Examiners' errors on the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised

Abstract

This study examined the nature of WMS-R scoring errors made by trainee psychologists and the extent to which errors influenced index scores on this scale. Trainee psychologists undertook competency based training exercises for the WMS-R, similar to those devised for the WAIS-R by Fantuzzo, Blakely, and Gorsuch in 1989. A WMS-R training protocol was devised and scored by three experienced psychologists to generate a gold standard protocol. The training protocol was then given to trainee psychologists to score. Scoring errors made by trainees included mathematical and transcription errors, and errors of judgment given failure to apply scoring criteria correctly. Present results are consistent with previous investigations of scoring errors among trainees on Wechsler's intelligence tests, and findings provide a preliminary indication that scoring errors on the WMS-R may alter classification by ability.