The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Third Edition (WISC-III)

Abstract

David Wechsler placed a great deal of emphasis on the assessment of general intelligence even though his original test featured both Verbal and Performance scales. Wechsler viewed intelligence as a complex interaction of abilities that produce intelligent behavior that reflects “g.” He explained

But Vocabulary is a better test of intelligence than a Form Board, primarily because people can express themselves more meaningfully in verbal than in geometric symbols. This, of course, would not hold in the case of deaf-mutes or individuals who are in the habit ofthinking spatially, manipulatively or in any other way. Hence, as a generalprinciple, an effective test ofintelligence should be made up of tasks calling upon as many “abilities” as possible. This was intuitively perceived by Binet, who was thefirst to devise an effective test ofgeneral intelligence. (p. 16, 1958)