Abstract

A commonly held view for Wechsler intelligence scales is that they consist of 2 factors, i.e., verbal IQ and performance IQ. However, more recent evidence suggests that the scales may consist of 3 factors, i.e., verbal comprehension index(VCI), perceptual organization Index(POI), and freedom from distractibility Index(FDI). The WAIS-III, the most recent revision of Wechsler intelligence scales, accepts the Three-Factor view and provides U. S. norms for the 3 factors. However, the Three-Factor interpretation is not widely practiced in Korea, partly because Korean norms for the 3 factors have not been published yet. Thus, the present study constructed Korean norms for the 3 factors, based on K-WAIS test results of 201 Korean adults. The difference between 3 factor scores that is significant at 15%ile, 10%ile, 5%ile, and 1%ile level was 20, 23, 28, and 35, respectively. These figures were highly similar to the corresponding figures for WAIS-III norms. At 10%ie level, 14 subjects showed a significant difference between 2 factor scores, whereas 43 subjects showed at least one significant difference among 3 factor scores. These results support the view that the Three-Factor view provides a more useful framework for interpreting Wechsler test results than the Two-Factor view.