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This practice can result in some loss of data, however, because incorrect digits were not recorded. If recording the digits is challenging because the examinee speaks too quickly, examiners occasionally place checkmarks above the digits on the Record Form. It is important to accurately record the examinee's response verbatim. Its inclusion additionally offers a stronger floor for lower-ability examinees that cannot be achieved with Digit Span Backward and Digit Span Sequencing, even with the simplest of items. Digit Span Forward appears to fill an essential role as a “warm-up” task for higher-ability examinees prior to Digit Span Backward and Digit Span Sequencing. The result was that Digit Span Backward scores dropped, even among high-ability examinees, and the floor of the subtest became much weaker for low-ability examinees. During an early research phase in the WAIS-IV project, the research directors investigated if Digit Span Forward could be eliminated (i.e., if the scaled score for Digit Span could be obtained by administering Digit Span Backward and Digit Span Sequencing only). This practice will result in inaccurate scaled scores. The Digit Span Forward and Digit Span Backward scores cannot be averaged to obtain an estimate of the Digit Span Sequencing score. Forgoing administration of any part of Digit Span results in a lower raw score, and therefore an artificially low subtest scaled score. Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward, and Digit Span Sequencing all are necessary to derive the Digit Span subtest scaled score.
#Forward digit span test trial#
Bypassing the second trial may therefore result in awarding credit for trials more difficult than the first.Īdminister all three parts of the subtest. In some cases, smaller numbers are used to make the first trial of a given span length easier than the second trial. This practice is problematic because trials vary in terms of difficulty. Never present only a single trial of a given length and subsequently award credit for subsequent trials of that length to shorten administration time. Varying voice pitch may facilitate use of a chunking strategy, which may result in an overestimate of ability.Īdminister all trials as instructed. Consistent pitch should be used to enunciate all except the final digit, for which voice pitch should drop slightly to indicate presentation is complete and the examinee may begin to respond. Another common error is to vary voice pitch when pronouncing each digit in a sequence. You may wish to tap your foot lightly under the table to ensure a standard presentation rate. It is critical to practice the proper presentation rate. One of the most common administration errors is to present digits faster than one per second. Weiss, in WAIS-IV Clinical Use and Interpretation, 2010 Digit Spanĭigit Span presentation rate and pitch should be consistent with standard procedures.
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