The Wechsler Intelligence Scales in the Assessment of Psychopathology

Publisher Summary This chapter selects three disorders that have received extensive study with the Wechsler scales and in which cognitive function is an important consideration. The Wechsler scales show varying descriptions in schizophrenia, autism, and TBI, with differences in characteristic profiles and structures of ability. Each of these disorders has its own cognitive signature, and cognitive tests have been shown to be helpful in identifying them. The observation of intellectual heterogeneity in essentially all psychiatric disorders has discouraged talking of a ‘‘schizophrenia profile’’ or a ‘‘traumatic brain injury profile.’’ These three components pertain to studies of the Wechsler intelligence scales themselves, but there is also an enormous literature in which the Wechsler scales were used in conjunction with other procedures, for various purposes. In the case of autism, the Wechsler IQ is used to classify the disorder into ‘‘high functioning’’ and ‘‘low functioning’’ subtypes. In some cases, it is used with other tests to derive indexes such as the Thought Disorder Index, where it is used in combination with the Rorschach Test to document disordered thinking such as confabulation or peculiar verbalizations.