Base rate data on the abnormality of subtest scatter for WAIS-R short-forms

Tables are presented which permit clinicians to determine the abnormality of a WAIS-R subtest profile when one of nine different short-forms has been administered. The tables record the discrepancy, between each subtest and the individual's mean subtest score, which must be exceeded to occur in less than 15 per cent or 5 per cent of the healthy population. Two tables are provided; the first uses a statistical formula developed by Silverstein (1984a) to estimate the discrepancies from the US standardization sample. The second presents empirically derived discrepancies based on a sample of 326 healthy individuals which was representative of the adult UK population in terms of age, sex and social class distributions. The UK sample was also used to generate base rate data on the cumulative number of abnormal subtest deviations exhibited by healthy individuals.