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WECHSLER, DAVID (1896–1981) the New York Bureau of Children’S Guid- and Ecumenical Wechsler, David University where he completed his master’s degree in 1917 and a doctoral degree in 1925 (1896–1981) under the mentorship of Robert S. Wood- John D. Wasserman1 and Alan S. worth (1869–1962). He counted pioneering psychologists Woodworth, James McKeen Kaufman2 Cattell (1860–1944), and Edward L. Thorndike 1American Institute of Psychology, U.S.A. and 2Yale University School of Medicine, U.S.A. (1874–1949) at Columbia among his pri- mary influences. His graduate education was interrupted by World War I, during which he David Wechsler (1896–1981) authored the learned the mental tests, including the Army dominant intelligence and memory tests in Alpha, Army Beta, Stanford–Binet, and Yerkes theU.S.A.inthesecondhalfofthetwenti- Point Scale. Toward the end of his World eth century. According to test usage surveys, War I military service, Wechsler studied with Wechsler’s intelligence scales have led the Charles E. Spearman (1863–1945) and Karl practice of psychological assessment from the Pearson (1857–1936), becoming familiar with 1960s to the present, and his memory scales Spearman’s work on general intelligence and have become leading instruments among Pearson’s correlation statistics. With Wood- neuropsychologists. worth’s support, Wechsler was awarded an American Field Service fellowship from 1919 Biographical Overview to 1921, which he used to study emotional Wechsler was the youngest of three boys and reactivity with Henri Piéron (1881–1964) and four girls born to Moses Wechsler, a merchant, Louis Lapicque (1866–1952) at the University and Leah (Pascal) Wechsler, a shopkeeper. The of Paris. Wechsler family emigrated from a virulently Basedonhiseducation,training,andprac- anti-Semitic Romania to New York when tice, Wechsler may be considered one of the Davidwas6yearsofage,andhelostboth first clinical psychologists at a time before parents to cancer within 5 years of his arrival. accredited graduate programs. Woodworth He was effectively raised by an older brother, a described the Columbia University psychology physicianwhowouldbecomehisrolemodel department from which Wechsler graduated as as a practicing clinician, academician, and teaching “experimental abnormal psychology,” author of scholarly professional texts. Wechsler and for his 1917 master’s thesis, Wechsler spent wasmarriedtwice.Hisfirstwife,Florence two and a half months testing six patients Helen “Freda” Felske, was tragically killed in in depth at the Manhattan State Hospital on a 1934 automobile accident within a year of Wards Island, conducting the first psycho- their marriage. In 1939 he married Ruth Ann metric examination of memory dysfunction Halpern,whosurvivedhim.Thecoupleraised in alcoholic Korsakoff ’s syndrome. After his two sons, Adam and Leonard. World War I military induction and training in After completing primary and secondary mental tests, he was stationed at Camp Logan school in the New York City public school in Houston, Texas, where he gave individual system, Wechsler attended the College of psychological assessments to recruits who the City of New York (CCNY) from 1913 hadfailedtheAlphaand/ortheBetabecause to 1916, graduating with an AB degree of limited English proficiency, illiteracy, or at the age of 20. He subsequently began suspected malingering. From 1922 to 1924 graduate studies in psychology at Columbia Wechsler practiced as a psychologist with The Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology, First Edition. Edited by Robin L. Cautin and Scott O. Lilienfeld. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/9781118625392.wbecp134 2 WECHSLER, DAVID (1896–1981) the New York Bureau of Children’s Guid- and ecumenical. In a 1974 address, Wechsler ance, where he administered intelligence, explained that intelligence is a multifaceted achievement, and personality measures as part concept that can only be considered relative to of a multidisciplinary team. From 1925 to 1932 sociocultural context: “[I]ntelligence cannot Wechsler established a private clinical practice, be equated with cognitive or intellectual abil- later describing himself as “one of the first ity. … To be rated intelligent, behavior must psychologists in private practice.” From 1932 not only be rational and purposeful; it must to 1967 Wechsler served as psychologist (and notonlyhavemeaningbutitmustalsohave later chief psychologist) at New York’s Bellevue value, it must be esteemed” (Wechsler, 1975, p. Psychiatric Hospital. He was also a clinical 136). He offered his best-known definition of professor at New York University College of intelligence in 1939: Medicine from 1942 to 1970. Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think ratio- Wechsler’s Legacy nally and to deal effectively with his environment. As one of the first practicing clinical psycholo- It is global because it characterizes the individual’s gists, Wechsler’s orientation was more applied behavior as a whole; it is an aggregate because it is than academic, and more practical than theo- composed of elements or abilities which, though not entirely independent, are qualitatively differ- retical. Wechsler long served as chief psychol- entiable. (Wechsler, 1939, p. 3) ogist at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital in New York, and his tests had the imprimatur of a clin- Wechsler later specified that this definition ical practitioner. In the words of Lee J. Cron- was intended to reflect Charles Spearman’s bach (1916–2001), “His scale represents the general intelligence factor (“global capacity”), highest flowering of the pragmatic mental test- L. L. Thurstone’s group factors (“elements or inginitiatedearlyinthiscentury,ratherthana abilities”), Lewis M. Terman’s capacity for break into any new understanding of intellec- “abstract thinking” (“to think rationally”), and tual processes” (Cronbach, 1958, p. 1133). Alfred Binet’s emphasis on adaptation (“to deal Wechsler wrote over 50 journal arti- effectively with one’s environment”). cles and two books, The Range of Human Wechsler’s major contributions to the prac- Capacities and The Measurement of Adult Intel- tice of intelligence testing include popularizing ligence, both going through multiple editions. the deviation IQ summary score; offering clus- Wechsler’s intelligence tests began with the ters of both verbal and nonverbal/performance Wechsler-Bellevue (1939), followed by the tests in a single normed test battery; integrat- Wechsler-Bellevue Form II (1946), the Wech- ing clinically informative and psychometrically sler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC; sound procedures in his test batteries; empha- 1949), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale sizing interpretation of clinical observations, (WAIS; 1955), and the Wechsler Preschool and qualitative indicators, and ability profiles; Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI; 1967). and remaining cognizant of the limitations The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) was first of intelligence tests in predicting individual published in 1945. After Wechsler’s death in life success. Before Wechsler advanced use 1981, his test publisher continued to issue of the deviation IQ in 1939, the concepts of test revisions guided by staff test specialists mental age and the mathematically flawed and external expert advisors; the most recent ratio IQ were widespread in clinical practice. versions are the WISC-IV (2003), WAIS-IV Wechsler’s idea to include both verbal and non- (2008), WMS-IV (2009), and the WPPSI-IV verbal/performance content in his intelligence (2012), respectively. tests first occurred to him while serving as an Wechsler’s conceptualization of intelligence army mental examiner, and the convenience evolved over time while remaining practical of having both types of test content balanced WECHSLER, DAVID (1896–1981) 3 and normed together in a single test was one of SEE ALSO: Binet, Alfred (1857–1911); Cattell, the major reasons for the Wechsler-Bellevue’s James McKeen (1860–1944); Cronbach, Lee J. popularity. Wechsler considered verbal and (1916–2001); Intelligence Testing; Terman, Lewis nonverbal tasks as equally adequate measures M. (1877–1956); Wechsler Intelligence Scales of general intelligence, and he emphasized the (WAIS, WISC, WPPSI) importance of assessing people “in as many References different modalities as possible” (Wechsler, Doppelt, & Lennon, 1975, p. 55). Many of the Cronbach, L. J. (1958). [Review] The Measurement assessment tasks appropriated by Wechsler andAppraisalofAdultIntelligence(4thed.)by for his intelligence scales ranked among the David Wechsler. Science, New Series, 128(3332), 1133. top tests used by psychologists at the time the Wechsler, D. (1939). The measurement of adult Wechsler-Bellevue was published. Wechsler intelligence. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins streamlined his subtests into 5–10-min tasks, Co. doi:10.1037/10020-000 making item scoring rules uniform and easy to Wechsler, D. (1975). Intelligence defined and apply. A reading of Wechsler’s books and tests undefined: A relativistic appraisal. American makesitclearthatevenwhileheadvancedthe Psychologist, 30(2), 135–139. psychometric practice of test interpretation, he doi:10.1037/h0076868 favored a clinically informed, qualitative style Wechsler, D., Doppelt, J., & Lennon, R. (1975). A of interpreting test performance. conversation with David Wechsler (Transcript, One of the most significant limitations of Archives of the Psychological Corporation). San intelligence tests, observed Wechsler, was that Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation. they fail
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