Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC IV and high Processing Speed

We just had our DS7 tested on the WISC IV. He scored consistently in the 137- 139 range in VCI, PRI and WM ( a few points lower), but his Processing Speed was even higher, which brought up his FSIQ to 140.

My questions are:

What exactly does processing speed measure?

Is it possible the high processing speed is making him appear a bit "smarter" than he actually is? He can be overly confident in his abilities and I thought it was because everything in school is so easy for him, but now I'm wondering if it is because he is able to do things so quickly. He taught himself to read at a very early age.

DS races through all assignments. His teachers have consistently commented to me that DS needs to SLOW DOWN. Is this racing though everything related to the processing speed?

The mental gymnastics his brain can do can be incredible, yet he sometimes still needs help getting dressed (he's in 2nd grade!), is this typical?

I guess I'm looking for a BTDT.

I have a DS in 3rd grade. It all sounds familiar. Typical I would guess.
Not sure about the Processing speed making them "appear" smarter.
From what I have been able to find out is the 140 is his, no need to justify it.

For my son the 3rd grade year is all about organization and self reliance. Thats the plan anyway. You can see dramatic differences from last year though.

He still gets the teacher putting 100% good job on his test.. then right below
SLOW DOWN!!!

ahhh yes ... the need for speed .... took us 4 years to start seeing him putting the breaks on his work and tests

Index scores that are consistently in the 137-139 range taken together indicate a FSIQ score higher than the individual scores taken separately because it is rarer to have all the scores that high. This effect isn't due to processing speed "inflating" his scores, because the FSIQ is not an arithmetic average, but rather a measure of the rarity of the score. It is rarer to have many subtests this high than it is to have only one or two.

ETA: A child with high processing speed will appear to be mentally (and physically) "quick", which is often equated with being "smart", so it may be easier for a child like this to get recognition for his intelligence than it would be for a child with similarly high VCI, PRI, and WMI scores but low PSI.

Aculady said it better than I did. I meant he seems really "quick". We do struggle with school and are looking to make a change next year, but his need for speed creates challenges both at home and at school. I wasn't sure if the processing speed was contributing to the "need for speed" or if it was coincidence.

Sounds like others have seen this behavior before and I am glad to hear that Cawdor has seen some slow down.

We also had our son take the WIAT and the tester said he rushed through sections not really caring if the answers were right or not. He scored in the high average range in writing and the tester said he was just rushing through it trying to get done. She showed me one question that asked the child to write a sentence using the word "until". He wrote "I can't wait until I can go." The psychologist said he cracked himself up with that one.
Thanks for the thoughts.

Sounds a lot like my ds9- we are still struggling with getting him to take pride I'm his work and NOT RUSH!! No formal testing other than during biofeedback where the Dr administering the test said he has a Ferrari Brain. I think for my ds that when things don't "come to him instantly" that he gets even more frustrated becuase he is very used to doing everything quicky.Handwriting is awful because of it. My ds still prefers me to lay out his clothes- So I can relate- it is still a struggle and he rushes through anything he can. In school all he wants to so is read so he has to do a good job before he is allowed to read in class- which has done a decent job of getting his quality of work elevated- he still finishes before everyone else- so he can read!

The IQ test DD took didn't have a speed measure, but there is no doubt in my mind that she would get a high processing speed score on one that did. Like your son, she is very fast (not always true with writing assignments--that's the exception) and very obviously "quick." This does sometimes mean she is sloppy. She tends to skim directions and to not always see every problem on a page because she's flying through the work. I made up a dorky little song to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, except it's "Check, Check, Check Your Work, Always Check Your Work!"

What Aculady said - rarity brought the scores up - Even 137-139 are very unusually high scores. High enough that he's possibly be bored in a room that only contained the top 5% of kids his age. I think his speedy nature caused the fast score, but his unusual abilities are causing his frustration. Then he responds to his frustration by being extra speedy.
I thin his natural speed is being positively reinforced by his environment. It's likely that every minute of school where he isn't learning (that is, almost every minute) is painful for him. So when he races, he shortens the amount of time he has to feel the pain. If you want him to learn the benifits of slowing down, change the dynamic of the environment by placing him somewhere where their is some kind of real downside to racing. A great example is Aleks.com. My son learned to check his work without a word from me. If he got three answers right in a row - he got new learning material (a big positive reinforcer), if he skipped checking his work, then he was unlikely to get 3 in a row correct, and he got MOTS (more of the same)problems to 'practice' even though he totally understood the procedure: the 'Artificial Stupidity' of the computer was a great tool. It didn't care if he 'got the idea' or not, it just wanted 3 right answers in a row! - MOTS was, for him, a hugely negative reinforcer.

How much help, how often, under what circumstances? What does he 'get' out of getting dressed independently? What does he 'get' out of acting in ways that signal to you that he needs help? How is his gross motor and fine motor under other circumstances? Does he enjoy kickball and other physical activities that are popular locally with kids his age? I think it can be typical, but my son is 15 now and I can't remember!

One key to remember is that if you look at life from a Behaviorist point of view, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Our kids are unusual in lots of ways, and one way is that they have their own unique experience of life. Some things that others experience as positive (getting praised for doing easy school work) are pure poison to our kids, and other things that other kids experience as a negative reinforcer (the attention and recognition and excitement that go along with being critisised or punished) are sometimes experienced as a postivie reinforcer. The only way to know is to pretend you are an anthropologist from another planet and observe, will a child 'work' for this outcome? Will that 'supposedly negative' outcome decrease the frequency of the behavior that is associated with it?

Eleanor - Clear your mind of what you suppose must be so and observe your son. See what he will work for, and what he learns to avoid. Then you will be able to set up environments where he gets rewarded for growing behaviors.

Love and More Love,
Grinity