Faculty Articles

WISC-III Premorbid Prediction Strategies: Demographic and Best Performance Approaches

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1998

Publication Title

Psychological Assessment

Volume

10

Issue/Number

3

First Page

277

ISSN

1040-3590

Last Page

284

Abstract/Excerpt

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; D. Wechsler, 1991) standardization data were used to explore premorbid prediction strategies for use with children. First, demographic variables including parental education, occupation, and ethnicity were entered in regression analyses to determine demographic-based premorbid prediction equations. Predicted IQ scores correlated with Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, and Performance IQ at .53, .52, and .45, respectively. Second, demographic and current ability variables were used conjointly. The 10 standard subtests individually served as measures of present ability, and ethnicity and parental education served as demographic predictors. These equations doubled or tripled the amount of variance accounted for by demographic variables alone. Third, a WISC-III best performance approach was explored with use of the subtest/demographic equations that included either Vocabulary or Picture Completion, referred to as the BEST-2 approach. The utility of this BEST-2 approach and the pure demographic approach was investigated in a clinical sample of brain-injured children. Results support the validity of both approaches in estimating premorbid functioning in children.

DOI

10.1037/1040-3590.10.3.277

Peer Reviewed

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