as academic achievement
Finally, before we wrap up, let's take a
look at the special group studies that were
were
done. The special group studies are
important to look at as the Waist 5 is
one of Pearson's most widely used
products and is administered by a wide
variety of psychologists for many
different purposes.
Also, it's often a critical part of a
battery of tests used to assess a person
being considered for a particular
diagnosis or status. For example, it's
frequently used to assess for
neurocognitive conditions such as intellectual
intellectual
disability, dementia, or specific
learning disorders, or to establish if
an individual is intellectually
gifted. The waist 5 can also be used in
other types of evaluations to understand
strengths and treatment needs such as
those for individuals with
ADHD, those on the autism spectrum, and
stroke. So, let's sum up some of the
most important features and changes that
characterize the waist 5.
What's great about it? Well, it
incorporates the five factor model. It
allows us to comprehensively evaluate
working memory. It's co-ormed with the
whims 5, which will publish over the
summer or in the next few months. It's
available in both paper and digital
formats for both administration and
scoring. And very importantly, it offers
faster administration time than its
predecessor. What's new in waste 5? It
has new subtests which I'll describe in
detail next at next Wednesday's webinar.
Three are available only on the waist 5
while two more are shared with the whims
5. We have later start points for
individuals suspected to be
intellectually gifted. Another
timesaver. It has a host of new indices
including expanded indices for all five
primary domains and new index scores for
clients with expressive language or
motor problems with the latter also
ideal for remote administration.
And finally, what's better about this
new revision? First, we've reduced the
administration time for both the full
scale IQ and 10 primary
subtests. We've expanded construct
coverage for working memory, fluid
reasoning, and processing speed.
Administration and scoring directions
have been simplified and we've focused
on developmental appropriateness,
especially for older
examinees. Of course, the norms have
been updated and we've added a number of
ancillary index scores that allow
examiners a great deal of flexibility in
administration and interpretation as
I'd like to finish up by sharing with
you the types of training that Pearson
makes available for the waist 5. This
slide shows the three types of
offerings. We have per seat sessions
where you as an individual or a small
group can sign up. These are a half day.
those scheduled for a private group of
up to 40 clinicians with your choice of
date, time, and modality, either
web-based or in
person, and custom trainings that we put
together to meet special learning
needs. And here are the half-day and
fullday trainings available today. A
much more detailed overview of waste 5,
a half day. Waist 5 on Q interactive,
also a half day. A full day on
administration, scoring, and basic
interpretation. And finally, a half-day
session on interpretation and intervention
intervention
decisionmaking. Here are the next
halfhour webinars that I'll be hosting
on the next two Wednesdays. So I hope
you'll mark your calendars and sign up.
One will introduce you to the new waist
five subtests in detail and the other
will be an overview of using the waist 5
and whims 5 together to assess both
cognition and memory.
We have just a few minutes left to
address a couple of the many questions
that I think have come in. And if I
don't get to your question now, as Erin
told you up top, you'll have an
opportunity to ask to get in touch with
your assessment consultant with the uh
questionnaire that comes up after this
webinar is completed. And I've also put
here a URL where you can go to find the
assessment consultant for your state and
your type of practice and you can
contact them for the information you
need. So, do we have a couple questions
we can sneak in? Yes, thank you so much,
Gail. Uh, one question had come in about
the recording of this webinar. So, yes,
we will be posting the recording of this
webinar um out to our our website and so
check in for that in a few days. Um we
usually get those posted pretty quickly.
Um I thought I'd go ahead and answer
that one. Um one question that came in,
are we still allowed to administer this
test uh on paper or are only the digital
options available? Oh, no. Absolutely.
You can purchase a a typical traditional
paper and pencil kit. You can administer
it using paper and pencil. You can score
it by hand if you like. But as I
mentioned, using digital scoring, which
would be Q global for the paper kit, is
a great way to improve quality control
because it skips all of those uh table
lookups and also um it's a big
timesaver. But yes, absolutely, you can
do digital or you can do paper administration.
administration.
Great. Thank you so much. Uh there also
was a question on how long customers
should be allowed to take to to move to
the new version. So uh what is the
recommendation typically to adopt the
new version of a test? Oh, that's always
a question and and I hate to um not give
you a hard and fast answer, but I and a
couple of colleagues researched this a
few years ago and we actually wrote a
paper on it and it turns out um there's
no absolute rule from APA or your state
psychology boards. Um, sometimes school
districts do have a a time frame and
typically that's one year. Other places
I've seen one to two years, but I would
recommend you get on board. Now, this
test has been around for a while. We
want to be sure that Flynn effects are
not interfering with getting in um
accurate scores. So I would recommend
that you switch to this test within the
next the year from the time it was
published which was tell me again last
August August. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So
we're coming up coming up on us. Yeah.
Yep. All right. Uh there was a couple of
questions about training. So we
definitely recommend um the per seat
training or looking into those training
options. um that will give you a really
good idea of all the different pieces
that are included in ways five. Um so
check out our options for training um or
reach out to your assessment
representative to talk through options
that might uh work best for you. Uh with
that being said, Gail, thank you so much
for being here. We're looking forward to
your webinar next week to dive into the
new subtest more. Um and thank you
everybody for joining us to participate
today. Thanks so much and have a great
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