David Wechsler is an old acquaintance of all those who have studied intelligence at a scientific level, from disciplines such as psychology or branches or specializations such as neuropsychology or neuropsychiatry. It is not in vain that he is the author of one of the most famous and widely used batteries for evaluating cognitive abilities , the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, both in its adult (WAIS) and child (WISC) versions.

We are probably in front of one of the most recognized and important professionals who researched and carried out several studies on intelligence and cognitive capacity, and who transformed that research into practical material that would allow for the assessment of the patients’ condition. Next we will see a brief biography of David Wechsler .

The life of the creator of the Wechsler Scales: biography of David Wechsler

David Wechsler was born on January 12, 1896 in the city of Lespedi, Romania, as the youngest of seven children. He came from a family of Jewish origin, being the son of Professor Moses S. Wechsler and the shopkeeper Leah W. Pascal.

In 1902, when David was six years old, the Wechsler family emigrated to the United States , specifically to New York City. Naturalized in that country, he would carry out his primary and secondary studies.

University Education and World War I

After high school he would begin his university studies at the City College of New York, from which he would graduate in 1916. He would later pursue a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology at Columbia University in 1917.

After that and before the outbreak of the First World War, he joined the army, in which he would participate as a psychologist . Initially he worked on Long Island, at Camp Yaphank, being assigned the general intelligence test (specifically the Army Alpha and Army Beta, which were intended to be used to assess the assignment of recruits as officers or enlisted men) for the selection of recruits.

I would do the same work in the psychological division at Fort Logan, Texas, where I would meet and work with authors such as Thorndike, Yerkes, Spearman and Pearson. Throughout his military experience, he would begin to realize that the tests used had serious limitations and biases (for example, they were not adapted for illiterates or foreigners, the verbal being too important).

He also served in France. After the war, the army granted him a scholarship in 1918 to study at the University of London , where he met Pearson or Spearman again.

After that, in 1919 he would be accepted at the University of Paris, where he carried out research in experimental psychology on the variations of electrical conductivity in the skin in the face of emotional changes, together with Piéron and Lapique, until 1922.

That same year he returned to the United States, working initially at the Boston Psychiatric Hospital and, months later, moved to New York and entered the Bureau of Child Guidance as a psychologist, where he observed and practiced as a clinical psychologist until 1925. That year he completed his research on the electrical conduction of the skin, obtaining his doctorate from Columbia University (having been tutored by Woodworth).

Postdoctoral life and World War II

After obtaining his doctorate, he spent the next few years, until 1932 to be precise, working as a clinical psychologist in private practice, as well as secretary of the New York Psychological Corporation (where he introduced a lie detector in 1926). His research led him to see that the importance of interpersonal differences in terms of cognitive abilities was overestimated, and that from certain ages these began to decline.

In 1932 he was offered the position of chief psychologist at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, a position he would hold until 1967. He would also remain in contact with the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology of New York University. His studies were varied, but intelligence would remain the subject of most interest to him .

In 1934 he married Florence Felske, although weeks after the wedding she died in a car accident. He would not remarry until 1939, when would marry Ruth Halpern (with whom he would eventually have two children).

The same year of this second marriage would also be a milestone in psychology, the publication of his first intelligence scales. We are talking about the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale of Intelligence. However, unfortunately it was also in that same year that World War II would begin.

During this second war, he would be appointed as an advisor by the US Secretary of War. His role would also be relevant after the war, developing and implementing a mental health program for Holocaust survivors in Cyprus during 1947 and working with war veterans. He also visited the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, working briefly as a professor in 1967.

Another noteworthy aspect is that over the years it has developed different tests, including the Wechsler Memory Scale, or the well-known WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) or WPPSI (Wechsler Primary and Preschool Scale of Intelligence, for preschool children) as well as some of its revisions. His contributions were highly respected and valued while he was alive, receiving different awards for them.

Death and Legacy

Wechsler died at his home in Manhattan on May 2, 1981 , in New York City. He died at the age of 85, leaving behind a wife, children and grandchildren. However, his legacy is extensive and continues to this day.

His studies on intelligence and the scales he created have been very useful in evaluating and assessing the cognitive status of patients who show some kind of deterioration.

In fact, although the entire battery is not usually used as this would imply a considerable amount of time, it is common for many of the tests generated for it to be used today in the evaluation of people with memory complaints, to assess cognitive capacity and to adjust the aids if necessary (for example in the case of the need for educational aids at school) or if they present some type of cognitive deterioration (to assess deterioration generated by age or even to observe alterations generated by some type of dementia).

Tests such as the WAIS and the WISC continue to be carried out periodically , improving and updating their scales but conserving the name of their original designer, Wechsler.

Bibliographic references:

  • Saxon, W. (1981). Dr.David Wechsler, 85, Author of Intelligence Tests. The New York Times.