Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Help with WISC-IV results

Well, ultimately, we want to store useful things in long-term memory, so his efficiency in this regard is, in the big picture, much more useful and important than any minor inefficiencies in working memory, especially since he seems to have good retrieval, from what you are saying. Where you might see some impact would be if you ask him to multi-task, or follow a long series of directions without visual aids. Especially outside of a meaningful context.

It should be noted that "perceptual reasoning" (or perceptual organization as it was called on the WAIS-III) is actually a fusion of two well-established CHC broad abilities: spatial-visualization and fluid reasoning.

The retainment of perceptual reasoning is due to historical reasons only, and in the upcoming WISC-V (and most likely later the WAIS-V), the index will be teased apart into the aforementioned broad abilities.

When one views the indices in that light, the profile that emerges is that of a child with superior verbal comprehension and processing speed abilities, with above average fluid reasoning abilities. The child's subpar scores on letter-number sequencing and digit-span can be attributed to momentary anxiety, which is most accentuated in his scores on the latter test. When corrected for attenuation, his visual-spatial and working memory (or short-term memory) abilities appear normal.

It would probably not be too audacious to say that your son is mildly gifted, but it appears unlikely that his true IQ exceeds 130. The psychologists data on the depression of scores attributed to anxiety other than the working memory abilities will be valuable in making such a judgment. (To my knowledge, anxiety does not nearly manifest itself to such an extent on other tests).