Comparison of seven-subtest and Satz-Mogel short forms of the WAIS-III

Abstract

Intellectual functioning remains an important domain of functioning to be measured. To reduce the lengthy administration time, numerous short forms of the WAIS-III have been devised. The present study aimed to compare two methods of applying short forms of the WAIS-III within a clinical population. The results revealed that both item-reduced and selected subtest short forms provide excellent predictions of full administration WAIS-III summary and index scores. The Satz-Mogel short form appeared to provide higher predictive power than the seven-subtest short forms and accounted for a higher number of cases within 6 points of the obtained scores from the full administration. However, the Satz-Mogel short form was inferior to the seven-subtest short forms in terms of the reliability of the index and summary IQ scores. As found in previous research, a trade-off occurs between the predictive power and the reliability of a short form.