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 and again in 2001; this last version is commonly referred to as the WJ III. They may be administered to children from age two right up to the oldest adults (with norms utilizing individuals in their 90s). The WJ III is 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.

Published versions
The test is currently in its third edition. A normative update was made available in 2007.

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.

Interpretation
The tests return two sets of scores:
 * General Intellectual Ability (GIA).
 * Brief Intellectual Ability (BIA). 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.

Published versions
The test is currently in its third edition. A normative update was made available in 2007.