WISC IV - Low Working Memory Scores
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My child was tested with the WISC - IV series. She missed
the cut off date when entering the school system therefore
she is the oldest child in her class. The curriculum in
kindergarten has not been challenging due to her age and
prior pre-school experience. We were advised to have her
tested our school has a gifted and also accelerated program
for first grade.
Our daughter tested 99 percentile in both Verbal and
Perceptual reasoning, however working memory was at 21%. The
psychologist that performed the test stated that this was
not an indication of her IQ yet our school is questioning
her capabilities due to the working memory score. Is working
memory speed any indication that she cannot handle a faster
paced or more challenging class?
A: In general, working memory
is our ability to store and manipulate information for a
short span of time. It is commonly measured by dual-tasks -
tasks where individuals have to remember an item while
simultaneously processing another piece of information. For
individual differences in the performance of working memory,
this is quite closely related to a range of academic skills
for instance reading, spelling, comprehension, and
mathematics. Today, there has been emerging research on
working memory that predicts learning outcomes which is
independent of IQ scores. Rather than measuring what
students have already learnt, it in fact measures a
student's capacity to acquire knowledge. It should be noted
that working memory is not affected by environmental
influences, such as parental educational level and financial
background.
A few research findings that may explain levels of working
memory; firstly, there is evidence that low working memory
skills constitute a high risk factor for underachievement.
More importantly, the pattern of poor performance in
learning outcomes due to a low working memory remains even
when the child's IQ is statistically accounted. Next,
children with working memory are judged (by teachers) to be
highly inattentive, and have short poor attention spans and
high levels of distractibility. And finally, children with
low working memory tend to take much longer to process
information. Hence, timed activities and quick presentation
of information becomes a difficult task.
The Working Memory Index (WMI) in the WISC IV is a measure
of working memory. It assesses children's ability to
memorize new information, hold it in short-term memory,
concentrate, and manipulate that information to produce some
result or reasoning processes. It is important in
higher-order thinking, learning, and achievement. It can tap
concentration, planning ability, cognitive flexibility, and
sequencing skill, but is sensitive to anxiety too. It is an
important component of learning and achievement, and ability
to self-monitor. The WMI's subtests include Digit Span
(children are orally given sequences of numbers and asked to
repeat them, either as heard or in reverse order);
Letter-Number Sequencing (children are orally given
sequences of letters and numbers together, and asked to
repeat them in both numerical order and alphabetical order);
and Arithmetic (supplemental - orally administered
arithmetic questions).
From the above clarification, it is obvious that working
memory is an important component for achievement at school;
hence the school's concern is justified. The discrepancy
between the other scores with WMI is an indicator of some
kind of learning difficulty. I suggest you see an
educational psychologist for further tests and early
intervention if the need be. Hope that helps. Best of luck!
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Dawn P. Flanagan Ph.D, Alan S. Kaufman Ph.D
The WISC-IV is the top intelligence assessment instrument
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