Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC-IV with low WM

Hi, my DS7 was tested recently and I have received the results for him WISC-IV. He did very well execpt for the Working Memory. Has anyone had this experience? I'm not sure what it means. His scores were:
VC 132
PR 133
WM 107
PS 131
with a Full Scale of 135 and GAI of 139
The psychologist just emailed me the results but did not really give me any clarifications. I had him tested because the school was complaining how he talks to much and is a little on the hyperactive side. I am hoping that they will now give him some more challenging work. Any guidance anyone has would be much appreciated as I'm new to all this. Thanks.

Welcome! My 2e ds has a relatively low WM score when he was first tested with the WISC (7 years old), but he also had a PSI lower than the WM. Working Memory refers to the memory available for use as you're working a problem (sorry that's not a very technical answer!). A low WM score can be a concern if there are other issues causing an overload on WM, but in general I wouldn't be too concerned about the score. When we asked our neuropsych about ds' WM score when he was 7 she said that her view of it is WM is either "on or off" and a WM lower than PRI/VIQ etc isn't a cause for concern in and of itself. She also mentioned that WM sometimes goes up with age, and that absolutely happened for our ds - when he was re-eval'd prior to going into middle school, his WM score increased significantly.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Hi! My DD also scored a 107 on WM and received a higher score of 121 on PS. She had a gap of 40 points between her WM score and her PR. She is 2e and has a diagnosis of ADHD inattentive type. The psychologist who tested her said her scores were reflective of that profile. I'm not in any way trying to imply your son has ADHD though. Working memory involves the ability to remember multi-step directions and remember and mentally manipulate numbers or verbal information. The good news is working memory is something that can be improved on. There are tons of "brain training" type games that can help increase working memory function.

This is the definition Pearson gives for working memory "Working memory is the cognitive function responsible for keeping information online, manipulating it, and using it in your thinking. It is the way that you delegate the things you encounter to the parts of your brain that can take action. In this way, working memory is necessary for staying focused on a task, blocking out distractions, and keeping you updated and aware about what’s going on around you."