An appraisal of three criteria for evaluating the usefulness of WAIS-R short forms

The findings of research on short forms of the WAIS-R are used to illustrate the following points about three criteria for evaluating the usefulness of a short form: (a) the correlation between a short form and the Full Scale is virtually certain to be highly significant; (b) it makes little difference whether the mean IQ on a short form differs significantly from that on the Full Scale; (c) the percentage of disagreements between a short form and the Full Scale in classifying subjects into IQ categories is virtually certain to be unacceptably high. Consequently, there appears to be little justification for regarding the three criteria as criteria.