Testing for Giftedness Using the WISC-IV
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My daughter's Faith turned 6 recently. She is in the first grade and
reads fluently. She learned to read on her own and can spell
very well. She has a love for books. She is the youngest in
her class. Her teacher said that she has bright kids in her
class but faith is an exceptionally bright child. School
work comes pretty easy to Faith (that is her name) I had her
IQ testes by a psychologist last week with WISC-IV and the
full scale was 129. (The psychologist said that if Faith is
unsure of the answer she won't try to guess she just shut
down). The test results are as follows:
| Verbal Comprehension |
128 |
| Perceptual Reasoning |
106 (This is where if she
was unsure she wouldn't answer) |
| Working Memory |
123 |
| Processing Speed |
136 |
I am concerned because the Perceptual Reasoning was 106.
She really just turned 6 did I test her too early? I really
don't understand what this all means can you explain the
results to me.
Is she gifted? Any help you could offer is greatly
appreciated.
A: The WISC-IV is a useful test
for the gifted individuals due to its strengths in measuring
verbal and visual reasoning, which are usually the strengths
of the gifted population. Researches have indicated that the
Verbal Comprehension Index Score is significantly higher
than the Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, and
Processing Speed Indices. The Perceptual Reasoning Index
Score is significantly higher than the Working Memory and
Processing Speed Indices, and the Working Memory Index Score
is significantly higher than the Processing Speed Index. It
was also found that the best measures for predicting
giftedness (of the four indices) is the Verbal Comprehension
Index where your girl's scores are rather high.
Based on your daughter's full scale score, she appears to be
in the gifted range and this has also been observed by her
teacher. The Perceptual Reasoning Index includes Block
Design, Picture Concepts, and Matrix Reasoning, all of which
measures non verbal and fluid reasoning abilities. It
assesses children's ability to examine a problem, draw upon
visual-motor and visual-spatial skills, organize their
thoughts, create solutions, and then test them. It can also
tap preferences for visual information, comfort with novel
and unexpected situations, or a preference to learn by
doing. In short, it is generally considered to tap
abstract-visual problem solving capabilities.
Her scores are not low for PRI, but perhaps you may be
concerned with the comparison to her other scores. There are
various reasons that children may not do well on some test
compared to others and you did indicate here that this is
where she may not have answered because she was unsure. It
appears as perfectionist behavior where the child would
rather not answer than to answer incorrectly.
The Perceptual Reasoning test requires them to look at
various stimuli, and engage in active problem-solving. The
performance here is best discussed in terms of some of the
task demands that are required for adequate performance on
these kinds of items. Even though the items do not require a
verbal response, the child need to have the ability to
understand verbally presented directions. Attention to
details and adequate motor functioning also are important to
success on these items. It is good that the psychologist
made o note on her behavior during testing, especially for
PRI, which may have resulted in lower scores.
You may also want to see the psychologist again to
understand and analyze the types of errors that your
daughter made. This will enable you to better understand her
scores. With that, you may be able to help her if you feel
that there are weaknesses that need attention. The same goes
for the other scores – the individual scores on the subtests
are important to determine strengths and weaknesses.
It is fine for her to have taken the test at her age; if you
want to retest her when she is a little older, you may do so
eventually. Here's wishing you all the best!
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