Concurrent Validity of Three WAIS-R Short Forms in Psychiatric Inpatients

Several investigators have proposed short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) to provide more cost-effective estimates of intellectual ability. The present study compared the concurrent validity of Silverstein's (1982) 2-subtest, Doppelt's (1956) 4-subtest, and Ward's (1990) 7-subtest short forms in predicting the WAIS-R Full Scale IQs of 304 psychiatric inpatients. Although Full Scale IQs were highly correlated with 2- and 4-subtest estimates, a significantly higher correlation was obtained with the 7-subtest short form. Errors in predicted IQ were smallest for the 7-subtest short form. The results support previous research that found better predictive accuracy for the 7-subtest short form than for the 2- and 4-subtest methods, despite little additional cost in administration time.