We recently had our DD(5) tested, and would love any input and advice you might have on the results. There were some areas that were not a surprise at all (working memory), and others that were (we thought VCI would have been her second highest area; flabbergasted by the PSI score).

Resutlts, WPPSI-IV

FSIQ 137
VCI 132
VSI 106
FRI 136
WMI 143
PSI 142

Her absolute highest was in the Processing Speed subtest, Bug Search, she had a scaled score of 19. Her lowest was Block design, the visual spatial subtest, with a scaled score of 10. That's a huge disparity! Interestingly, in light of the VSI, her second highest subtest was Zoo locations in working memory, which tests "visual-spatial working memory". Her scaled score for that was 18.

Thoughts, advice, tips all greatly appreciated. Our dd definitely exhibits signs of perfectionism, and the lower VSI might help explain the large frustration she has with some tasks (she has never been one to build large elaborate objects, she likes legos but only if she is following directions, not to freely create; handwriting and drawing both cause frustration as well.)

Mainly just bumping 4 you. Ds4 did the wppsi 4 for the norming sessions but i only saw bits. I know he did the blocks first and in the introductory question he automatically reversed the blocks - if she put the red at the right of the row so did he although according to the instructions that wasn't the same. I think he understood after she explained it but we don't get results. Could you child have done something as simple as that?

It sounds like she may have some motor challenges (doesn't sound like there's a visual problem). Whether her motor skills are a real problem or she's just more age normal in that area is probably hard to tell yet at 5. She's likely to look very gifted to teachers with such high working memory, processing speed and verbal though!

Also, it seems like a lot of people have been getting surprisingly low results on the wppsi4, so those are probably to be considered very high scores when compared to older tests (ie children testing high on a freshly normed test are rarer than children testing high at the end of a test's life).

I've heard this from a few people (though, not from the psychologist who did the test).

Does anyone know how DYS is viewing the WPPSI-IV? They only have info on their website for the WPPSI-III, and from what I can tell, DD does not make the cut off.

bumping to see if there is any more advice out there.

It looks like her scores are pretty solidly consistent, except for the VSI. Do you have subtest scores for each of the subtests, and were they also relatively consistent, or did you see a 17s-19s here and there among lower subtest scores?

I'm not familiar *at all* with the WPPSI-IV - could you let us know what subtests go into the VSI calc other than block design? And what her subtest scores were on those tests? I'll take a wild guess that VSI stands for Visual Spatial? But that's just a guess.

My only other thought is she's 5 - she's still young and that might have influenced test results (in addition to wondering about what others have mentioned re WPPSI scores coming in lower than expected). Did the tester give you any feedback on how she handled the testing or what order subtests were given in? I wonder if there's any chance her lower score (VSI) is due to the time it was administered in relation to the other subtests?

Why were you surprised by the PSI score? And by the "lower than expected" VCI? Really her VCI is quite high - and it's not technically all that low relative to FRI.

Sorry that I don't know more about the WPPSI-IV and that I had more questions than answers! Maybe my questions will help you think through the scores. Hopefully someone else who has experience with the WPPSI-IV will chime in.

Best wishes,

polarbear

These are the subtest scores:

Verbal Comprehension
Information 17
Similarities 14

Visual Spatial
Block Design 10
Object Assembly 12

Fluid Reasoning
Matrix Reasoning 16
Picture Concepts 16

Working Memory
Picture Memory 17
Zoo Locations 18

Processing Speed
Bug Search 19
Cancellation 15

The psychologist said she was extremely focused throughout the entire test, more so than most kids her age. I don't know what order the subtests were given.

I was surprised by PSI because I had no idea this was such a strong area for her. We went into it thinking that Memory and VC would likely be her highest scores.

She does have rather intense focus when she is interested in something (and she told me the testing was fun), but she also is very quick to say "I don't know" to a question, unless she is absolutely 100% positive she knows the right answer already. :-)

I'm going to suggest motor issues again, or visual motor integration. She's aced Bug search so I'm thinking NO on straight up visual issues, but both of the VS tests are motor skill dependent (and visual obviously). Does she like jigsaw puzzles? Lego?

It's also possible she's just not that strong in this area of reasoning...

I'm thinking nothing to be concerned about. First, both of those are timed fine motor control tasks. Object assembly is poorly correlated with G (general intelligence) and block design is only a bit better correlated, but not much. Finally, if she has any sort of perfectionist bent or is inclined to organizing things physically and neatly, then don't expect a great performance. Give her 9 blocks and ask her to put them in a square, if she takes her time and carefully aligns each side, then there's likely the answer.

mayasmom, was she tested for a gifted program or curiosity re giftedness, or was she tested because there were academic or other concerns? Her scores across the board are very strong except for VSI, so unless you have reason to be concerned about something I wouldn't be concerned. OTOH, I'd watch something:


These skills which are her weaker (relatively weaker) areas are related and it appears to be what you are seeing in the dip in subtest scores under VSI. Since you mention that she's frustrated with tasks such as handwriting and drawing I'd watch and see if it seems to be normal frustration as time goes by. If your gut feels like it's something more, I'd follow up on it. When our 2e ds was 5, we never would have guessed he had a disability because he was so strong everywhere else - we just thought the things he got frustrated over or didn't perform well on were due to perfectionism. If there is a challenge or issue, it's better to know early.

polarbear