NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL INFORMATION IN THE WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE - REVISED

The relationships among Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised prof iles (WAIS-R), Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) profil es and Halstead Retian Neuropsychologial Battery (HRNB) profiles were examined in two samples of patients referred for neuropsychological ev aluation. Canonical correlation analysis suggested that the average le vel of WAIS-R profiles was related to the average level and scatter of LNNB profiles, Overall performance on the HRNB was less strongly rela ted to overall performance on the WAIS-R than was the LNNB. Patients w ho were similar to a WAIS-R modal profile characterized by relative de ficits on performance subtests were more likely to be similar to LNNB modal profiles characterized by relative impairments on sensorimotor s ubtests. Patients who were similar to a WAIS-R modal profile character ized by relative deficits on verbal subtests were more likely to be si milar to LNNB modal profiles characterized by relative impairments on either language subtests or conceptual subtests. Patients classified i nto an HRNB profile type characterized by strengths on the Aphasia Scr eening subtest were more likely to show strengths on WAIS-R verbal sub tests. However; less than 8% of the total samples could be jointly cla ssified into both the requisite WAIS-R profile clusters and one of the the associated LNNB or HRNB profile clusters. WAIS-R subtest profile level may be a useful statistic to screen for neuropsychological defic its, but WAIS-R patterns are essentially useless for neuropsychologica l screening. Discussion focuses on the role of the WAIS-R in neuropsyc hological evaluations. (C) 1997 National Academy of Neuropsychology.