I have been involved with administering the WAIS for over fifteen years. I have been involved in regularly training individuals in this tool for many years. Over this time I have seen substantial developments in the tool, and in responses to changes in the literature.

I think this undoubtedly continues to be the strength of the WAIS; the willingness to consider developing changes and to waste no time in responding to these accordingly. The earlier WAIS (WAIS-III) was available to purchase in 1997, and so it would appear timely for the revisions presented through the WAIS-IV.

The WAIS-IV is a crucial development from the WAIS-III. It offers a more streamlined version without losing any of its quality. Indeed, the quality of the tool is much enhanced by such developments. For example, it removes sub-tests that have more recently been considered unhelpful and which added little to the tool. From the WAIS-III, 12 sub-tests have been retained, four sub-tests have been removed, with three new sub-tests added.

Within the subtests which remain, there have been helpful and timely updates whilst there are some additions to the WAIS-IV, its revised strength is in the fine tuning of its subtests in line with changes to the literature.

This not only ensures that the examinee’s time on the test is now more focused on what is key to understanding their general cognitive ability, but its norms for the consequent scores have been substantially updated. For example, the discontinue rules within the sub-tests have been helpfully reduced.

I have always been impressed with the careful and considered approach of the publishers when developing this tool, and the WAIS-IV is no exception to this. Adequate time, careful training of researchers and ensuring testing is always undertaken under clear ethical guidelines, has continued to develop a robust and much valued tool.

Whilst they may be quick to respond to changes in the literature, they are methodical in their approaches to any changes made. As a result, not only the norms of the tool have been carefully updated, but so have the reliabilities and validity, with floor and ceiling effects within the tool further improved.

It is clear that the WAIS-IV had a number of goals in its development, all of which are valid and timely. It has aimed, and succeeded, in enhancing the measure of fluid intelligence. Further, it has clearly responded to changes in research on working memory and processing speed, and has much enhanced these elements of the tool. Of great importance is its co-norming with the Wechsler Memory Scale IV, offering great utility and further application which will be invaluable to the clinician and researcher.

Further, the publishers have taken careful consideration of users views of the earlier tool. As such, they have worked hard and been successful in making the tool more user-friendly. This is demonstrated through a reduction in the testing time and therefore not using the valuable time of both the examiner and examinee unnecessarily.

The timing of subtests now has less emphasis, and so is more user-friendly and accurate for some of the clients who require extra time to consider the expectations of the subtest, without having an unnecessary time limit applied.

The instructions for the tool have been successfully revised for greater clarity, as well as the development of a clear and helpful record form. For example, instructions for the subtests have been revised to take in to account any comprehension difficulties.

A challenge in the older tool was some more impaired individuals not understanding clearly some of the instructions, and which then potentially flawed some of the later results. These considerations have been taken in to account and very successfully removed. Even on a very practical level. The portability of the tool has been much improved.

The WAIS-IV continues to have the same applicability as to the earlier WAIS-III. This continues to be a real strength of the WAIS-IV, as you are able to maximise the use of the tool for a variety of purposes. Whilst you always have the option of the full scale IQ, you also have the richness of being able to compute the IQ for each of the index scores, such as working memory and processing speed.

This is invaluable to those users who are interested in how best to engage with an individual following the assessment, such as through therapy or simply engaging with them in any one to one or group context. This is a real asset, particularly if the individual presents with any challenges in their cognitive abilities as measured by the WAIS-IV.

I think that the WAIS-IV is a timely and crucial development in continuing to examine general cognitive ability. It is a user-friendly, robust and well developed tool. In my opinion it really is top of its class. It is a must for any psychologist who wishes to conduct an assessment of an individual’s cognitive abilities, or any researcher interested in this tool as part of their research. It is something which is highly recommended.