Examiner judgment and actual stability of psychiatric inpatient intelligence quotients

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Abstract
Despite the widespread use of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R; Wechsler, 1981) with psychiatric inpatients, little is known about the stability of the data obtained. Twenty-one psychiatric patients tested as inpatients were retested an average of 15 months later. Although 24% obtained FSIQ gains of at least 9 points (an increase of at least 14% over inpatient IQ), the stability data is essentially consistent with that reported for the WAIS-R standardization retest sample (Matarazzo & Herman, 1984). Statements pertaining to reliability gleaned from inpatient assessment reports bore little relationship to changes at retesting, and suggest that examiners may overcompensate for perceived negative influences on performance. Overreliance upon intersubtest scatter analysis may also be implicated. Certain characteristics of Digit Span performance appear be related to instability in this sample, but these potentially useful “red flags” of sub-optimal performance require cross-validation.