Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional help me to understand my son's WISC test

My son was tested on the WISC-IV at 9 years-11 months.
His results are as follows:

Verbal comprehension
Similarities 19
Vocabulary 16
Comprehension 16

Perceptual Reasoning
Block Design 18
Picture Concepts 10
Matrix Reasoning 13

Working Memory
Digit Span. 12
Arithmetic 14

Processing Speed
Coding 8
Symbol Search 14

Verbal Comprehension 146
Perceptual Reasoning 126
Working Memory 118
Processing Speed 106

Any insight to understand the gaps between VCI and PRI?
Thank you

My DS's VCI was 20 points higher than his PRI (with extended norms - he hit the ceiling on one subtest in each) and a FSIQ was calculated. The difference was only 17 points without extended norms. His report indicates that his score on the VCI shows an area of profound strength. But there was never any indication that the difference was a problem and I don't see it as a problem today.

I would be more concerned about the lower WMI and PSI. Although it is not necessarily abnormal to have lower WMI/PSI in gifted children, if you are seeing underachievement or difficulty in school, I think those lower scores would cause me to look further into any potential learning differences.

My DS's PSI was average (109) and his WMI was high and after later testing he did get an ADHD diagnosis which fits with exectuive function issues he has at school - impulse control, inability to focus on tedious/boring or difficult tasks, challenges breaking assignments or projects down to manageable pieces. He has issues at home too but his issues are definitely exaserbated by the school environment.

Good luck trying to figure it out.

I guess I should just add to clarify that I mentioned that the FSIQ was calcuated only to show that it can be calculated. The GAI was also calculated and the report indicated that because of the relatively lower PSI, the GAI was a more accurate reflection of his intellectual ability.

The PRI here is still just outside the moderately gifted range, so no problems there. Looks like you've got yourself a strongly auditory-sequential learner there to me.

My daughter had a similar spread on the RIAS, reversed.

Ditto Deonne and Dude. Exceptionally strong verbal skills and very good non verbal skills. The one flag is the processing speed that is significantly lower and there is wide scatter within the index. I'd keep an eye on whether visual motor skills may be an issue or if other concentration difficulties emerge. While his scores are solidly average, they could create a bit of a bottleneck or frustration. I have found that this powerpoint presentation helps me understand WMI and PSI. http://vbida.org/PDFs/WorkingMemoryProcessingSpeedClassroom.pdf

But again - as Deonne mentions, it is not unusual to see scores for PSI and WMI to be a bit lower than the others.

Since I sent you here because I suspected this, I am going to quote you:


So I expect your motivation for testing was because of low achievement in a bright sounding kid?

SiaSL - this raises the question of whether or not there was a full neuropsych battery including achievement and other areas of cognition. What did the evaluator conclude and recommend? Does it seem reasonable given the child's history? Are there other difficulties such as anxiety, social issues, health issues that should be considered?

Thank you all your your feed back and especially the powerpoint presentation that help me to understand WMI and PSI. We have got tomorrow an other meeting with the psychologist to try to undertsand better why our son is struggling with his school work, the routine of homework and why he tends to give up in front of difficult/ or challenging task. I will ask him for the neuropsych tests. I will let you know the feed back.