Supplementary WMS-III tables for determining primary subtest strengths and weaknesses

It is common practice to evaluate the age-adjusted subtest scores from the Wechsler intelligence scales to determine strengths and weaknesses within a profile. The Wechsler Memory Scale-III (WMS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997a) represents a significant improvement over its predecessors and, for the first time, provides age-adjusted subtest scores for interpretation, just as the Wechsler intelligence scales have done for 60 years. It is reasonable to assume that examiners will evaluate the WMS-III subtest profiles for strengths and weaknesses. However, the WMS-III Administration and Scoring Manual and the WAIS-III-WMS-III Technical Manual (The Psychological Corporation, 1997) provide no assistance for accomplishing this goal. Data from the WMS-III standardization sample, as described in the WAIS-III-WMS-III Technical Manual, were used to develop tables for determining both confidence levels and infrequency of differences between individual subtest scores and the means of 5 subtest combinations that may be clinically relevant for individual cases.