Table Of ContentWISC-V Assessment
and Interpretation
Scientist–Practitioner Perspectives
WISC-V Assessment
and Interpretation
Scientist–Practitioner Perspectives
Lawrence G. Weiss
Pearson Clinical Assessment,
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Donald H. Saklofske
Department of Psychology,
University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario, Canada
James A. Holdnack
Pearson Clinical Assessment,
Bear, Delaware, USA
Aurelio Prifitera
Pearson Clinical Assessment,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON
NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
125, London Wall, EC2Y 5AS
525 B Street, Suite 1800, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA
225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek
permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements
with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency,
can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the
Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or
medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein.
In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of
others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors,
assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products
liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products,
instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
ISBN: 978-0-12-404697-9
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
For information on all Academic Press publications
visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/
Publisher: Nikki Levy
Acquisition Editor: Nikki Levy
Editorial Project Manager: Barbara Makinster
Production Project Manager: Melissa Read
Designer: Greg Harris
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Dedication
This book is dedicated to:
Judy Ann, my wife of 30 years – L.G.W.
My father Harold and the memory of my beautiful mother
Frances Annette – D.H.S.
My family Tina, Julia, and Adam, for their support – J.A.H.
The memory of my father-in-law Dr. Richard Matré and of
my brother-in-law Frank Ivaldi who both inspired me in their
own ways to pursue the professional career
path I have taken – A.P.
We also wish to dedicate this book to the family of David
Wechsler. They have given their unwavering support to our
work over the years to update, improve, and revise the
WISC. David’s sons Adam and Len, and Adam’s two children
Daniel and Neil, have generously engaged in the many
updates and revisions to the scales over the years. They have
been especially supportive of moving to the digital format
through Q-interactive which we could not have done
without their support and encouragement. They have helped
make the work of carrying on the legacy of David Wechsler’s
contributions to assessment both a pleasure and honor.
List of Contributors
A. Lynne Beal Private Practice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Kristina Breaux Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
Mark Daniel Pearson Clinical Assessment, Bloomington, MN, USA
Lisa Drozdick Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
Jacques Grégoire Université Catholique de Louvain, Psychological Sciences Research
Institute, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Jossette G. Harris Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of
Medicine, Denver, CO, USA
James A. Holdnack Pearson Clinical Assessment, Bear, DE, USA
Antolin M. Llorente Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
Victoria Locke Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
Jessie L. Miller Pearson Clinical Assessment, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Maria R. Munoz Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
Tianshu Pan Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
Aurelio Prifitera Pearson Clinical Assessment, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA
Donald H. Saklofske Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario, Canada
Bennett A. Shaywitz Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity, Yale University School of
Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Sally E. Shaywitz Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity, Yale University School of
Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Dustin Wahlstrom Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
Lawrence G. Weiss Pearson Clinical Assessment, San Antonio, TX, USA
vii
About the Authors
The authoring team of Weiss, Saklofske, Holdnack, and Prifitera has a long his-
tory of successful collaboration. This is the seventh text book written by two or
more members of the team.
Lawrence G. Weiss, Ph.D. is Vice President of Global Research and
Development at Pearson Clinical Assessment. He began his career with The
Psychological Corporation 25 years ago and now oversees a department of more
than 150 professionals in 11 countries across 4 continents for Pearson. Dr. Weiss
is responsible for all research and test development activities related to the com-
pany’s clinical assessment instruments, including the Wechsler scales. In addi-
tion, he has authored or coauthored approximately 100 books, book chapters,
technical reports, and research articles in peer reviewed professional journals
including two special issues devoted to his work.
Donald H. Saklofske, Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Psychology,
University of Western Ontario, Canada. He holds visiting and adjunct profes-
sorships at universities in Canada and China and serves on several professional
psychology association boards. He has served on WISC and WAIS advisory
panels and has published more than 270 books, book chapters and journal arti-
cles on topics including intelligence, personality, individual differences, emo-
tional intelligence, resiliency and psychological assessment. Don is editor of
the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, Canadian Journal of School
Psychology and Associate Editor of Personality and Individual Differences;
he also co-edits the Springer book series on Human Exceptionality. He is an
elected fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Canadian
Psychological Association.
James A. Holdnack, Ph.D. is Senior Scientist in the Global Research and
Development group at Pearson Clinical Assessment. Dr. Holdnack is a licensed
psychologist with a specialty in clinical neuropsychology. He has worked in
the test development industry for more than 15 years and has contributed either
as development lead, co-lead, or consultant on over 20 clinical products. As
Senior Scientist, he provides research consultation and support to the Pearson
Clinical Assessment research directors. He has published over 50 books, book
chapters, and peer reviewed research articles and speaks regularly at national
conferences.
ix
x About the Authors
Aurelio Prifitera, Ph.D. is Managing Director at Pearson leading the clinical
assessment group. In addition to his psychology training, he holds an MBA
degree. Aurelio was trained as a clinical psychologist and worked in clinical
settings and private practice, and taught graduate level assessment courses prior
to working in the test development field over 25 years ago. He has led several
major clinical assessment projects over the years prior to his current role and
has helped grow the availability of assessments outside the US in many inter-
national markets. He has published numerous peer-reviewed research articles,
books and book chapters in the area of assessment. Dr. Prifitera is the founding
editor and author of this WISC clinical book series first published in 1998 by
Academic Press.
Description:The Wechsler Intelligence Scale is the most widely used intelligence test for children worldwide. WISC-V introduces new subtests, composite scores, process scores, error scores, and scaled scores as a more complex and accurate means of assessing cognitive abilities. WISC-V Assessment and Interpretat
