WISC®-V Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - 5th edition

The WISC^®-V, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 5 edition is the latest version of the most popular intelligence measure in history!

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – 5^th edition was modified and redesigned to provide the most comprehensive picture of the child's abilities. The WISC^®-V is an individual assessment tool measuring intelligence in children aged 6-16 (6;0–16;11). As a part of the Polish standardization in 2017–18 three pilot studies of the verbal tests (Vocabulary, Similarities, Information, Comprehension) as well as of the Immediate Symbol Translation test were conducted. The final version of the tests is based on the results of these studies.    

The WISC^®-V includes 21 tests and allows to calculate the Full Scale IQ and 13 other complex indices. The flexible form makes it easily adaptable to one's needs. Multiplicity of indices and the resulting multiplicity of data provided by the tool allows for a precise and comprehensive definition of the respondent's strengths and weaknesses.

The WISC^® tests can be divided into three categories:

• Primary (10 tests) – providing a comprehensive description and assessment of a child's intellectual abilities. Seven of these primary subtests are used to calculate the FSIQ. The primary subtests are necessary to calculate a numbe of other primary and complementary indices.
• Ancillary (6 tests) – can be applied to replace any of the primary subtests when it can't  be administered. They serve as well to calculate certain ancillary indices.
• Complementary (5 tests) – provide complementary data on cognitive skills when needed. They are used to calculate complementary indices.

To calculate the FSIQ (Full Scale IQ) seven out of the then primary tests are used. When any of the FSIQ tests fails to be administered, one of the ancillary tests or one of the primary tests not included in the FSIQ can be employed.

Reliability: Reliability of the WISC^®-V tests was estimated in three ways – by the assessment of internal consistency (where possible), stability (by means of one month retest on the group of 200 respondents) and agreement between the judges (this only in the case of the Vocabulary, Similiarities and Comprehension tests).  

Validity: For the purposes of the validation study 189 children aged 6-16 from the standardization sample were examined with selected tests from the IDS-2 Intelligence and Development Scales for Children and Adolescents (these included all the intelligence tests proper and tests designed to measure executive functions). Moreover, the following groups were examined:

• children with outstanding skills
• chilldren with minor and moderate mental disabilities
• children diagnosed with ADHD
• children diagnosed with dislexia

Applicability:

The WISC^®-V has a broad range of possible applications including:

• identification of mental disabilities
• identification and assesssment of learning disorders
• assessement of strong and weak points in cognitive processes
• assessement of skillful children
• neurophysiological evaluation

Materials:

• The complete set without manuals (test aids, sheets and test booklets 25 copies each)

The WISC^®-V manuals will be released in 2021 (most probably in the second quarter of the year).