Assessing Intellectual Functioning in Young Adolescents: How do the WISC-IV and SB5 Compare?

Abstract

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children — Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and the Stanford-Binet — Fifth Edition (SB5) are two of the most commonly used intelligence tests for children and adolescents. No comparative studies of the WISC-IV and SB5 have yet been published. In the current study the WISC-IV and SB5 were administered in counterbalanced order to 30 typically developing 12- to 14-year-old adolescents. There was a significant difference between Full Scale IQs on the two measures, with scores being higher on the WISC-IV. A significant difference was also found between Verbal IQs and there were large score differences for some participants. The article concludes that the WISC-IV and SB5 cannot be presumed to be interchangeable measures of intelligence.