The Validity of the Information and Vocabulary Subtests of the WAIS for Predicting College Achievement

Abstract

Reviews on the validity of the WAIS have shown that the Information and Vocabulary subtests are valid measures of general intelligence. The present review investigated the ability of each of these two subtests to predict college grade point average (GPA) compared to that of well-established college aptitude tests (ACE, ACT, SAT, SCAT). The means of the comparative validity coefficients indicated that in spite of their greater brevity, the Information and Vocabulary subtests predicted college GPA more accurately than did the verbal sections and as validly as the composite scores of college aptitude tests. It was concluded that the subtests (and their recent revisions on the WAIS-R) could justifiably be used for the quick assessment of academic ability in higher educational settings.