Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment (Essentials of Psychological Assessment) [Paperback]

Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger (Author), Alan S. Kaufman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0471738468 | ISBN-13: 978-0471738466 | Edition: 1

Essentials of WAIS®-IV Assessment:

• Complete coverage of administration, scoring,interpretation, and reporting
• Expert advice on avoiding common pitfalls
• Conveniently formatted for rapid reference

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret the WAIS®-IV

Coauthored by Alan Kaufman, who was mentored by David Wechsler, the creator of the Wechsler scales, Essentials of WAIS®-IV Assessment provides beginning and seasoned clinicians with comprehensive step-by-step guidelines to administering, scoring, and interpreting this latest revision of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale®.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health practitioners quickly acquire the basic knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of a major psychological assessment instrument. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Offering a clinically rich and innovative theory-based interpretive system, as well as a neuro-psychologically based interpretive approach articulated in detail by Dr. George McCloskey in an invited chapter, this book offers state-of-the-art interpretation of the most popular intelligence test for adults. In addition, the book is packaged with an accompanying CD-ROM containing scoring tables, case report material, worksheets, and a user-friendly software program that fully automates the interpretive system, making Essentials of WAIS®-IV Assessment the best and most authoritative resource of information on this test.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment

• Complete coverage of administration, scoring,interpretation, and reporting

• Expert advice on avoiding common pitfalls

• Conveniently formatted for rapid reference

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret the WAIS-IV

Coauthored by Alan Kaufman, who was mentored by David Wechsler, the creator of the Wechsler scales, Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment provides beginning and seasoned clinicians with comprehensive step-by-step guidelines to administering, scoring, and interpreting this latest revision of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health practitioners quickly acquire the basic knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of a major psychological assessment instrument. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Offering a clinically rich and innovative theory-based interpretive system, as well as a neuro-psychologically based interpretive approach articulated in detail by Dr. George McCloskey in an invited chapter, this book offers state-of-the-art interpretation of the most popular intelligence test for adults. In addition, the book is packaged with an accompanying CD-ROM containing scoring tables, case report material, worksheets, and a user-friendly software program that fully automates the interpretive system, making Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment the best and most authoritative resource of information on this test.

About the Author

Elizabeth O. Lichtenberger, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist residing in Carlsbad, California. She has coauthored several Essentials books, including Essentials of Assessment Report Writing (with Nancy Mather, Nadeen Kaufman, and Alan Kaufman). She and Alan Kaufman are coauthors of Assessing Adolescent and Adult Intelligence, now in its Third Edition.

Alan S. Kaufman, PhD, a leading expert on intelligence testing, is Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Child Study Center at the Yale University School of Medicine. His books, tests, and intelligent testing approach have had worldwide impact on clinical assessment. Dr. Kaufman's approach to test interpretation and his tests (e.g., KABC-II and KTEA-II), which he co-created with his wife Nadeen, reflect an integration of psychometric, theoretical, and clinical perspectives. Alan and Nadeen are the Series Editors of Wiley's Essentials of Psychological Assessment series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471738468
• ISBN-13: 978-0471738466
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.2 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All the Essentials Are Here October 15, 2009

By Robert L. Spray Jr.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Essentials series continues, this time for WAIS-IV. Comprehensive, thoughtful, and based on good theory and research, the authors cover every aspect of WAIS-IV construction, administration, and interpretation. PLUS... there is a bonus this time.... a CD with software to do all the STEPS calculations for you! Wish we could get this for WISC-IV. Highly recommended for clinicians using the WAIS-IV.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars WAIS-IV assessment book helpful, somewhat May 10, 2011

By Sherry

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I ordered this book hoping to get assistance in making sense of the large amount of data generated by administering and scoring the test, following my first administration. One attraction of the book was that it comes with a CD program that interprets the data, once you have calculated and entered the standard scores. I wrongly assumed that the program would do automatically what the test manual prescribes for hand-scoring. (The publisher's available scoring program is rather expensive for the number of tests I administer.)
I had some difficulty opening the program, getting error messages. I contacted Wiley IT support and they were helpful in solving the problem.
I had started writing my report before I received the book. When I ran the test scores through the program, for comparison, I soon realized that some of the interpretation methodology differed from that described in the WAIS-IV manual. For example, the criteria for determining if there are significant differences between subtests within an index, (which according to the book renders an index "not interpretable") are different. The method in the book has a higher numeric level required for significant differences.
That led to some confusion on my part on how to and whether to combine the two approaches or stick with one, which I finally resolved by determining which was more helpful for making recommendations for the client.
If you are comfortable with the various statistical underpinnings of test interpretation and want to do in-depth interpretation, you will probably like this book. It offers an alternative, 5-index approach called the Keith method, in addition to the WAIS 4-index approach. It also offers additional clinical clusters based on various theoretical models of intelligence.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Looks good, but... there is at least one annoying error. December 19, 2010

By Mr. D. Charles Williams

Format:Paperback

There's a theme emerging in my reviews: Better editing and proofreading please!

As I am interested in Intellectual Disability, I opened first to pages 289 and 290 and my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw the numbers in Rapid Reference 8.4!

I tried to think of some explanation for these numbers, perhaps they tested a large group with ASD? Perhaps, but even then... In the end I concluded that I just don't understand these numbers, and left a note in the margin to that effect.

On closer inspection, what seems to have happened is that Rapid Reference 8.4 has the same numbers as Rapid Reference 8.2 the *real* Autism and Asperger's Group. There has been an error.

Please can we have the proper numbers?

On second thoughts, just rip out pages 285-290 it is mostly drivel I am sorry to say.

I'll write more about the rest of this book when I get some time.