Validity of the Revised Beta Examination and a Short-Form Beta for Hospitalized Alcoholics

Abstract

Although the Revised Beta Examination, a nonverbal measure of general intelligence, is one of the few group tests extensively validated for psychiatric patients in state hospitals, it has not been determined whether the instrument is useful for discriminating among alcoholic inpatients in state facilities. The Beta was administered to 494 detoxified alcoholics (471 men, 23 women), aged 20 to 60 yr. ( M = 3.99, SD = 10.1) and hospitalized in a state rehabilitation agency. They were grouped by prior occupational status and educational attainment. Means of the Beta Weighted Scores differed significantly among the groups on both criteria whereas the mean IQs differed only for the educational classification. Also reported was the development of a two-subtest short-form Beta based on the Digit Symbol and Picture Completion subtests. The short-form scores differentiated the groups about as well as the Weighted Scores.