Essentials of WMS-IV Assessment

Lisa W. Drozdick, James A. Holdnack, Robin C. Hilsabeck

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780470946459
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need toconfidently administer, score, and interpret the WMS®-IV

Complete coverage of administration, scoring, interpretation, and reporting

Expert advice on avoiding common pitfalls

Conveniently formatted for rapid reference

The most recent revision of one of the most popular memory assessment instruments, the Wechsler Memory Scale-Fourth Edition (WMS®-IV) is a widely used measure of memory functioning, which is particularly useful in the assessment of individuals with dementia, traumatic brain injury, and substance abuse problems, among others. Professionals need an authoritative source on administration, scoring, and interpretation in order to use this test properly. Written by the test developers for the WMS®-IV, Essentials of WMS®-IV Assessment is that source.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals, and those in training, quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of major psychological assessment instruments. 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.

Integrating WMS®-IV data with the WAIS®-IV and other measures of cognitive ability and memory for adults, Essentials of WMS®-IV Assessment now includes four new subtests and a revised index structure. The authors also offer expert assessment of the test's relative strengths and weaknesses, valuable advice on its clinical applications, and several illuminating case studies.

Chapter One

Overview

INTRODUCTION

Memory is a fundamental aspect of cognition, and characterization of memory functioning is an essential component of clinical and neuropsychological evaluation. A thorough assessment of the various aspects of memory is particularly important in individuals with known or suspected cognitive impairment. Many neurological and psychiatric disorders involve disruption or impairment of memory processes (e.g., dementia, traumatic brain injury). In normally aging older adults, decline in some aspects of memory functioning is common (Rockey, 1997; Smith & Rush, 2006). However, memory disorders are more prevalent in older adults, and complaints of memory decline are a frequent reason for referral in this population. Therefore, comprehensive evaluation of memory ability is needed to differentiate normally aging individuals from those experiencing more pathological memory loss.

The Wechsler Memory Scale–Fourth Edition (WMS-IV; Wechsler, 2009) is the most recent revision of one of the most popular memory assessment instruments (Rabin, Barr, & Burton, 2005). This book provides an easy-to-use reference for individuals learning the essentials of administration, scoring, and interpretation of the WMS-IV. It maintains the direct, systematic approach to presenting material that is characteristic of the Essentials series. In addition, administrative and interpretive guidelines are provided for those who administer complete or partial WMS-IV batteries and want to integrate the results with other tests, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV; Wechsler, 2008) and Advanced Clinical Solutions for the WAIS-IV and WMS-IV (ACS; Pearson, 2009). Throughout this book, the latest research on the WMS-IV and on memory processes is provided to assist in applying results obtained with the WMS-IV.

Essentials of WMS-IV Assessment covers topics that emphasize the appropriate administration, scoring, interpretation, and application of the WMS-IV. Each chapter includes several “Rapid Reference,” “Caution,” or “Don’t Forget” boxes to highlight important points for easy reference and clarification. At the end of each chapter, a short “Test Yourself” quiz is provided to help readers solidify what they have read. The information in this book is provided to help clinicians understand the nuances of the WMS-IV and become proficient users.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

The concept of memory and the assessment of memory ability have been widely researched. Early approaches viewed memory as a global skill, with emphasis in assessment placed on the ability to recall information, with scores generally reflecting overall memory ability. As research progressed, memory was broken down into subcomponents; short-term and long-term memory emerged as key concepts along with right- and left-hemisphere lateralization theories of memory. More recent conceptualizations of memory suggest even more memory components, as well as describe the influence of other cognitive abilities on memory functioning. The evolution of the Wechsler Memory Scale reflects this changing view of memory. Current research and theories on memory, as well as research on previous editions of the Wechsler Memory Scale, were utilized in the conceptualization and development of the WMS-IV. Therefore, it is important to review the previous editions to place the WMS-IV in context. Previous editions include the original Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS; Wechsler, 1945), Russell’s adaptations of the WMS (Russell, 1975, 1988), Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised (WMS-R; Wechsler, 1987), Wechsler Memory Scale–Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1997b), and Wechsler Memory Scale–Third Edition Abbreviated (WMS-IIIA; Wechsler, 2002b). Each of the editions reflects the knowledge and theories of memory at the time of its development. This section provides a brief history of the content and standardization of the Wechsler Memory Scales, while later chapters provide a review of the literature related to memory and research completed with the Wechsler Memory Scales.

VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE WECHSLER MEMORY SCALE

The Original Wechsler Memory Scale (1945)

The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) was a brief survey of immediate memory skills. WMS included seven subtests: Personal and Current Information, Orientation, Mental Control, Digits Forward and Backward, Logical Memory, Associate Learning, and Visual Reproduction. For each subtest, the examinee recalled information immediately; no delayed conditions were included. This immediate recall only approach allowed for a quick 15- to 30-minute administration. A single composite score, the Memory Quotient (MQ), was derived and converted to a standard score metric that could be directly compared to a Full Scale IQ derived on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS; Wechsler, 1955). The MQ reflected the examinee’s overall memory performance. Although information was collected in visual and verbal modalities, no index level scores or comparisons were provided. Two forms were developed, allowing for an alternate form at retest; however, norms were developed only for Form I, so most research utilized Form I (Mitrushina, Boone, Razani, & D’Elia, 2005). Norms were based on 200 patients, ages 25 to 50, at Bellevue Hospital in New York; norms for younger and older individuals were extrapolated from this patient sample. Despite its problems, the WMS was widely used in practice and research (Erickson & Scott, 1977; Russell, 1981) and translations were developed and normed in five countries (Mitrushina et al., 2005).

Russell’s Wechsler Memory Scale (1975, 1988)

In an attempt to improve the utility of the WMS, Russell adapted and renormed the scale. He administered the Logical Memory and Visual Reproduction subtests with a recall condition immediately after presentation and after a 30-minute delay filled with interference activities. His scale allowed for left (verbal)/right (visual) hemisphere and immediate and delayed memory comparisons. Russell’s version gained some popularity and was utilized in several research studies (e.g., Brinkman, Largen, Gerganoff, & Pomara, 1983; Chlopan, Hagen, & Russell, 1990). He titled his revision the WMS-R, the same name given the later revision by the publisher. Although Russell’s WMS-R improved upon the content coverage of the WMS, problems were noted with the normative sample and psychometric properties of the scale (Crosson, Hughes, Roth, & Monkowski, 1984; Curry, Logue, & Butler, 1986; Haaland, Linn, Hunt, & Goodwin, 1983).

Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised (1987)

The first revision of the test by the publisher, the Wechsler Memory Scale– Revised (WMS-R), expanded the original normative sample down to age 16 and up to age 74, added measures of delayed recall, and introduced a new visual memory task, Visual Paired Associates. The assessment of attention and concentration was also expanded in the WMS-R with the inclusion of Spatial Span. Eight subtests were included in the WMS-R: Information and Orientation, Mental Control, Digit Span, Visual Memory Span, Logical Memory, Verbal Paired Associates, Visual Reproduction, and Visual Paired Associates. The subtest scores were combined to form five index standard scores: Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, General Memory, Attention/Concentration, and Delayed Recall. The General Memory Index was comprised of the immediate recall conditions of both the verbal and visual memory subtests.

The WMS-R was a significant improvement over the original WMS, particularly with its larger normative sample (N = 316). It provided nine normative age groups, although norms for three of the age groups were interpolated from adjacent sampled groups. The normative sample for the WMS-R was also more diverse, reflecting the 1980 census. In addition, extensive reliability and validity data were collected. Similar to Russell’s revision, the WMS-R allowed for evaluation of different aspects of memory through the new index scores, which were scaled on the same metric and thus were directly comparable. Finally, scoring procedures were improved through the provision of detailed scoring criteria, increasing reliability across examiners.

Despite these improvements, several problems were observed including low subtest and index reliability, floor and ceiling effects on several index scores, lack of an integrated theoretical foundation, a small normative sample and interpolated norms for three age groups, and lack of consistent factor analytic support for the index structure. In addition, the new visual memory tasks required other cognitive abilities beyond visual memory; one measured attention along with visual memory and one contained visual stimuli that were easily verbalized, confounding the visual memory task with verbal memory. Finally, the WMS-R did not include recognition memory tasks.

Wechsler Memory Scale–Third Edition (1997)

The WMS-III was developed with guidance from an advisory board of prominent memory researchers and neuropsychologists to address many of the criticisms of the WMS-R. A large representative sample of the population was collected to update the norms, and the age range was expanded to include ages 16 to 89. Each of the 13 normative age groups was sampled so no norms required interpolation, although weighting was used to increase the standardization sample from 1,032 actual test cases to the 1,250 cases used for norming. The WMS-III was conormed with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Third Edition (WAIS-III; Wechsler, 1997a) and the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (Wechsler, 2001). This conorming enabled the derivation of comparative statistics across the instruments.

In terms of content, delayed recognition trials were added for some of the subtests to assess for encoding versus retrieval deficits, the working memory tasks were updated, additional comparative scores were developed, and two new visual memory tasks (F...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Series Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter One: Overview
• Chapter Two: How to Administer the WMS-IV
• Chapter Three: How to Score the WMS-IV
• Chapter Four: Interpretation
• Chapter Five: Strengths and Weaknesses of the WMS-IV
• Chapter Six: Using WMS-IV with WAIS-IV
• Chapter Seven: Clinical Applications of the WMS-IV
• Chapter Eight: Illustrative Case Reports
• References
• Appendix
• Annoted Bibliography
• About the Authors
• Author Index
• Subject Index