Bright or Gifted?

By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D

Q: My 6 yr daughter just received the following scores on the WISC-IV test:

VCI	124
PRI	129
WMI	110
PSI	88
FSIQ	120

I have been doing some research and apparently the VCI & PRI are much more indicative of giftedness. Is this true? If so, is her IQ likely closer to 130 than 120? The psychologist who tested her said she was 100% accurate but worked slowly on the coding & symbol search subtests. My daughter is a perfectionist so this does not surprise me. She has many gifted qualities. She also took the Woodcock-Johnson III achievement test; her Academic Knowledge score was 133, placing her in the 99 percentile. Is she bright or gifted? Would it serve any purpose to retest her in a few years?

A: These terms have long been debated and sometimes used interchangeably. To determine the differences between bright and gifted, the table in BowNET website can be particularly helpful.

Approximately 68 percent of the population would score in the average range of the scores on the WISC (85-115). Above that range, individuals may be considered above average. To give you a reliable estimation of the scores average; based on a clinical validity study of the WISC-IV (The Psychological Corporation), intellectually gifted children tend to score the following:

Composite	Mean
VCI	124.7
PRI	120.4
WMI	112.5
PSI	110.6
FSIQ	123.5

It is true that the main indicators are the VCI and PRI, but to determine giftedness in general, usually the full scores are used in most programs. In this case, it is hard to determine if her scores would be closer to 130 just by looking at the VCI and PRI. You can retest her after a couple of years once you have worked on her strengths and weaknesses and help her develop her potentials better.

For now, what is important is not whether she is gifted or bright; but to work on her weak areas and help her strengthen her strong areas.

You may also want to take a look at the chart below to see the fine differences between high achievers (bright), gifted learners and creative thinkers. Above average children may fall in any of these categories:

Chart Comparing High Achievers, Gifted Learners, or Creative Thinkers

A High Achiever...	A Gifted Learner ...	A Creative Thinker ....
Remembers the answers	Poses unforeseen questions	Sees exceptions
Is interested	Is curious	Wonders
Is attentive	Is selectively mentally engaged	Daydreams; may seem off task
Generates advanced ideas	Generates complex, abstract ideas	Overflows with ideas, many of which will never be developed
Works hard to achieve	Knows without working hard	Plays with ideas and concepts
Answer the questions in detail	Ponders with depth and multiple perspectives	Inject new possibilities
Performs at the tops of the group	Is beyond the group	Is in own group
Responds with interest and opinions	Exhibits feelings and opinions from multiple perspectives	Shares bizarre, sometimes conflicting opinions
Learns with ease	Already knows	Questions: What if....
Needs 6 to 8 repetitions to master	Needs 1 to 3 repetitions to master	Questions the need for mastery
Enjoys the company of age peers	Prefers the company of intellectual peers	Prefers the company of creative peers but often works alone
Understands complex, abstract humor	Creates complex, abstract humor	Relishes wild, off-the-wall humor
Grasps the meaning	Infers and connects concepts	Makes mental leaps: Aha!
Completes assignments on time	Initiates projects and extensions of assignments	Initiates more projects that will ever be completed
Is receptive	Is intense	Is independent and unconventional
Is accurate and complete	Is original and continually developing	Is original and continually developing
Enjoys school often	Enjoys self-directed learning	Enjoys creating
Absorbs information	Manipulates information	Improvises
Is a technician with expertise in a field	Is an expert who abstracts beyond the field	Is an inventor and idea generator
Memorizes well	Guesses and infers well	Creates and brainstorms well
Is highly alert and observant	Anticipates and relates observations	Is intuitive
Is pleased with own learning	Is self-critical	Is never finished with possibilities
Gets A's	May not be motivated by grades	May not be motivated by grades
Is able	Is intellectual	Is idiosyncratic

Source: http://giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted101/l/bright_gifted.htm

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