Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities

The Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities is a set of intelligence tests first developed in 1977 by Richard Woodcock and Mary E. Bonner Johnson. It was revised in 1989, again in 2001, and most recently in 2014; this last version is commonly referred to as the WJ IV. They may be administered to children from age two right up to the oldest adults (with norms utilizing individuals in their 90s). The previous edition WJ III was praised for covering "a wide variety of cognitive skills."

Content of the tests

The Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities include both the Standard Battery and the Extended Battery. The Standard Battery consists of tests 1 through 10 while the Extended Battery includes tests 11 through 20. There is also a Woodcock-Johnson III Diagnostic Supplement to the Tests of Cognitive Abilities with an additional 11 cognitive tests. All of which combined allows for a considerably detailed analysis of cognitive abilities. The Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory factors that this test examines are based on 9 broad stratum abilities which are: Comprehension-Knowledge, Long-Term Retrieval, Visual-Spatial Thinking, Auditory Processing, Fluid Reasoning, Processing Speed, Short-Term Memory, Quantitative Knowledge and Reading-Writing. A General Intellectual Ability (GIA) or Brief Intellectual Ability (BIA) may be obtained. The BIA score is derived from three cognitive tests which include Verbal Comprehension, Concept Formation, and Visual Matching. These three cognitive tests measure three abilities; Comprehension-Knowledge (Gc), Fluid Reasoning (Gf), and Processing Speed (Gs), which best represents an individual's verbal ability, thinking ability, and efficiency in performing cognitive tasks. The BIA takes about 10 to 15 minutes to administer and is especially useful for screenings, re-evaluations that don't require a comprehensive intellectual assessment, or research that needs a short but reliable measure of intelligence. On the other hand, the GIA obtained from the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities provide a more comprehensive assessment of general ability (g) and the score is based on a weighted combination of tests that best represents a common ability underlying all intellectual performance.

List of Tests

Test	Broad Ability	Narrow Ability	Test Description
Numerical Reasoning	Gf	Quantitative Reasoning	Examinees must determine numerical sequences and determine a two-dimensional numerical pattern
Concept Formation	Gf	Induction	Examinees must identify rules governing the organization of colored geometric figures when shown instances and noninstances of concepts
Analysis Synthesis	Gf	General Sequential Reasoning	Examinees must analyze the components of an incomplete logic puzzle and to determine the missing components
Block Rotation	Gv	Visualization	Examinees must identify geometric designs that match a target design but have been rotated to a different visual perspective
Spatial Relations	Gv	Spatial Relations	Examinees must select the component parts of whole shape
Pattern Recognition	Gv	Visual Memory	Examinees must study images for 5 s and identify images within a larger array after the initial images have been removed
Visual Matching	Gs	Perceptual Speed	Examinees must quickly locate and circle the two identical numbers in a row of six numbers during a 3-minute period
Decision Speed	Gs	Mental Comparison Speed	Examinees must rapidly scan a row of images and mark two images are the most closely related during a 3-minute period
Cross out	Gs	Perceptual Speed & Rate of Test Taking	Examinees must mark drawings that are identical to the first drawing in the row during a 3-minute period
Rapid Picture Naming	Gs	Naming Facility	Examinees must quickly name a series of stimulus pictures
Retrieval Fluency	Glr	Ideational Fluency	Examinees must state as many words from specified categories as possible in 1 minute
Visual Auditory Learning : Delayed	Glr	Associative Memory	Examinees must recall and relearn (after a 30- minute to 8-day delay) symbols presented in Visual-Auditory Learning
Visual Auditory Learning	Glr	Associative Memory	Examinees must associate new visual symbols with orally presented words in order to translate the series of symbols
Memory For Names	Glr	Associative Memory	Examinees must remember an increasingly large number of names of novel cartoon characters
Memory For Names: Delayed	Glr	Associative Memory	Examinees must recall and relearn (after a 30- minute to 8-day delay) names of novel cartoon
Sound Blending	Ga	Phonetic Coding Synthesis	Examinees must listen to a series of individual syllables, individual phonemes, or both that form words and name the complete words
Incomplete Words	Ga	Phonetic Coding Analysis	Examinees must listen to words with one or more phonemes missing and name the complete words
Sound Patterns	Ga	Speech Sound Discrimination	Examinees must indicate whether pairs of complex sound patterns are the same or different. The patterns may differ in pitch, rhythm, or sound content
Auditory Working Memory	Gsm	Working Memory	Examinees must listen to a mixed series of words and digits and then to rearrange them by first saying the words in order and then the numbers
Numbers Reversed	Gsm	Working Memory	Examinees must repeat a series of random numbers backward
Memory For Words	Gsm	Memory Span	Examinees must repeat lists of unrelated words in the correct sequence
Memory For Sentences	Gsm	Memory Span	Examinees must repeat complete sentences
Picture Vocabulary	Gc	Lexical Knowledge	Examinees must name familiar and unfamiliar pictured objects
Verbal Comprehension	Gc	Language Development & Lexical Knowledge	Examinees must name familiar and unfamiliar pictured objects, say words similar in meaning to word presented, say words that are opposites in meaning to the word presented, and complete phrases with words that complete analogies
General Information	Gc	General Information	Examinees must provide common or typical characteristics of objects by responding to questions, such as “Where you would find . . .?” and “What you would do with . . .?
Academic Knowledge	Gc	General Information	Examinees must provide information about the biological and physical sciences; history, geography, government, and economics; and art, music, and literature
Oral Comprehension	Gc	Listening Ability	Examinees must listen to a short passage and orally supply the word missing at the end of the passage
Story Recall	Gc	Listening Ability	Examinees must listen to a short passage and describe the gist of what they heard

Citation:

G	General factor
Gf	General Factor - Fluid Intelligence
Gv	General Factor - Visual-spatial ability
Gs	General Factor - Processing Speed
Glr	General Factor - Long Term Retrieval
Ga	General Factor - Auditory Processing
Gsm	General Factor - Short Term Memory
Gc	General Factor - Crystallized Intelligence

Citation:

Published versions

The test is currently in its fourth edition.