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Yes, the subject's age drives both delivery and scoring on the RIAS-2 and most other individually-administered cognitive assessment instruments. There are different suggested start points based on the age of the examinee. The youngest children start at the first item, while the oldest learners start several items in. The assumption is that if you meet the basal criterion (a certain number of items correct in a row) at or below your age-determined start point, that all unadministered items below that would have been correct. Similarly, one continues administering items until a ceiling is reached (a certain number of items incorrect in a row), where the assumption is that administering all remaining items would not result in additional correct responses (or even if there were stragglers, it would have an insignificant effect on overall estimates of ability).
The resulting raw scores (which include credit for all items below the basal, and none for items above the ceiling) are then compared to age-matched peers in the standardization group (the age norms). Age bands generally change across the developmental spectrum, especially for a test like this one, that spans preschool through old age. In the younger ages, the bands will be smaller, often three to four months for school-age children, while in the oldest ages, the bands may be 10 or 20 years wide.
