The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised, Revisited

Assessments are ongoing dilemmas in every facet of mankind. Doctors assess their patients both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Bosses assess their employers on job performance, attendance, and employee relations. Educators assess students cognitively as well as affectively. There are many problems created by assessments: who does the assessment, what credentials are necessary by the assessor to perform the assessment as accurately as possible, who should be assessed, what is being assessed, and what instrument should be used to measure the assessment. These issues were addressed in the article, "Standardized Assessments Used in American Public Schools are Invalid and Unreliable." Tables used by practitioners administering the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Revised found the practitioners overidentifying discrepancies of children with higher quotients. Examiners who were all instructed alike erred in scoring the Kaufman Assessment Battery for children with an average of 5.8 errors per examiner. The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence was being administered to children in the wrong age bracket. This test also had problems with the hands-on material not connecting together properly. Testings were found to be market driven, with testing companies trying any and all means to sell their testings. One instrument for assessment, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale- Revised (WAIS-R), is utilized to measure an adult's intelligence opacity. The WAIS-R is one of the most taught means of IQ assessments to persons enrolled in graduate level psychology programs. The studies conducted found the certified and licensed assessment specialists erred in clerical and mathematical calculations while administering the WAIS-R. Frequently, the assessment specialists had difficulty in the scoring of the verbal responses. Incorrect raw scores and full scale IQ discrepancies added to the inaccuracy of the WAIS-R assessment. Since the assessment specialist is a primary source of accuracy to the interpretation of one's IQ assessment, it is imperative to seek out the most respected licensed professional to assess one's IQ. Knowing the importance of the assessment specialist's skills, I sought out the most renown licensed psychologist in the state to perform my own neuropsychological evaluation. The testings duration was approximately four and one half hours long. This is an enormous amount of time for one to maintain infinite attention and acute concentration. The assessment began with an assessment of grooming, as well as, punctuality for the appointment. Background information pertaining to my medical history, family history, and childhood were recorded along with my previous schooling and social life. The battery of testings attempts to assess a wide variety of higher and lower cerebral functional areas of the brain. There was the Full Scale IQ, Memory Scale, Verba, and Performance IQ. The Ammons QT measured the receptive vocabulary ability. The testings seemed endless and concluded with the Finger Tapping Test. During the testings, I found periods of loss of concentration. Two lengthy, successive paragraphs were read to me, the testings required me to reiterate these paragraphs with as much detail as possible. Mental arithmetic, word associations, block design, picture sequencing, spatial relationships, visual acuity ... I found ambiguity in several visual perception identification. The assessment specialist "threw these out." There were two personality testings given to me. In order to save time, I was given these to complete during my lunch break. My lunch break offered me not time to recover from the incessant barrage of testings: I found numerous questions on these personality assessments to be "double loaded". "I like to gamble for small stakes," was one question in particular. If I didn't answer this question, it could be inferred I like to gamble for large stakes. I also question the semantics of the word "gamble". …