Intelligence Testing
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q: I have a 4.3 year old daughter. She is
extremely talented. At this age she speaks 4 different languages perfectly without any confusion. Her
vocabulary is very good in all these 4 languages. Her analytical skills are also at par.
I went through your website, and I can surely say that my child is
gifted (as per the points of giftedness)
I stay in Pune, India. I would want to get her IQ test done.
Kindly let me know what should I be doing to get her IQ test done in India.
A:
It is indeed amazing that your child is able to speak four different
languages fluently at a very young age, which indicates a highly
developed lingual ability. Researchers have found that well-developed
lingual ability (in this case multilingual) actually enhances one's
cognitive flexibility. This means people (which includes children) are
better able to see things from two or more perspectives and to
understand how other people think. They also appear to have better
auditory language skills, which is the ability to discriminate sounds of
a language more finely than people who speak only one language
(monolinguals). In addition it is also found that they mature earlier
than monolinguals in terms of linguistic abstraction.
As parents, you may be a very good judge of her ability and she is
probably above average based on your systematic observation and
awareness. Unless the need be for certain programmes (I am not aware of
a specific gifted programme for very young children), there may not be a
need to get her tested at such a young age as results may not be very
stable and sometimes, without realizing, parents or teachers may put
unnecessary pressure on the child to perform and achieve. However, if
you strongly feel that it is necessary to get her tested, you may want
to try the
Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence -
version III (WPPSI-III) which can be tested on children between ages 3 -
7 years. I do the
WISC-IV
(UK), which is a more comprehensive test, and
adapt it to the need of different cultures but start age is from 6 - 16
years. For younger children, I do a pre-assessment (to determine
giftedness or talent) and counsel parents accordingly on how to nurture
and manage the child.
There are a few versions of similar tests adapted for Indian children
but I am not able to comment on the reliability of such tests. The main
concern here is the ability and experience of the test administrator for
scoring. Interpretation is also crucial and while there are experts in
testing, most deal with the other extreme of special children - not
gifted children. I believe these tests are available at hospitals. You
may want to check the hospitals in your area.
Hope that helps. All the best!
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