A Comment on the Use of the Abbreviated Wais with Homeless Men

In a recent article in this journal, Levinson (4 ) reported a correlation of 373 between the full scale WAIS and IQ estimated by Doppelt's (2) formula, for a sample of white native-born homeless men. The author concluded that the abbreviated scale falls short in predicting the individual IQ score. It should be pointed out, however, that the obtained correlation compares favorably with test-retesi reliabilities of the '1Vechsler-Bellevue.' Derner, et ai, ( 1 j, in their survey of the reliability of the Wechsler scales, report correlations ranging from .55 for schizophrenics to .91 for normals with a oneweek interval. The average reliability coefficient for normals was .91. Levinson's study would seem to indicate that the short form predicts full scale IQ as well as the full scale predicts subsequent 'performance on the same test. Although Levinson's obtained correlation indicates that the abbreviated WAIS is useful, it is lower than other correlations reported in the literature. Previous studies have obtained correlations of .93 for functional psychiatric patients (6), -95 for a wide range of psychiatric patients (3), .96 for normals in Wechsler's standardization group (2), and .96 for the 300 men and wolnen in the 25-34 year old group used in the 'CVAIS standardization (5), calculated by a different procedure from Doppelt's. There would seem to be no d p~iovi reason for the short form to be less effective with homeless males than with disturbed hospitalized patients or with normals. The reason for the discrepancy is not apparent from Levinson's note

Cognition · Psychiatry · Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale · Clinical Psychology · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology

• Use of the Abbreviated Wais with Homeless Men

  Open Access•Boris M Levinson•Psychological Reports•1957

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