Appendix 6.A identifies the cognitive constructs likely to be used to complete each WISC-V Subtest. Content is arranged according to the domains of functioning assessed by the WISC-V: Verbal Comprehension, Fluid Reasoning and Visual Spatial, Working Memory, Processing Speed, and the Complementary subtests. The Fluid Reasoning and Visual Spatial domains are addressed together because of the large amount of overlap of the cognitive constructs likely to be used. Likewise, the Arithmetic and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests are included with the Working Memory Domain subtests. The five complementary subtests are listed together in the final section. Discussion within each section focuses on primary and secondary cognitive constructs and executive functions.
Primary constructs are those capacities that are the focal point of assessment with the subtest.
Secondary constructs are those capacities that were not intended to be the primary focus of assessment, but that may be affecting performance to varying degrees depending on the specific cognitive strengths and weaknesses of the examinee and how the examinee is approaching the task.
As a class of cognitive constructs, executive functions are responsible for cueing and directing the use of other mental capacities that are used for the purposes of perceiving, feeling, thinking, and acting. As such, they are intricately involved in the performance of all the tasks of the WISC-V. The degree of involvement of specific executive functions in the performance of specific subtests, however, is highly variable and dependent on many factors, including the directions provided to the examinee about how to perform the task and the input, processing, and output demands of the task. It is important to understand the role of executive functions in cueing and directing the use of primary and secondary cognitive constructs. For most subtests, demands for the use of executive functions are reduced greatly through the use of explicit directions and teaching examples that model how to perform a task and/or the kind of response that is desired. For some examinees, however, even these executive function aids do not help to ameliorate the effects of their severe executive function deficits, and the effects of these deficits often can be observed in the examinee's efforts to perform tasks.
The Verbal Comprehension Domain subtests assess many primary and secondary constructs.
The two primary cognitive constructs assessed by the Verbal Comprehension Domain comprise Retrieval of Verbal Content from Remote Long-Term Storage and Reasoning with Auditorily Presented Verbal Content.
This cognitive capacity is essential for effective performance of the Vocabulary and Information subtests. In the case of the Similarities and Comprehension Subtests, the relative importance of retrieval of information from remote long-term storage can vary greatly. If an examinee is not familiar with words that are presented as part of the directions or the items of the subtest, then lack of retrieval of semantic information will have a limiting effect on performance with the Similarities subtest and the Comprehension subtest, but this is much less likely to occur with the WISC-V than the WISC-IV, because the test development team made a concerted effort to avoid the use of words such as lumber and advantages that may not be known to younger examinees. Beyond understanding of subtest directions and item content, an examinee may have stored specific knowledge that can be retrieved and expressed as responses to test items. In the case of the Vocabulary and Similarities subtests, the type of verbal content retrieved is semantic knowledge; for the Information subtest, specific content area factual knowledge is retrieved; for the Comprehension subtest, the type of content retrieved is specific knowledge of social conventions and rules or the reasons for practical behaviors.
This cognitive construct most often is required for success with the Similarities and Comprehension subtests. Reasoning with language is not assessed directly by the Vocabulary and Information subtests; individuals who have not registered and stored the needed specific word meanings or content area facts prior to administration of the Vocabulary and Information subtests cannot apply reasoning ability to “figure out” the meaning of specific vocabulary words or to induce the answer to factual information questions during test administration. Examinees with extensive semantic and content area knowledge stores, however, can access these while responding to specific Similarities and Comprehension subtest items, thereby bypassing the use of reasoning abilities on those items.
There are multiple Secondary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Verbal Comprehension Domain as described below.
While listening to the directions and the items presented by the examiner, the examinee must have adequate auditory acuity. If the examinee cannot hear all of the speech sounds made by the examiner, directions may be misunderstood. Typically, an examinee's auditory acuity should be assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of assistive devices prior to test administration, thereby reducing the likelihood that poor auditory acuity will be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, a deficit in auditory acuity can significantly affect task performance with all verbal subtests.
While listening to the directions and the items presented by the examiner, the examinee must have the capacity to attend to auditorily presented verbal information. A lack of adequate attention can compromise auditory discrimination, auditory comprehension, and the initial registration of information and lead to inconsistent or ineffective performance of test items.
The examinee must be able to listen to and effectively process the language used by the examiner when directions are being provided before he or she responds to the items of each Verbal Comprehension subtest. If the examinee is prone to auditory discrimination errors when listening to others speak, specific words may be misunderstood resulting in incorrect responses or no response at all.
Not only must the examinee be able to hear and discriminate the individual sounds of words spoken by the examiner, the examinee must also grasp the meaning of the sentences that are being spoken as subtest directions or items. Increasing complexity in the grammar and syntax used in subtest directions and items increases the demand for well-developed auditory comprehension. Although all of the Verbal subtests require the use of auditory comprehension to some degree, the Comprehension and Information subtests make greater demands on this construct than the Similarities and Vocabulary subtests. It should be noted, however, that the WISC-V test development team made a concerted effort to simplify the grammar and syntax of test directions in an attempt to minimize the possibility that auditory comprehension difficulties would be interfering with the understanding of test directions.
The speed with which an examinee can register auditory information can greatly affect the examinee's ability to register all the information that is presented in a short period of time. Although the items of each Verbal Comprehension subtest are read to the examinee at a normal conversational pace, an examinee with slow auditory processing speed may not be able to register all of the information provided in each item; this is especially true for the Comprehension and Information subtests.
An examinee who is not able to initially register auditorily presented information and hold it for a brief time will not be able to effectively engage with the processing of the intended input or be able to formulate an adequate response. The ability to initially register and briefly hold information (typically referred to as short-term or immediate memory) is distinct from the other auditory capacities discussed here and is also different from working memory that involves the manipulation of information after it has been registered, and different from the executive functions that are needed to cue the effective initial registration and holding of information.
When directions are long or make use of complex grammar and syntax and/or the examinee requires more than a few seconds to retrieve or compose a response, the examinee may find it necessary to hold in mind and reference the auditorily presented item content while attempting to retrieve relevant information and/or compose a response. Although working memory capacity may need to be accessed for any of the Verbal Comprehension subtests, it is most likely to be used when attempting the items of the Comprehension and Information subtests.
After hearing, comprehending, and processing subtest directions and items, the examinee is required to use expressive language abilities to communicate a response. Although all of the Verbal Comprehension subtests require a vocal response, the Vocabulary and Comprehension subtests typically require more in the way of expressive language production than the Similarities and Information subtests in order for a response to be judged correct. Responses to the Similarities subtest items also may require greater expressive language capacity if the examinee is unable to provide a concise single word concept response to identify how two words are alike.
For the Verbal Comprehension subtests, accurate responding depends in part on the effective use of one or more of the following executive functions:
The Fluid and Visual Spatial Domain subtests assess many primary and secondary constructs.
The Fluid and Visual Spatial Domain assesses a single primary cognitive construct: Reasoning with Nonverbal Visual Material.
This cognitive capacity is essential for effective performance of most of the items of the Matrix Reasoning, Figure Weights, and Block Design subtests and many of the items of the Picture Concepts subtest. Although Carroll (1993) and the WISC-V test development team (Wechsler, 2014) consider the Visual Puzzles subtest an assessment of reasoning, clinicians should be open to the possibility that the Visual Puzzles subtest may be a stronger measure of basic visual perceptual processing than a measure of reasoning with nonverbal visual stimuli, especially when performance on the Visual Puzzles subtest deviates significantly from performance on the Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, Figure Weights, and Picture Concepts subtests.
For the Figure Weights subtest, realizing that solutions for the more difficult items always require the application of reasoning with quantitative information rather than simply looking for an answer that “looks right” will increase the likelihood of correct responses beyond the level of chance.
It is important to keep in mind that reasoning with nonverbal visual stimuli does not necessarily involve nonverbal reasoning. Reasoning with visual stimuli can involve nonverbal reasoning, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, or various combinations of these different ways to reason. Examinees often are observed talking to themselves about Matrix Reasoning, Figure Weights, and Picture Completion items, and occasionally talking themselves through the placement of blocks on the Block Design subtest. (In contrast, clinicians are likely to note a lack of such verbalization when examinees are performing the Visual Puzzles subtest items.) The type of reasoning abilities that are engaged to perform the Fluid Reasoning and the Visual Spatial subtests will depend on the individual examinee and his or her perceptions of what abilities are required to succeed with the task.
There are multiple Secondary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Visual Spatial Domain as described below.
While attempting to perform the Fluid Reasoning and the Visual Spatial subtests, visual acuity is necessary to ensure that all of the visual elements of each item can be accurately viewed. If the examinee cannot see clearly all of the visual information provided in each item, incorrect responses may result. Typically, an examinee's visual acuity is assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of corrective lenses prior to test administration so that this capacity should not be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, visual acuity problems can significantly affect task performance with any of the subtests that use visual stimuli.
To perform Fluid Reasoning and the Visual Spatial subtest tasks, an examinee must have the capacity for focusing and sustaining attention for the visual stimuli of each item.
To perform Fluid Reasoning and the Visual Spatial subtests, the examinee must have the perceptual capacity to form relatively accurate visual representations of the stimuli presented. Some visually impaired examinees or examinees with severe visual perception deficits might have difficulty making sense of the information being presented, especially the more abstract geometric representations of the Matrix Reasoning, Block Design, and Visual Puzzles subtests. In the case of the Picture Concepts subtests, some examinees may not be able to recognize what common object or scene is being depicted.
Many of the items of the Fluid Reasoning and the Visual Spatial subtests require careful application of visual discrimination abilities (i.e., the ability to see visual similarities and differences in the visual stimuli being presented). As is the case with Visual Perception, some visually impaired examinees or examinees with severe visual perception deficits might have difficulty seeing the visual similarities and differences in the visual images being presented, especially the more detailed visual elements of the Figure Weights subtest or the abstract geometric representations of the Matrix Reasoning, Visual Puzzles, and Block Design subtests. In the case of the Picture Concepts subtest, examinees may miss important details in the drawings of common objects or scenes that would enable them to identify the common characteristic shared with other objects or scenes.
The ability to generate visual images (i.e., visual mental representations “in the mind's eye”) is essential to effective performance only on the Visual Puzzles subtest. For Block Design and the Fluid Reasoning subtests, visualization may help with performance but is not essential for success. Individuals lacking in visualization capacity will find the Visual Puzzles items extremely difficult to complete within the specified time limits. Although some examinees will attempt to apply analysis and synthesis and reasoning abilities to the solution of Visual Puzzles items, these efforts are likely to require an inordinate amount of time to “talk through” the correct positioning of the visual elements. Examinees completing items much sooner than the 30-second time limit appear to be able to quickly “see” how the various visual elements would fit together rather than engaging in elaborate thought routines involving analysis and synthesis and reasoning. For the Matrix Reasoning, Block Design, Figure Weights, and Picture Concepts items, a lack of visualization can be compensated for as discussed in the next section on working memory.
There should be little doubt that being able to hold and manipulate visualized mental representations can enhance greatly an examinee's performance with many items of the Fluid Reasoning and Visual Spatial subtests. For some Visual Puzzles and Matrix Reasoning items, solutions can be derived much more quickly if the examinee can mentally rotate visual images that are being held in working memory to envision how elements would look if rotated or repositioned, or if the examinee can hold in mind specific visual element relationships of a Matrix Reasoning item while examining and comparing response options.
For the more difficult items of the Figure Weights subtest, it appears essential for an examinee to be able to hold and compare quantitative equivalence hypotheses and the objects that were included in each equivalence hypothesis and keep track of the hypotheses that have been generated and apply them to deduce the correct response within 30 seconds. For Block Design, performance can be enhanced when a visual image of the model can be held in mind to guide the placement of blocks in the examinee's construction. For the Picture Concepts subtest, the examinee will benefit from the ability to hold, compare, and keep track of multiple hypotheses and the images of objects or scenes that were included in each hypothetical grouping.
What is open to debate, however, is whether the use of working memory capacity is a necessary precondition for successful performance with any or all of the items of the Fluid Reasoning or Visual Spatial subtests. It is certainly conceivable that an examinee with very poor working memory capacity can succeed with many of the Matrix Reasoning, Visual Puzzles, and Picture Concepts items and some of the less difficult Figure Weights items by repetitively rescanning the visual stimuli of the items to refresh the visual mental representations rather than trying to hold them in working memory for prolonged periods of time. In the case of Block Design, an examinee with poor working memory capacity can frequently compare the model design with the construction in progress to judge the accuracy of block placements and guide further performance. The need for such repeated scanning of images will, however, increase the time needed for item completion, which may affect scores on the Block Design, Visual Puzzles, and Figure Weights subtests because of individual item time limits.
The Block Design subtest requires the examinee to handle 4–9 blocks and move them about on a flat surface to construct 2 × 2 or 3 × 3 designs. Scoring criteria stipulate the specific placement of blocks required to earn credit for a design. All designs must be completed within a specified amount of time, and for the four most difficult items, bonus points are awarded for speed of performance. Examinees who may be lacking in motor coordination for a variety of reasons may find it difficult to handle the blocks, resulting in inaccurate block placements, rotated or fragmented designs, slowed production and disruption of the use of analysis and synthesis, reasoning, and/or other constructs due to overfocusing on motor coordination difficulties.
The Visual Puzzles and Figure Weights subtests have specific time limits for delivery of item responses. For these subtests, visual processing speed plays a critical role in task performance; slow visual processing speed will increase the time required to mentally represent all of the visual information being presented in an item, thereby affecting the amount of time required to identify a solution.
The slow processing of thoughts about item solutions also increases the time needed to arrive at a response. For the Visual Puzzles and Figure Weights subtests, mental processing speed can play a critical role in performance because of individual item time limits. In the case of Block Design, all designs must be completed within a specified amount of time, and for the four most difficult items, bonus points are awarded for speed of correct responding.
For the Block Design subtest, the examinee must use blocks to construct a design that matches a model. Slow motor processing speed, therefore, can affect item performance. Slower processing speed with Block Design items can be the result of slow speed of visual processing, slow speed of thinking about how to solve an item, slow speed of motor movement, or slow speed only when required to integrate visual processing with motor movement. Processing speed should not be thought of as a unitary trait; examinees are not either uniformly fast, average, or slow. Processing speed can vary with each task that requires speeded performance. Although some examinees may be fast with all tasks or slow with all tasks, it is much more common to find examinees whose processing speeds vary greatly from one task to another.
Although the Picture Concepts subtest can be completed without the use of reasoning with language, a verbal mediation strategy is modeled for all examinees when explaining the task in the subtest directions. Examinees who have strong preferences for the use of verbal abilities are likely to follow the pattern modeled for them in the subtest directions and apply verbal labels to objects and scenes and then apply reasoning with language to identify the common physical characteristics or conceptual similarity that links two or more objects or scenes. A verbal mediation strategy also is demonstrated during the directions for the Matrix Reasoning Subtest, again providing examinees who prefer verbal processing with examples of the use of a strategy for verbally labeling the visual stimuli presented in test items.
For the Fluid Reasoning and Visual Spatial subtests, accurate responding depends in part on the effective use of one or more of the following executive functions:
The Primary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Working Memory, Arithmetic and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests vary depending on the specific subtest as described below.
This cognitive construct is essential for effective performance of all of the items of the Digit Span, Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS), Arithmetic, and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests. Before examinees can respond to any of the items of these subtests, they must effectively register the auditorily presented verbal information and hold it at least for 1–3 seconds. It also is important to note that some examinees will immediately tag the visual input pictures of the Picture Span subtest with verbal labels that they initially register auditorily thereby transforming this subtest into a visual-verbal input task.
This cognitive construct is essential for effective performance of the Picture Span and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests. Before examinees can respond to any of the items of these subtests, they must effectively register the visually presented nonverbal information (pictures and abstract symbols) and hold it for at least 1–3 seconds.
This cognitive construct is essential for effective performance of the items of the Digit Span Backward, Digit Span Sequencing, Letter-Number Sequencing, Arithmetic, and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests and can be very helpful, but not essential, in the performance of the Digit Span Forward items. Items requiring mental manipulation cannot be completed by a simple “dumping” of the information being held in the initial registration buffer. The information must be held for more than 1–3 seconds and manipulated in some way in order for a correct response to be constructed.
Although all of these tasks except Digit Span Forward require the use of Initial Registration and Working Memory, the contributions of these two capacities to task performance are distinct but are not dissociable. A examinee with extremely poor initial registration capacity for a certain type of stimuli will not be able to perform effectively on a task that requires mental manipulation of that same type of stimuli (note that this is not the same as saying that an examinee who scores poorly on a task involving initial registration of stimuli also will score poorly on a task involving initial registration and working memory of the same stimuli, as discussed in the text of this chapter).
In the case of the Arithmetic subtest, the directions have been changed such that for items 20 to 34 the examiner may repeat the item once. For younger children with working memory or math skill deficits, this change is unlikely to have an impact on their performance. For some older children the repetition of an item may reduce, but not completely eliminate, the working memory demands of the item.
In the case of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest, each item makes successively greater demands on working memory as the number of symbol-word associations that must be held in mind increases. As administration of the task increases beyond a few minutes, it is very likely that the examinee has transferred some of the symbol-word associations to recent long-term storage and is now retrieving them from recent long-term storage to respond to additional items.
In the case of the Picture Span subtest, examinees who initially tagged the pictures with verbal labels are likely to be using the articulatory loop during the remainder of the 5-second exposure interval to verbally rehearse the picture sequence before choosing their response options when the page is turned.
This cognitive construct may be used for effective performance of the items of the Picture Span and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests. Items requiring mental manipulation cannot be completed by a simple “dumping” of the information being held in the initial registration buffer. The information must be held for more than 1–3 seconds and manipulated in some way in order for a correct response to be constructed.
After initially registering the visual stimuli of Picture Span items, some examinees may choose to continue to hold the visual images in visual working memory until they respond. After initially registering the symbol-word associations of Immediate Symbol Translation subtest items, some examinees may choose to emphasize visual elements in their attempts to hold and manipulate the symbol-word associations in working memory.
After initially registering the auditory input of Arithmetic Subtest items, some examinees may choose to create visual images of numbers and their relationships while attempting to perform the mental calculations in working memory. After hearing the numbers (or numbers and letters) of the Digit Span and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests, some examinees may choose to “see” the numbers and letters as visual images in mind as they manipulate them to prepare a response.
There are multiple Secondary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Working Memory, Arithmetic, and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests.
While listening to the directions and the individual test items spoken by the examiner, the examinee must have adequate auditory acuity. If the examinee cannot hear all of the speech sounds made by the examiner, directions may be misunderstood and/or items may not be heard accurately. Typically, an examinee's auditory acuity is assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of assistive devices prior to test administration so that this capacity should not be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, a deficit in auditory acuity can significantly affect task performance with all verbal subtests.
While attempting to perform the Picture Span and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests, visual acuity is necessary to ensure that all of the visual elements of each item can be accurately viewed. If the examinee cannot see clearly all of the visual information provided in each item, incorrect responses may result. Typically, an examinee's visual acuity is assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of corrective lenses prior to test administration so that this capacity should not be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, visual acuity problems can significantly affect task performance with any of the subtests that use visual stimuli.
Before responding to the items of each auditorily presented subtest, the examinee must be able to listen to and effectively process the language used by the examiner when directions and test items are being provided. If the examinee is prone to auditory discrimination errors when listening to others speaking, specific letters, numbers, or words may be misunderstood, resulting in incorrect responses or no response at all. The WISC-V test development team made modifications to the stimuli of the Digit Span and Letter-Number Sequencing tasks in an effort to reduce the likelihood of auditory discrimination errors (e.g., using only non-rhyming letter and number name combinations in each item; therefore, the rhyming letters v and b and the number 3 would not be used in the same item).
To perform the Picture Span and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests, the examinee must have the perceptual capacity to form relatively accurate visual representations of the stimuli presented. Some visually impaired examinees or examinees with severe visual perception deficits might have difficulty making sense of the information being presented, especially the more abstract geometric representations of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest. In the case of the Picture Span subtest, some visually impaired examinees might not be able to recognize what common object is being depicted.
The items of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest require careful application of visual discrimination abilities (i.e., the ability to see visual similarities and differences in the visual stimuli being presented). As is the case with Visual Perception, some visually impaired examinees or examinees with severe visual perception deficits might have difficulty seeing the visual similarities and differences in the more detailed visual symbols presented.
To perform auditorily presented Working Memory subtest tasks, the examinee must have the capacity for focusing and sustaining attention for the auditory stimuli of each item.
To perform the Picture Span and Immediate Symbol Translation subtest tasks, an examinee must have the capacity for focusing and sustaining attention for the visual stimuli of each item.
The speed with which an examinee can register auditory information can greatly affect the examinee's ability to register all the information that is presented in a short period of time. Although Digit Span and Letter Number Sequencing item stimuli are presented at the relatively slow rate of one stimulus unit per second, an examinee with extremely slow auditory processing speed may not be able to keep up with this rate of information delivery, thereby reducing the examinee's capacity for registering all of the stimuli. Similarly, although the Arithmetic Subtest items are read to the examinee at a normal conversational pace, an examinee with slow auditory processing speed may not be able to register all of the information provided in each word problem.
The Picture Span subtest has specific time limits for the presentation of item stimuli. For this subtest, visual processing speed may play a critical role in task performance, especially as the number of objects presented increases during the 5-second exposure time. Slow visual processing speed will increase the time required to initially register all of the stimuli of each item.
The speed with which an examinee can manipulate information while holding it in mind can greatly affect an examinee's performance with the Arithmetic subtest. An examinee with slow mental processing speed may not be able to complete Arithmetic items within the 30-second time limit despite the ability to correctly solve the problem. Similarly, individuals with slow mental processing speed may have difficulties with completing all the mental manipulations required to assemble a response to items of the Digit Span, Letter-Number Sequencing, Picture Span, and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests.
Processing speed should not be thought of as a unitary trait; examinees are not either uniformly fast, average or slow. Processing speed can vary with each task that requires speeded performance. Although some examinees may be fast with all tasks or slow with all tasks, it is much more common to find examinees whose processing speeds vary greatly from one task to another.
The Arithmetic and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests and the Digit Span Sequencing task all require the retrieval of verbal information from long-term storage. The requirement for the retrieval of math facts, procedures, and/or problem-solving routines is fairly obvious; the examinee must have knowledge of mathematics in order to solve the auditorily presented math word problems. No matter how effective the examinee is at holding and manipulating information in mind, such holding and manipulating will not result in a correct response unless the examinee has stored and can retrieve information about the math procedures needed to solve the word problem. Perhaps less obvious but no less critical to performance is the need for the examinee to be able to retrieve the correct sequence of the letters of the alphabet and the order of the numbers from 1 to 10 while holding and manipulating the specific series of number and letter stimuli for each item of the Letter-Number Sequencing subtest and the Digit Span Sequencing task.
In the case of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest, each item makes successively greater demands on working memory as the number of symbol-word associations that must be held in mind increases. As administration of the task increases beyond a few minutes, it is very likely that the examinee has transferred some of the symbol-word associations to recent long-term storage and is now retrieving them from recent storage to respond to additional items.
Before engaging in the retrieval from long-term storage of knowledge about how to perform calculations and solve problems, an examinee must have learned how to perform the math calculations and have had some exposure to math problem solving exercises. If the examinee does not possess the requisite math skills, effective performance of Arithmetic items is not likely.
The Digit Span, Letter-Number Sequencing, Arithmetic, and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests all require the examinee to orally respond to items. Although the expressive language response demands of these tasks appear to be minimal in nature, some examinees with language processing difficulties or limited English proficiency may find it difficult to produce an accurate response while attempting to hold and manipulate item content.
The Digit Span, Picture Span, Letter-Number Sequencing, and Arithmetic subtests all require the examinee to either maintain the sequence of the information as provided (Digit Span Forward, Picture Span), to re-sequence the information (Digit Span Backward, Digit Span Sequencing, Letter-Number Sequencing), or to correctly sequence the steps in solving a math problem (Arithmetic). Careful recording of responses enables the examinee to identify sequencing errors with these subtests.
For the subtests discussed in this section, accurate responding depends in part on the effective use of one or more of the following executive function capacities:
The Processing Speed Domain subtests assess many primary and secondary constructs.
As the name given to this Index implies, processing speed is the primary capacity assessed with the Processing Speed subtests. Each of these subtests must be completed within a specified amount of time, and the tasks are relatively simple and clearly demonstrated so as to require no reasoning to figure out how to complete them. Low scores often reflect slow visual processing speed, but other forms of slow processing speed (grapho-motor or motor) may be affecting performance as well. The visual processing demands of each of these subtests are substantial. The Coding subtest requires rapid visual processing of the relationships between 9 symbols and 9 numbers and the rapid visual monitoring of the production of the symbols that match the numbers. The Symbol Search subtest requires rapid visual discrimination of two target stimuli and sets of 5 response stimuli. The Cancellation subtest requires rapid visual discrimination among rows of stimuli to locate targeted response images.
The three Processing Speed Domain subtests all require the use of pencil and paper during performance, but they vary substantially in the extent to which motor movement and/or grapho-motor speed are likely to affect performance.
The Coding subtest makes the greatest demands on motor movement and motor speed as the examinee must continually reproduce the symbols associated with numbers. In contrast, the Symbol Search and Cancellation subtest require only occasional pencil strokes to mark targeted visual responses. The Coding subtest therefore is likely to be affected the most by motor processing speed problems. Factors other than processing speed, however, can influence performance on these subtests, especially the Cancellation subtest.
There are multiple Secondary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Processing Speed subtests.
While attempting to perform the Processing Speed subtests, visual acuity is necessary to ensure that all of the visual elements of each task can be accurately viewed. If the examinee cannot see or is struggling to see clearly all of the visual information provided for each task, poor performance marked by slowed speed or incorrect responses may result. Typically, an examinee's visual acuity is assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of corrective lenses prior to test administration so that this capacity should not be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, visual acuity problems can significantly affect task performance with any or all of the Processing Speed subtests.
To perform Processing Speed subtest tasks, the examinee must have the capacity for focusing and sustaining attention for the visual stimuli of each task.
To perform Processing Speed subtest tasks, the examinee must have the perceptual capacity to form relatively accurate visual representations of the stimuli presented. Some visually impaired examinees and severely perceptually impaired examinees might lack this capacity and have difficulty visually organizing the information being presented, especially the more abstract geometric representations of the Symbol Search subtest.
All of the Processing Speed subtest tasks require careful application of visual discrimination processes, that is, the ability to see visual similarities and differences in the visual stimuli being presented. As is the case with Visual Perception, some younger examinees and severely perceptually impaired older examinees might lack this capacity and have difficulty seeing the visual similarities and differences in the visual images being presented, especially the more abstract geometric representations of the Symbol Search subtest.
The Coding subtest requires the examinee to handle a pencil to transcribe code symbols into empty boxes continuously for a 2-minute period. Although not as demanding on the motor system, the Symbol Search subtest requires the examinee to draw a slash through the matching symbol or the “No” box to complete each item for a period of 2 minutes, and the Cancellation subtest requires the examinee to draw a slash through as many animal pictures as possible in 45 seconds. Examinees who may be lacking in motor coordination for a variety of reasons may find it difficult to transcribe the coding symbols at all or to continue the transcription process for 2 minutes. Slowed performance, poorly formed symbols, or coding errors may result from motor coordination difficulties and or motor fatigue. Slowed performance, poorly formed symbols, or coding errors resulting from grapho-motor difficulties are likely to be encountered somewhat more frequently with the WISC-V Coding subtest than was the case with the WISC-IV Coding subtest. The reason for this is that the code symbols were revised to make them more unique and more easily recognized by digital media processes. Examinees with grapho-motor challenges are likely to find three of these revised symbols (the symbols associated with the numbers 1, 5, and 9) difficult and time-consuming to produce.
For all three of the Processing Speed subtests, the examinee must hold in mind the directions for task completion for either 2 minutes (Coding and Symbol Search) or 45 seconds (Cancellation), but it could be argued that such holding of information does not require mental manipulation of the directions and the repetitious nature of the tasks continually reinforces the initial registration of the directions, thereby eliminating the necessity for working memory. Other than the possible minimal involvement in holding subtest directions, working memory capacities do not really need to be engaged in order for an examinee to perform well with any of the Processing Speed tasks. An examinee who is exceptionally fast can continually refer back to the code key when doing the Coding subtest or update the visual images of the target and choice symbols by continually rescanning the stimuli of each Symbol Search item, thereby minimizing the need for any involvement of working memory capacities.
There should be little doubt, however, that being able to generate visual images “in the mind's eye” and hold and manipulate such visual images can enhance an examinee's performance with all of the Processing Speed Domain subtests. For the Coding subtest, movement can be reduced and time might be saved if the examinee can hold in mind the number-symbol associations. For the Symbol Search subtest, being able to hold in mind the visual images of the target symbols while inspecting the symbols to the right of the targets can reduce the need for repeated back-and-forth scanning with each item. It is important to realize, however, that choosing to involve working memory to support the completion of these tasks does not necessarily ensure effective task performance.
An examinee may find it useful to verbally label the Coding subtest symbols and symbol-number associations and recite these during performance of the task, to verbally describe visual features of the Symbol Search stimuli, or to verbally state the rule for the Cancellation tasks. Although such verbal mediation may enhance performance for examinees who choose to use it, it is by no means a necessity for successful performance.
For the Processing Speed Domain subtests, accurate responding depends in part on the effective use of one or more of the following executive functions:
The Primary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Naming Speed subtests vary depending on the specific subtest as described below.
This cognitive construct is essential for effective performance of the items of the Immediate and Recognition Symbol Translation subtests. Before an examinee can respond to any of the items of these subtests, he or she must effectively register the auditorily presented verbal information.
This cognitive construct is essential for effective performance of Naming Speed subtests and the Immediate Symbol Translation subtests. Before an examinee can respond to any of the items of these subtests, he or she must effectively register the visually presented nonverbal information (pictures and abstract symbols).
This cognitive construct is essential for effective performance of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest. Items requiring mental manipulation cannot be completed by a simple “dumping” of the information being held in the initial registration buffer. The information must be held for more than a few seconds and manipulated in some way in order for a correct response to be constructed.
In the case of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest, each item makes successively greater demands on working memory as the number of symbol-word associations that must be held in mind increases. As administration of the task increases beyond a few minutes, it is very likely that the examinee has transferred some of the symbol-word associations to recent long-term storage and is now retrieving them from recent long-term storage to respond to additional items.
This cognitive construct may be used for effective performance of the items of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest. Items requiring mental manipulation cannot be completed by a simple “dumping” of the information being held in the initial registration buffer. The information must be held for more than a few seconds and manipulated in some way in order for a correct response to be constructed. After initially registering the symbol-word associations of Immediate Symbol Translation subtest items, some examinees may choose to emphasize visual elements in their attempts to hold and manipulate the symbol-word associations in working memory.
The Arithmetic and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests and the Digit Span Sequencing tasks all require the retrieval of verbal information from long-term storage. The requirement for the retrieval of math facts, procedures, and/or problem-solving routines is fairly obvious; the examinee must have knowledge of mathematics in order to solve the auditorily presented math word problems. No matter how effective the examinee is at holding and manipulating information in mind, such holding and manipulating will not result in a correct response unless the examinee has stored and can retrieve information about the math procedures needed to solve the word problem. Perhaps less obvious but no less critical to performance is the need for the examinee to be able to retrieve the correct sequence of the letters of the alphabet and the order of the numbers from 1 to 10 while holding and manipulating the specific series of number and letter stimuli for each item of the Letter-Number Sequencing subtest and the Digit Span Sequencing task.
The Naming Speed Color-Object and Size-Color-Object items require quick, efficient retrieval of verbal labels associated with sizes, colors, and specific objects.
The Naming Speed Letter-Number items require quick, efficient retrieval of verbal labels associated with letters and numbers.
The Naming Speed Quantity items require quick, efficient retrieval of verbal labels associated with quantities.
In the case of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest, each item makes successively greater demands on working memory as the number of symbol-word associations that must be held in mind increases. As administration of the task increases beyond a few minutes, it is very likely that the examinee has transferred some of the symbol-word associations to recent long-term storage and is now retrieving them from recent storage to respond to additional items.
There are several Secondary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the subtests of the Naming Speed subtests.
While listening to the directions and the individual test items spoken by the examiner, the examinee must have adequate auditory acuity. If the examinee cannot hear all of the speech sounds made by the examiner, he or she may misunderstood directions and/or may not hear items accurately. Typically, an examinee's auditory acuity is assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of assistive devices prior to test administration so that this capacity should not be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, a deficit in auditory acuity can significantly affect task performance with all verbal subtests.
While attempting to perform the Naming Speed and Immediate Symbol Translation subtests, visual acuity is necessary to ensure that all of the visual elements of each item can be accurately viewed. If the examinee cannot see clearly all of the visual information provided in each item, incorrect responses may result. Typically, an examinee's visual acuity is assessed and verified to be within normal limits with or without the use of corrective lenses prior to test administration so that this capacity should not be a factor in performance. If overlooked, however, visual acuity problems can significantly affect task performance with any of the subtests that use visual stimuli.
Before responding to the items of the Symbol Translation subtests, the examinee must be able to listen to and effectively process the language used by the examiner when directions and test items are being provided. If the examinee is prone to auditory discrimination errors when listening to others speaking, specific words may be misunderstood, resulting in incorrect responses or no response at all.
To perform the Symbol Translation subtests, the examinee must have the perceptual capacity to form relatively accurate visual representations of the stimuli presented. Some visually impaired examinees or examinees with severe visual perception deficits might have difficulty making sense of the information being presented, especially the more abstract geometric representations of the Symbol Translation subtests.
The items of the Immediate Symbol Translation subtest require careful application of visual discrimination abilities (i.e., the ability to see visual similarities and differences in the visual stimuli being presented). As is the case with Visual Perception, some visually impaired examinees or examinees with severe visual perception deficits might have difficulty seeing the visual similarities and differences in the more detailed visual symbols presented.
To perform auditorily presented Working Memory subtest tasks the examinee must have the capacity for focusing and sustaining attention for the auditory stimuli of each item.
To perform the Picture Span and Immediate Symbol Translation subtest tasks, an examinee must have the capacity for focusing and sustaining attention for the visual stimuli of each item.
The speed with which an examinee can register auditory information can greatly affect the examinee's ability to register all the information that is presented in a short period of time. Although the Symbol Translation item stimuli are presented at the relatively slow rate, an examinee with extremely slow auditory processing speed may not be able to keep up with this rate of information delivery, thereby reducing the examinee's capacity for registering all of the stimuli.
For the Naming Speed and Symbol Translation subtests, visual processing speed may play a critical role in task performance. Slow visual processing speed will increase the time required to initially register all of the stimuli of each item.
Successful performance of the Naming Speed subtests depends in part on the physical capacity to conduct oral-motor movements in a coordinated manner.
Although the expressive language response demands of the Symbol Translation subtests appear to be minimal, examinees with language processing difficulties or limited English proficiency may find it particularly challenging to articulate the words that are used to form connected discourse on the Delayed Symbol Translation subtest.
For the Naming Speed and Symbol Translation subtests, accurate responding depends in part on the effective use of one or more of the following executive functions:
This cognitive capacity is critical for the effective performance on the Delayed Symbol Translation and the Recognition Symbol Translation subtests. In order to respond to any of the items on these subtests, the examinee must have successfully encoded the verbal label that corresponds to each visual stimulus.
In order to demonstrate adequate performance on the Symbol Translation Tasks, visual-verbal pairings must be efficiently stored in memory. The extent to which the examinee has efficiently encoded the visual-verbal pairings in memory will directly affect the strength of the visual-verbal associates and the subsequent recall of one pair following exposure to the other in addition to recognition when provided with an array of word choices to accompany each visual stimulus.
This cognitive capacity is necessary in order to successfully complete the Delayed Symbol Translation and Recognition Symbol Translation subtests. Each of the aforementioned subtests provides information regarding the precision with which visual-verbal associations have been retained over time. The latency between stimulus presentation and response provides valuable insight into the automaticity of recall/recognition.
There are several Secondary Cognitive Constructs assessed by the Symbol Translation tasks as described below.
The examinee must be able to listen to and effectively process the words spoken by the examiner when directions and test items are delivered. If the examinee is prone to auditory discrimination errors when listening to discourse, then words may be misunderstood, resulting in incorrect responses or no response at all.
The speed with which an examinee can register auditory information can greatly affect the individual's ability to register all the information that is presented in a short period of time. An examinee with extremely slow auditory processing speed may not be able to keep up with the rate at which information is delivered, thereby reducing the examinee's capacity for registering all of the stimuli. Thus, slow auditory processing speed may constrain the examinee's ability to register the verbal response choices provided during the Recognition Symbol Translation subtest even though the response choices are provided at a normal conversational pace.
The examinee must have the capacity to focus and sustain attention to the visual stimuli presented in order to successfully associate the pictographs with verbal labels during the learning phase of the task. Furthermore, the examinee must attend to the visual stimulus presented in order to retrieve the verbal associate on the Delayed Symbol Translation subtest and to effectively recognize the verbal label on the Recognition Symbol Translation subtest.
The examinee must have the capacity to focus and sustain attention to the auditory stimuli presented in order to actively associate the auditorily presented words with the visually presented stimuli during the learning phase of the task. Moreover, the examinee must attend to the selection of orally presented response options read aloud by the examiner in order to perform adequately on the Recognition Symbol Translation subtest.
Successful performance on the Delayed Symbol Translation and on the Recognition Symbol Translation subtests require the ability to effectively integrate visual-verbal associates in order to encode the pairings at the onset. Examinees who evidence marked impairment in their ability to encode visual-verbal associates will be unable to demonstrate competence on the cued recall paradigm (Delayed Symbol Translation) or on the forced-choice recognition paradigm (Delayed Symbol Recognition).
The Symbol Translation subtests impose an oral response format. Although the expressive language response demands of the aforementioned tasks appear to be minimal, examinees with language processing difficulties or limited English proficiency may find it particularly challenging to articulate the words that are used to form connected discourse on the Delayed Symbol Translation subtest.
In addition to encoding and retrieval processes, the capacity to learn visual-verbal associations requires a number of implicit executive functions that vary based upon the characteristics of the task. For the Symbol Translation subtests, accurate responding depends in part on the effective use of one or more of the following executive functions: