Intelligence and Aptitude Tests

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (WAIS-III)

The WAIS test, which measures mental aptitudes of individuals over the age of 16, is made up of two main sections, namely verbal and performance. While the verbal section is composed of sub tests measuring verbal cognizance, verbal articulation, vocabulary, auditory attention, long term memory, the performance sub-section is composed of tests concerning performance skills such as visual attention, visual-cognitive organization, three dimensional perception, psycho-motor skills, working memory etc. WAIS-III branches out the sub-sections of verbal and performance sections into further sub-sections, thus making it possible to evaluate these skills in more detail. Consequently, WAIS-III is comprised of 4 index scores under verbal and performance main sections and 14 sub dimensions.

Although WAIS-III does not yet exist in Turkish norms and is frequently used in American norms by experienced clinicians for clinical purposes and yields detailed information on the individual’s cognitive skills. WAIS-III presents a detailed road map on the individual’s strong cognitive capacities and those that need development and in addition, it is regarded as an important assessment tool in therapy planning. The Application scoring and interpreting of WAIS-III score, which calls for special training and experience, may vary from person to person, but generally takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

General and Specific Aptitude Tests

Aptitude tests are assessment tools that are used to determine an individual’s aptitudes and competences. Accomplishment and aptitude tests come under this category. Aptitude tests are generally known as tests that measure performance. They measure an individual’s skills, tendencies and performance achievements in a specific field. Best examples are vocational tests. Tests on engineering and banking etc., which are used for employee selection, are for assessing aptness for a specific set of skills or tests on aptitudes for various other fields like music or art come under this category. IBS, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, has a considerably large pool of questions for both general aptitude and for aptitudes in diverse fields. Various forms and amendments of questions prepared from this wide source are used for tests, which may be given on paper or on line. These tests, which have a standard scoring and reporting system, are dependable assessment and measuring tools, which have statistically strong norm values established for various populations.