Codification of Intratest Scatter on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales

Abstract

The analysis of response inconsistency is a crucial aspect of intellectual and clinical psychological assessment. Erratic patterns of failures and successes across and within particular domains qualify the measurement of intellectual potential and functioning. Although the interpretation of intertest scatter (inconsistencies between subtest scores) on intellectual tests has been elaborated on in the literature, intratest scatter (inconsistencies within specific subtests) is an underresearched area. Some approaches towards establishing a quantitative measure of intrasubtest scatter (ISS) have been developed, but most have proved clinically impractical or have produced inconsistent results. This article proposes a methodology of codifying ISS on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales to provide a measurement of inefficiency within subtests for individual subjects. In addition to systematizing and standardizing scatter measurement in clinical assessment, such codification will be useful in future research directed at discriminating groups based on inefficient performance across particular subtests. Applications and limitations in ISS interpretation for the various Wechsler instruments are annotated and discussed.

L'analyse de l'inconstance dans les réponses constitue un aspect fort important de l'évaluation psychologique intellectuelle et clinique. Des modèles irréguliers d'échecs et de réussites entre des domaines précis ou à l'intérieur de ceux-ci viennent qualifier l'évaluation du potentiel et du fonctionnement intellectuels. Bien que la littérature ait abordé l'interprétation de la dispersion entre les tests (disparités entre les scores des sous-tests) lors d'évaluations intellectuelles, on relève toutefois peu de documents sur la dispersion intra-test (disparités à l'intérieur de sous-échelles précises). Quelques approches ont été mises de l'avant pour établir une mesure quantitative de la dispersion intra-sous-test, mais la plupart se sont révélées peu pratiques sur le plan clinique ou ont produit des résultats inconstants. Nous proposons une méthodologie pour codifier la dispersion intra-sous-test pour les Échelles d'intelligence de Wechsler afin de fournir une mesure de l'inefficacité dans certains sous-tests chez un individu. En plus de systématiser et de standardiser la mesure de la dispersion en évaluation clinique, une telle codification se révélera utile dans les recherches visant à différencier les groupes selon des performances insuffisantes sur des sous-tests précis. Nous présentons également des applications ainsi que des limites dans l'interprétation de la dispersion pour les diverses échelles de Wechsler.

Keywords

wechsler scatter intelligence intratest scatter

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