Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment WISC-V Questions

Our psychologist, scheduled to test my DS8 in a month's time, has provided a total of 2-hr appointment for general evaluation of IQ and reporting the results to us. Will that be sufficient? I have read in this forum that the test itself can take than an hour or more.

I see on the internet that there is a WISC-V and a WISC-V integrated. Are they different? Which one would he be giving? I asked him and he says he will be giving the one which all schools accept (???!!)

He also mentioned that he will provide me a GAI, if it applies. I am not sure what that means. Is there a situation when GAI does not apply?

Thanks.

Here's an old Pearson document, easily found online, which describes the General Ability Index (GAI), and how it differs from the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). This document is dated 2007 and was written for the WISC-IV, but the general concepts still apply and are explained well.

The WISC-V is the primary instrument, which generates the FSIQ (overall composite) and the GAI (reasoning only, without measures of speed and memory), typically preferred for GT determinations. Also lots of other possible indices, which we don't need to get into at this moment.

The WISC-V Integrated is a supplemental neuropsychological instrument which generates a variety of clinical data, and some additional index scores, but not the composites that schools would want for admissions exams or GT placement.

Two hours is typically sufficient for a pure IQ and its associated reporting, as the average student takes just about one hour to complete the core subtests of the WISC-V. OTOH, in suspected GT cases, I would prefer to leave a bit more time, as these tend to take longer on untimed tasks, as students complete more items before reaching a discontinue point. I would not expect him, however, to stop testing, or rush testing, in the event that your DC takes longer than the expected one hour, so I doubt there will be negative effects on the accuracy of the results. Just be prepared to make additional appointments, or have the original testing appointment run over. Unless the travel requirements are excessively burdensome, this should result in little more than minor inconvenience.

If your kid gets to HG levels it may use all or most of the time. In most cases 2 hours would be plenty.

Thank you indigo, aeh and puffin for the responses.
aeh, from your response, I understand GAI is generated during every WISC testing. I am puzzled why the psychologist said he will provide me GAI, if it applies.

We do not have any inconvenience in extending the appointment and no travel is necessary as the doctor's office is very close to where we live. However, I am just concerned if he would rush the testing if the timeline gets extended and he is running late for the next appointment etc. When I asked him about that, he mentioned that he has tested HG kids and still 2 hours were enough. Like you have mentioned, I really hope the timeline does not affect the results in anyway.
Is most of the testing conducted orally, except for the processing speed tests which requires using a pencil?

GAI only applies if your child has a relatively low processing speed, working memory or both. If the scores are so split in such a way the GAI would the same as the FSIQ or lower then it won't be calculated/provided. AEH will explain better.

puffin is correct. The FSIQ is a more robust measure of ability in most cases. GAI is preferred only if working memory and/or processing speed are significantly lower than the other areas.

Yes, the test requires pencil skills only for the processing speed tasks. Otherwise, the child provides oral, pointing, or, on one subtest, hands-on performance responses. Outside of the hands-on and processing speed tasks, it is possible to complete every subtest orally.

Great, that clarifies. thanks a lot aeh and puffin