Psychological Assessment Glossary

The WISC-V is one of the most widely used measures of children's cognitive ability. It produces a Full Scale IQ along with five index scores — Verbal Comprehension, Visual Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed. Results help inform learning disability, giftedness, and developmental evaluations.

Measures

General intellectual ability (Full Scale IQ) and five index scores

Age range

6 years 0 months to 16 years 11 months

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The WAIS-V is the adult counterpart to the WISC-V, measuring overall cognitive ability in older adolescents and adults. It is commonly used in psychoeducational, neuropsychological, and disability evaluations to characterize verbal reasoning, visual-spatial skills, working memory, and processing speed.

Measures

Adult intellectual ability (Full Scale IQ) and index scores

Age range

16 years and older

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The WPPSI-IV measures intellectual functioning in preschool and early-primary children. Its tasks are developmentally appropriate for young children and are often used in early identification of developmental delays or giftedness.

Measures

Early-childhood cognitive ability

Age range

2 years 6 months to 7 years 7 months

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The Stanford-Binet 5 is a comprehensive measure of intelligence spanning a very wide age range. It assesses five factors — Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory — across both verbal and nonverbal domains.

Measures

Intelligence across five cognitive factors (verbal and nonverbal)

Age range

2 years through adulthood

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The Woodcock-Johnson V Cognitive battery measures overall intellectual ability along with specific abilities such as fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. It is often paired with the WJ V Achievement battery to evaluate learning disabilities across a very wide age range.

Measures

General intellectual ability and specific cognitive abilities

Age range

2 years through 90+ years

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The WIAT-4 measures academic skills across reading, mathematics, written expression, and oral language. It is frequently paired with a cognitive measure like the WISC-V to identify specific learning disabilities through ability-achievement comparisons.

Measures

Academic achievement in reading, math, writing, and oral language

Age range

Ages 4 through adulthood (Pre-K to adult)

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The Woodcock-Johnson V Achievement battery assesses academic skills across a very broad age span. It offers detailed cluster scores for reading, mathematics, and written language, and is often used alongside the cognitive battery for educational and learning-disability evaluations.

Measures

Academic achievement across reading, math, and writing

Age range

2 years through 90+ years

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The Woodcock-Johnson IV Achievement battery measures academic skills across reading, mathematics, and written language. Still widely used in schools and clinics, it supports learning-disability identification through ability-achievement analyses and remains common where programs have not yet moved to the WJ V.

Measures

Academic achievement in reading, math, and writing

Age range

2 years through 90+ years

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The KTEA-3 measures reading, math, written language, and oral language achievement. In addition to standard scores, it provides error analyses that help pinpoint specific skill breakdowns useful for intervention planning.

Measures

Academic achievement and underlying error patterns

Age range

4 years to 25 years

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The WRAT5 is a brief measure of foundational academic skills — word reading, sentence comprehension, spelling, and math computation. Its short administration time makes it a popular screener for achievement levels and re-evaluations.

Measures

Basic academic skills (reading, spelling, and math)

Age range

5 years and older

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The Conners-4 is a set of rating scales focused on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and related difficulties such as executive functioning, defiance, and emotional dysregulation. Gathering ratings across home and school settings supports a more complete clinical picture.

Measures

Symptoms of ADHD and common co-occurring concerns

Age range

6 to 18 years

Administered by

Completed by parents, teachers, and youth (self-report)

The CAARS-2 measures the presence and severity of ADHD symptoms in adults, drawing on both self-report and observer ratings. It supports diagnosis and treatment monitoring of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Measures

ADHD symptoms and related difficulties in adults

Age range

18 years and older

Administered by

Completed by the adult (self-report) and an observer

The Conners CPT 3 is a computerized task that objectively measures attention-related problems such as inattentiveness, impulsivity, and difficulty sustaining focus. It is frequently used alongside behavior rating scales to add an objective data point to ADHD evaluations.

Measures

Attention and inhibitory control (objective performance task)

Age range

8 years and older

Administered by

Computer-administered task supervised by a clinician

The ADOS-2 is a semi-structured, standardized observation that presents the individual with social and play activities designed to elicit behaviors relevant to autism. It is considered a key part of a comprehensive autism diagnostic evaluation.

Measures

Social communication and behaviors associated with autism

Age range

Toddlers (around 12 months) through adulthood

Administered by

Administered by a clinician trained in the instrument

The SRS-2 is a rating scale that quantifies the severity of social-communication challenges associated with autism spectrum disorder. It is often used as a screener and to support diagnostic decision-making alongside direct observation.

Measures

Social-communication difficulties and autistic traits

Age range

2 years 6 months through adulthood

Administered by

Completed by parents, teachers, or the individual (self-report)

The ASRS is a rating scale that screens for and helps identify behaviors linked to autism spectrum disorder in children and adolescents. Parent and teacher forms gather information across home and school settings to support diagnostic decisions and treatment planning.

Measures

Behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder

Age range

2 to 18 years

Administered by

Completed by parents/caregivers and teachers

The SCQ is a brief parent-report screener for autism spectrum disorder. Its 40 yes/no questions help clinicians decide whether a fuller diagnostic evaluation, such as the ADOS-2, is warranted.

Measures

Social-communication symptoms associated with autism

Age range

4 years and older (developmental age above 2)

Administered by

Completed by a parent or caregiver

The CARS-2 is a clinician-rated scale for identifying autism and estimating its severity. The High-Functioning version (CARS2-HF) is designed for verbally fluent individuals with average or higher IQ, where subtler social differences call for a more sensitive scale.

Measures

Autism-related behaviors in more verbally fluent individuals

Age range

6 years and older (High-Functioning form)

Administered by

Completed by a clinician from observation and collateral information

The DP-4 evaluates a young child's development across five domains — physical, adaptive behavior, social-emotional, cognitive, and communication. It is commonly used in early-intervention eligibility and developmental screening.

Measures

Development across physical, adaptive, social-emotional, cognitive, and communication domains

Age range

Birth to 12 years 11 months

Administered by

Completed with a caregiver via interview or rating form

The BRIEF-2 captures how executive-function skills show up in real-world settings rather than in a testing room. It rates behaviors such as inhibition, working memory, planning, and emotional control, and is commonly used in ADHD and learning evaluations.

Measures

Everyday executive functioning (e.g., planning, inhibition, working memory)

Age range

5 to 18 years

Administered by

Completed by parents, teachers, and youth (self-report)

The D-KEFS is a set of nine standalone tests that assess higher-level executive functions such as cognitive flexibility, planning, verbal fluency, and inhibition. It is widely used in neuropsychological evaluations of children and adults.

Measures

Executive functions (flexibility, problem-solving, inhibition, fluency)

Age range

8 to 89 years

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The CTMT-2 is a timed connect-the-circles task that measures visual search, processing speed, and set-shifting. It is a quick, widely used screen for attention and executive-function difficulties, including possible frontal-lobe involvement.

Measures

Visual attention, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility

Age range

8 to 74 years

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The WCST is a classic neuropsychological measure of executive function that requires the test-taker to shift sorting strategies as feedback changes. It is sensitive to difficulties with cognitive flexibility, perseveration, and frontal-lobe functioning.

Measures

Abstract reasoning and cognitive flexibility (set-shifting)

Age range

6 years 6 months to 89 years

Administered by

Administered manually or by computer by a clinician

The Stroop Color and Word Test measures the ability to inhibit an automatic response — reading a word — in favor of a competing task, naming an ink color. It is a fast, well-known index of selective attention, cognitive flexibility, and executive control.

Measures

Selective attention, processing speed, and response inhibition

Age range

5 to 90 years (Golden version)

Administered by

Individually administered by a trained examiner

The MMPI-3 is a self-report inventory used to assess personality and a broad range of mental-health concerns. Its validity scales help clinicians gauge how openly and consistently the test was completed, making it a mainstay of adult clinical and forensic assessment.

Measures

Personality structure and psychopathology

Age range

18 years and older

Administered by

Self-administered questionnaire, interpreted by a psychologist

The PAI is a self-report inventory that assesses adult personality and clinical concerns such as depression, anxiety, and substance use across 22 non-overlapping scales. Its validity scales help clinicians judge response style, making it a common alternative to the MMPI.

Measures

Personality and psychopathology across clinical scales

Age range

18 years and older

Administered by

Self-administered questionnaire, interpreted by a psychologist

The BASC-3 is a multi-rater system that captures behavioral and emotional strengths and concerns from the perspectives of parents, teachers, and the child. It screens for areas such as anxiety, depression, attention problems, hyperactivity, and adaptive skills.

Measures

Emotional and behavioral functioning

Age range

2 to 21 years (rating scales)

Administered by

Completed by parents, teachers, and the student (self-report)

The BDI-II is a 21-item self-report questionnaire that measures the severity of depressive symptoms over the past two weeks. It is one of the most widely used depression measures in both clinical practice and research.

Measures

Severity of depression symptoms

Age range

13 years and older

Administered by

Self-report questionnaire

The BAI is a 21-item self-report scale that measures the severity of anxiety while minimizing overlap with depression symptoms. It is commonly used to screen for and monitor anxiety in clinical settings.

Measures

Severity of anxiety symptoms

Age range

17 to 80 years

Administered by

Self-report questionnaire

The BSI is a 53-item self-report inventory that screens for psychological distress across dimensions such as anxiety, depression, and hostility. Its brevity makes it useful for intake screening and tracking symptoms over time.

Measures

Psychological distress across nine symptom dimensions

Age range

13 years and older

Administered by

Self-report questionnaire

The MASC-2 assesses the range and severity of anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents across dimensions such as physical symptoms, social anxiety, and separation anxiety. Parent and self-report forms support a fuller picture of the child's experience.

Measures

Anxiety symptoms and dimensions in youth

Age range

8 to 19 years

Administered by

Completed by youth (self-report) and parents

The BYI-2 uses five brief self-report inventories to assess a young person's experience of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self-concept. The scales can be used individually or together for a broader emotional profile.

Measures

Self-perceptions of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self-concept

Age range

7 to 18 years

Administered by

Completed by the child or adolescent (self-report)

The CBCL, part of the ASEBA system, is a parent-report questionnaire that captures a broad range of emotional and behavioral problems. Companion teacher and youth self-report forms let clinicians compare perspectives across settings.

Measures

Emotional, behavioral, and social problems

Age range

1.5 to 18 years (age-specific forms)

Administered by

Completed by parents/caregivers

The Vineland-3 measures how well a person manages everyday demands across communication, daily living skills, socialization, and motor skills. It is a core instrument in evaluations of intellectual disability, autism, and developmental delay.

Measures

Adaptive behavior across communication, daily living, and socialization

Age range

Birth through 90+ years

Administered by

Completed with a caregiver via interview or rating form

The ABAS-3 assesses practical, social, and conceptual adaptive skills through rating forms completed by caregivers, teachers, or the individual. It is widely used in diagnosing and planning support for intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Measures

Adaptive skills needed for daily independence

Age range

Birth to 89 years

Administered by

Completed by people who know the individual well