Extending the similarities subtest of the WAIS for increased validity

Departures from standard administration of intelligence tests that raise scores are meaningless unless increased validity is achieved. One hundred and two Ss were administered the Similarities subtest and two predictor measures were derived: the Regular score, and the Extended score which represented the best of several answers given to a particular item. The criterion measures were three SAT scores, the GPA, and a Vocabulary test. Results showed that not only was the Extended score uniformly higher than the Regular score, it was far superior in predicting the various criteria. As such, the Extended score seems to qualify as a good measure of „potential intelligence.”︁ The superiority of the Extended score seemed mainly due to its effectiveness in extracting a greater number of maximum, 2-point answers from the Ss.