Hello.
I'm currently a Junior in high school, and I recently re-discovered some ancient test results (IQ and otherwise) that I'm not entirely sure how to interpret. The degree of scatter is startling, and while the tantrums I was prone to throw when faced with trying circumstances under the age of ten undoubtedly played a role, I don't know if they alone are sufficient to account for the observed discrepancies.

I was administered the WISC-IV at age 8 as part of an evaluation for possible LDs due to non-academic difficulties with school. The results (with extended norms) were as follows:

VCI: 164 (>99.9%)
  • Vocabulary: 22 (>99.9%)
  • Similarities: 20 (>99.9%)
  • Comprehension: 19 (99.9%)


PRI: 104 (61%)
  • Matrix Reasoning: 12 (75%)
  • Picture Completion: 10 (50%)
  • Picture Concepts: 10 (50%)


WMI: 113 (81%)
  • Digit Span: 14 (91%)
  • Letter-Number Sequencing: 11 (63%)


It was noted that my performance on LNS was likely impaired due to distraction and frustration. The PSI subtests were not administered due to a refusal on my part to complete timed tasks. BD was aborted after I threw the plastic blocks across the room when I noticed a mistake in my work, and PCm was substituted for it. A previous (separate) BD test gave a scaled score of 15 (95%), and the SB-V Non-Verbal Visual-Spatial Processing subtest, which was given with the WISC-IV, yielded a score of 12 (75%).
However, another psychologist gave me a nonverbal test, whose name I cannot recall, several years later. The resulting score was 148 (>99.9%), which is quite inconsistent with the WISC.

I failed to gain admission to my district's gifted program due to onerous group testing requirements. In early elementary school, my CogAT was slightly below the threshold, but verbal achievement was >99%. This shifted in 5th grade, with my comparatively abysmal math achievement and Quantitative scores dragging down my above-requirement Cogat V, NV, and verbal achievement.

None of this testing information would be of the slightest interest to me if not for one thing: my career plans. I've become significantly more adept mathematically since the last batch of tests, to the point of having taught myself vector calculus with H. M. Schey's book before entering HS. It is my current plan to become a professor of physics, and all indicators suggest I'm capable achievement-wise (e.g. 5 on AP Physics C: Mechanics test as a Freshman, As in Intro to Quantum Mech. and Intro to Complex Analysis as a Sophomore, 36 on ACT Math at age 15). However, I am concerned that my spatial ability might be a significant hindrance if the WISC was correct.
Many studies suggest that visual-spatial reasoning is crucial for success in STEM research.
At the uppermost level, Roe's psychological study of eminent scientists in 1953 indicated that all testees possessed S.D. 15 spatial IQs in excess of 123. This is in all probability partially due to a strong floor effect on the multiple-choice "VSM test" designed for Roe by the ETS, but I still doubt that any successful physicist could score in the average range for perceptual reasoning.
In light of this, do these scores suggest that it would be unfruitful for me to pursue a VS-intensive field like physics in a professional capacity?