by Joseph Glutting, Wayne Adams, David Shelow
Qualification Level: B
Purpose: Examines a childs level of cognitive ability by assessing both verbal and non-verbal abilities by means of verbal and visual scales
Age: 4 through to 85 yrs
Admin: Individual
Time: 20-30 minutes
The WRIT provides a general measure of intelligence with user-friendly materials that make it easy to learn to administer.
The WRIT is a highly reliable assessment of cognitive abilities that can be used with individuals ages 4 to 85 years. Taking less than 30 minutes to administer, the WRIT assesses both verbal and nonverbal abilities, yielding a Verbal IQ and a Visual IQ, which generate a combined General IQ.
Features and benefits
- Fast and reliable. Brief administration times average less than 30 minutes—yet the WRIT is as reliable as many lengthier measures.
- Covers an extended age range. Only one set of materials is needed to assess preschool children as young as 4 years to adults age 85 years.
- Documents ability levels. Provides an estimate of cognitive ability for educational, psychological or vocational rehabilitation evaluations.
- Helps to identify exceptionalities. The WRIT can help identify learning disabilities, giftedness, and neuropsychological impairments.
- Easy to learn to administer. The format is familiar because the conceptual roots of the WRIT are related to a hierarchical model of ability familiar to psychologists trained in individual testing.
- Colourful, attractive, and engaging. Subtests encourage participation by individuals of all ages.
Test structure
Four subtests address specific abilities:
- Verbal scale (crystallised): Vocabulary and Verbal Analogies subtests
- Visual scale (fluid): Matrices and Diamonds subtests
Technical information
Standardised on 2,285 individuals in the US, the WRIT produces IQs that are highly correlated with those from traditional and much lengthier cognitive measures, including the WISC®-III (.90) and the WAIS®-III (.91). The WRIT was co-normed with the WRAT3, allowing for sound and efficient determination of an intelligence/achievement discrepancy.
