Common Factor Structure of the Ten Subtest Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition in a Clinical Sample and...

The 10 core subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) suffice to produce the 4 index scores for clinical assessments. Factor analytic studies with the full complement of 15 subtests reveal a 5-factor structure that aligns with Cattell-Horn-Carroll taxonomy of cognitive abilities. The current study investigates the validity of 5-factor structure in a clinical setting with reduced number of 10 subtests.

Confirmatory factor analytic models were fitted to a clinical neurosciences archival data set (n_Male = 166, n_Female = 155) and to 9 age-group samples of the WAIS-IV standardization data (n = 200 for each group). The clinical and the standardization samples differed as (a) the former comprised scores from patients, aged 16 to 91, with disparate neurological diagnosis whereas the latter was demographically stratified, (b) only the 10 core subtests in the former but all 15 subtests in the latter were administered, and (c) the former had missing data, but the latter was complete.

Despite empirical constraints to eliciting 5 factors with only 10 indicators, the well-fitting, 5-factor (acquired knowledge, fluid intelligence, short-term memory, visual processing, and processing speed) measurement model evinced metric invariance between the clinical and standardization samples.

The same cognitive constructs are measured on the same metrics in every sample examined and provide no reason to reject the assumption that the 5 underlying latent abilities of the 15 subtest version in the standardization samples can also be inferred from the 10 subtest version in clinical populations.