Administration duration for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and Wechsler Memory Scale-III

The administration times for each of the subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) and Wechsler Memory Scale-III (WMS-III) were recorded for a clinical sample of 81 patients. The findings revealed that the time needed to administer the WAIS-III subtests to generate the summary scores, index scores, and both scores were 58, 51, and 65 min, respectively. The time required to complete the primary subtests on the WMS-III was 21, 15, and 6 min for Immediate Memory, General Memory, and Working Memory, respectively, resulting in a total administration time of 42 min. The time necessary to administer most of the subtests was unrelated to age, education, or performance level. These data demonstrate a shorter than expected administration time for the WAIS-III and a longer than anticipated administration for the WMS-III. Results for other clinical settings will be impacted by examiner familiarity and patient composition.