Wechsler Memory Scale | Fifth Edition – Australian and New Zealand
WMS-5 A&NZ
The Wechsler Memory Scale®, Fifth Edition – Australian and New Zealand (WMS®-5 A&NZ) is the most advanced psychometric measure of adult memory. It is an individually administered clinical instrument for assessing immediate, delayed, and recognition memory across auditory and visual perceptual modalities, as well as visual working memory. The WMS®-5 A&NZ was codeveloped and co-normed with the WAIS®-5 A&NZ, expanding construct coverage, increasing flexibility, and allowing comparison of performance across the two tests.- Publication date:
- 2026
- Completion time:
- Varies based on battery: Comprehensive Memory Assessment | Standard Form (60 minutes), Brief Memory Assessment | Short Form (25 minutes), Alternate Form (25 minutes)
- Administration:
- Paper or Q-interactive®
- Age range:
- 16:0 – 90:11
- Qualification level:
- C
- Scoring options:
- Manual scoring or Q-global®
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The Wechsler Memory Scale®, Fifth Edition – Australian and New Zealand (WMS-5 A&NZ) enables clinicians to explore core aspects of memory in a highly flexible, yet comprehensive, manner within a broader evaluation battery. First introduced in 1945, the Wechsler Memory Scale has long been regarded as a trusted measure of memory functioning.
The WMS-5 A&NZ is the latest revision of this comprehensive adult memory assessment and comprises seven subtests measuring cognitive status, auditory memory, visual memory, and visual working memory. It features updated norms representative of today’s population, simplified administration options that increase flexibility, and expanded scores to support use across clinical, forensic, rehabilitation, and educational settings.
Co-developed and co-normed with the WAIS-5 A&NZ, the WMS-5 A&NZ allows direct comparison of intellectual and memory abilities, providing deeper insight into an individual’s cognitive profile when the two assessments are used together.
Features and benefits
- Flexible administration options for increasingly comprehensive information.
- Mental Status Screener
- Immediate Memory Screener
- Brief Memory Assessment – Short Form
- Comprehensive Memory Assessment – Standard Form
- Alternate Form
- Updated content to streamline administration.
- Expanded scores for in-depth interpretation of performance.
- Co-developed and co-normed with WAIS-5 A&NZ to enhance score interpretation, increase flexibility, and allow comparison of IQ and memory abilities.
- Alternate form allows for retesting and monitoring of memory processes without repeated exposure to the same stimuli.
- Improved digital administration options to eliminate paper materials (Q-interactive) or to support tele-assessment when traditional on-site testing isn’t possible (Q-global).
Explore Q-interactive
Administer and score the WMS-5 A&NZ digitally using iPad devices, with automated scoring and no paper materials required.
WMS-5 A&NZ Test Framework
The WMS-5 A&NZ maintains the same seven subtests from the WMS–IV A&NZ, with updated content to modernise this trusted memory assessment for use with today’s population.
| Subtest |
Flexible Administration Options
| Standard Form | Immediate Memory Screener | Short Form | Alternate Form |
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Primary Index Scores (Standard Form)
| Auditory Memory (AMI) | Visual Memory (VMI) | Visual Working Memory (VWMI) | Immediate Memory (IMI) | Delayed Memory (DMI) |
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Ancillary Index Scores
| Auditory Immediate Memory (AII) | Visual Immediate Memory* (VII) | Designs Content* (DCI) |
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| Auditory Delayed Memory (ADI) | Visual Delayed Memory* (VDI) | Designs Spatial* (DSI) |
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| Auditory Recognition (ARI) | Visual Recognition* (VRI) | |
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*Age-dependent scores apply.
The following resources are available for WMS-5 A&NZ
Tests in the WMS-5 A&NZ harness the processing capacities of Q-interactive to provide new, more dynamic, cognitively demanding tasks that are unable to be delivered and scored with fidelity in a traditional paper format.
Test Components
Required items for administering WMS-5 A&NZ on Q-interactive:
| A103000448345 |
Digital Assessment LibraryLearn more about our all access pass to digital assessments. |
Support |
Existing Users
If you have an active Q-interactive or Digital Assessment Library (DAL) license, WMS-5 A&NZ will be automatically added to your account.
Kits and Materials
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The WMS-5 A&NZ Standard Kit provides all necessary components to administer the Standard Form of WMS-5 A&NZ, including the optional Brief Cognitive Status Exam.
Short Form Record Forms are purchased separately if a brief memory assessment option is needed.
The Alternate Form Stimulus Book and Alternate Form Record Forms are purchased separately if a repeated measure is needed. -
The Standard Form is used for the most comprehensive memory assessment. The Standard Form contains all subtests (i.e., Logical Memory 1 & 2, Verbal Paired Associates 1 & 2, Visual Reproduction 1 & 2, Designs 1 & 2, Symbol Span, Spatial Addition) and the optional mental status screener, BCSE. An immediate memory screener can also be conducted using the Standard Form.
The Short Form is used for a briefer memory assessment. The Short Form contains Logical Memory 1 & 2, Visual Reproduction 1 & 2, and Symbol Span.
The Alternate Form, used for repeated administration, contains Logical Memory Alternate 1 & 2 and Visual Reproduction Alternate 1 & 2. -
No. The Standard, Short, and Alternate Record Forms are each used for the full age range.
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No. The same Response Booklet is used for all Record Forms.
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No. WAIS-5 A&NZ kits and WMS-5 A&NZ kits are sold separately.
Test Structure and Scores
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Subtest content was updated and ancillary scores were added; no new subtests or process scores were added. Additionally, administration options were expanded, with 3 different forms, to offer increased flexibility and utility.
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Yes.
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Administration time depends on the form: Standard Form ~60 minutes, Short Form ~25 minutes, Alternate Form ~ 25 minutes (estimated administration times for the Short Form and Alternate Form do not include elapsed times between immediate and delayed recall conditions).
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Yes, WMS-5 A&NZ was co-developed and co-normed with WAIS-5 A&NZ to maximise the utility of using the tests together.
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Yes. Additional Index scores and Contrast scores for WMS-IV A&NZ that were available with Advanced Clinical Solutions (ACS) are now included in the WMS-5 A&NZ.
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No. There are no CVLT 3 substitutions available for the WMS-5 A&NZ.
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No.
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ACS features are expected to be published in 2027. This includes the TOPF-2 (prediction of premorbid functioning) and Word Choice (effort assessment).
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Serial Assessment will not be part of the forthcoming ACS revision. No date is currently projected for this feature.
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No. The Social Cognition test will not be updated as part of the upcoming ACS revision. No date is currently projected for an update of the test.
