NASP Communiqué, Vol. 33, #7
May 2005

Book Review

Assessment of Children: WISC-IV and WPPSI-III Supplement

By Jerome Sattler & Ron Dumont (2004, Jerome M. Sattler, Inc.)
Reviewed by Thomas Cushman, Assistant Editor

When Sattler published Assessment of Children: Cognitive Applications: Fourth Edition in 2001, neither the WISC-IV nor the WPPSI-III had been released—thus, the need for an updated text that addresses the myriad issues specific to these assessment tools.  However, the text is offered to both professionals and students as a resource that can “stand alone” or be used in conjunction with the Fourth Edition.

Like its predecessors, the text is very well organized, making it very easy to use.  The text is over 400 pages long and it is made up of eight chapters – four on the WISC-IV and four on the WPPSI-III.  Each chapter begins by stating its goals and ends with a comprehensive summary.  The summaries are so well done that a good way to read the text is to begin each chapter by reading the summary.  The authors are willing to be critical of the tests.  As just one example:  “We wonder whether the revised structure of the WISC-IV and WPPSI-III gives a more valid picture of the nature of intelligence or whether the former structure provided a more valid picture” (p. xiii), and they go on to state research is needed in order to determine the utility of the assessment tools.

Chapters one and five provide a most comprehensive description of the WISC-IV and WPPSI-III respectively.  Issues of test construction, standardization and psychometric properties are covered comprehensively with copious use of figures and tables to organize the information.  The discussion in both chapters on test administration procedures is “must reading” for those in training and there are plenty of good reminders for the veteran school psychologist.  A particularly provocative set of tables for each test is provided on the distribution of IQ scores across gender, race/ethnicity, parental levels of education and geographic region. While the data are presented and briefly described, there is no discussion of why the differences among groups might exist or implications— perhaps appropriately so, given the potential quagmire.  For example, the mean FSIQ score for children from different backgrounds is not 100 and yet the distribution of special services continues to be based, at least for now, on how such scores compare with scores from other tests, such as standardized measures of reading, math and writing.  A potential implication is that some children from specific groups may still be under or over-represented across the educationally handicapping conditions.  While this is an age-old problem, the new assessment devices do not appear to be designed with such problems in mind and the authors have not made this text a place to address such thorny issues.

The chapters have an important discussion of each test’s strengths and limitations and each discusses which test should be used in the overlapping age-ranges.  The authors suggest using the WISC-IV in such cases because of its breadth.  They point out that the WISC-IV has 10 subtests making up four composite areas, while the WPPSI-III has seven subtests making up two composite areas.  This suggestion is different from that in the WISC-IV manual and is just one of many useful perspectives provided in the chapters.

Chapters two and six address the core subtests that make up each test. The rationale for each subtest is discussed along with the psychometric properties. Guidelines for administration could not be more comprehensive.  For example, Block Design alone on the WISC-IV includes 39 guidelines, many of which have additional subcategories.  The text then includes an extensive discussion regarding “interpretive suggestions” for each subtest which is, once again, essential for the student and a great update for those who have been in the field for some time.

The next chapters (3 and 7) address the supplemental subtests and the authors caution against their arbitrary use because they introduce unknown degrees of measurement error.  With that said, a rationale, psychometric properties, administrative guidelines and interpretive suggestions are given for each of the subtests.

Many will find the final chapters (4 and 8) of particular interest since they discuss test interpretation in great depth.  The discussion of “profile analysis” is particularly timely since it comes with some degree of controversy.  The authors state “Profile analysis is problematic because the subtest scaled scores are not as reliable as the Index scores and because neither the subtests nor the individual Composites measure unique cognitive processes” (p. 114).  The authors conclude profile analysis cannot be used to arrive at a diagnostic label because of these and other problems that they clearly articulate.  However, profile analysis can be used, according to the authors, to generate hypotheses about the child’s abilities and those hypotheses can then be compared to other sources of information.  The authors discuss types of profiles, potential sources of inter-subtest variability and the “primary methods of profile analysis” in depth.  Chapter 4 (on the WISC-IV) includes report writing guidelines and a sample report—once again, information that students should find particularly useful.

In conclusion, this is a well-written and timely text that addresses the content comprehensively and is written by two authors with exceptional credibility.  It is not just appropriate, but perhaps essential reading for those working with the WISC-IV and WPPSI-III.

©2005, National Association of School Psychologists. Tom Cushman, PhD, is a professor at SUNY Oswego and Assistant Editor for the Communiqué.