Discuss the five cognitive factors assessed by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5), including the items used to measure each factor, and compare the SB5 with the Wechsler scales, identifying what skills are measured by the various subtests of the WAIS-IV

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include an explanation of the following SB5's five cognitive factors: (1) Fluid reasoning is measured by questions about how objects are similar, analogies, and incongruities in verbal statements as well as items that ask people to fill in the missing shape in a group of shapes and to tell a story that explains what is going on in a series of pictures; (2) Knowledge items assess a person's general information regarding a wide range of topics, including various facts and definitions; (3) Quantitative reasoning includes test items that measure a person's ability to solve problems involving numbers; (4) Visual-spatial processing includes putting picture puzzles together and copying geometric shapes as well as reproducing patterns of blocks, choosing pictures that show how a piece of paper would look if it were folded or cut, and explaining which direction one would be facing after several turns; (5) Working memory measures the ability to use short-term memory with items that ask the person to correctly remember the order of colored beads on a stick, to name the last word from each sentence after hearing several sentences read to them, and repeating a series of digits forward or backward after hearing them once. A widely used alternative to the SB5 is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). A version for children is called the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Like the Stanford-Binet, the Wechsler tests are individually administered intelligence tests and yield a single overall intelligence score. In addition, these tests also separate scores for performance (nonverbal) intelligence and verbal (language- or symbol-oriented) intelligence. The abilities measured by the Wechsler tests include: (1) Verbal Comprehension as measured by the subtests of similarities, vocabulary, and information; (2) Perceptual Reasoning as measured by the subtests of block design, matrix reasoning, and visual puzzles; (3) Working Memory as measured by the subtests of digit span and arithmetic; and (4) Processing Speed as measured by the subtests of symbol search and coding.