Forgoing administration of any part of Digit Span results in a lower raw score, and therefore an artificially low subtest scaled score. The Digit Span Forward and Digit Span Backward scores cannot be averaged to obtain an estimate of the Digit Span Sequencing score.
This practice will result in inaccurate scaled scores. During an early research phase in the WAIS-IV project, the research directors investigated if Digit Span Forward could be eliminated (i.e., if the scaled score for Digit Span could be obtained by administering Digit Span Backward and Digit Span Sequencing only). The result was that Digit Span Backward scores dropped, even among high-ability examinees, and the floor of the subtest became much weaker for low-ability examinees. Digit Span Forward appears to fill an essential role as a “warm-up” task for higher-ability examinees prior to Digit Span Backward and Digit Span Sequencing. Its inclusion additionally offers a stronger floor for lower-ability examinees that cannot be achieved with Digit Span Backward and Digit Span Sequencing, even with the simplest of items. It is important to accurately record the examinee's response verbatim. If recording the digits is challenging because the examinee speaks too quickly, examiners occasionally place checkmarks above the digits on the Record Form.
This practice can result in some loss of data, however, because incorrect digits were not recorded. For example, if the examinee consistently misheard or inaccurately recalled “5” as “9,” a qualitative observation is not possible if those data are not present.
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