Home > Encyclopedia of Psychology > David Wechsler

1896-1981
American experimental and clinical psychologist who developed new types of intelligence tests.

David Wechsler developed the first standardized adult intelligence test, the Bellevue-Wechsler Scale, in 1939. Likewise, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, published in 1949 and revised in 1974, was considered to be the best test available. The concept that intelligence involves the abilities necessary to succeed in life was one of Wechsler's major contributions to psychology. He promoted the idea that intelligence includes personality traits and emotional states, as well as mental abilities, and that all of these should be measured to assess intelligent behavior in one's environment. Wechsler also promoted the idea that educational,...