WAIS-R Stability for College Students with Learning Disabilities

We investigated the stability, over a 4-year period, of the WAIS-R for 25 college students with learning disabilities. Results showed that WAIS-R global and subtest scores were highly stable over time, even though subjects tended to obtain higher subtest scores on the WAIS-R retest. Given subjects' four years of educational experiences between test administrations, higher subtest and higher global scores would be expected. However, only the subtest scores were higher on the retest. The reason for this phenomenon is that in order to obtain a Full Scale IQ score of 100 for ages 20–24, 111 scaled-score points are required. In comparison, 101 scaled-score points are needed for ages 18–19. Thus, global and subtest scores across the age groups of 18–19 and 20–24 may not be directly comparable. Assessment specialists working with individuals who have learning disabilities in postsecondary institutions may find these data useful in interpreting WAIS-R test scores.