Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Can a psychologist estimate IQ without testing?

I'm curious if an experienced psychologist who works with a large population of gifted children and administers IQ tests is able to estimate a child's IQ with any accuracy (without doing an actual test).

I am asking because my son took the WPPSI last fall while applying to a gifted school that required it (he was wait listed). The test was at the school and administered by a psychologist who contracts with the school to do the tests. His VCI was very high but fluid reasoning was 27 points lower. His FSIQ was in the 99th % but lower than we had expected. We later learned that my son didn't cooperate with parts of the test, became frightened and acted very strangely.

My son spends an hour a week with a psychologist to work on his social skills. The psychologist has known my son for a year and has not only spent lots of time with him but also observed him at school. She is the person who recommended the gifted school and thinks that no other school in the area can really accommodate my son's needs. She believes the WPPSI was inaccurate because of the feedback about my son's behavior but also because she works with lots of gifted kids and said the number just didn't reflect her observations and knowledge of my son. She believes he will score much higher if retested.

I'm asking because my son's psychologist has recommended that we have another test done once a year has passed (from the last test) and once my son turns 6 and can take the WISC. She has recommended some psychologists who she thinks highly of. She thinks that if the test is done well with a good psychologist who takes time to develop a rapport with my son that we will receive a very different result and perhaps be successful if we reapply to the school.

I hate the idea of spending money for new testing. I'm guessing it will be at least $1,000. Technically we can afford it but it's a large amount of money to spend if there isn't any reason to. So I'm hoping that somebody with experience can tell me whether our psychologist is likely to be right and my son will have a very different score upon retesting or if we need to just forget about this school and move on.

There is a practice called Qualitative Assessment which originated with a psychologist/tester who found she was able to make such accurate guesses. There is now a system for doing this which can be taught to others, but it started with validated intuition. So I would say it's possible.

i would say an experienced person could probably give an estimate that would be reasonably accurate.

Thank you for your responses. I hate to put us through testing again (and so soon!) if it is unlikely to change anything.

David Wechsler was famous for being able to estimate IQ to within points, based on a 15 minute conversation.

...but then, that's Wechsler!

Keep in mind that your DS can't be re-assessed on the same instrument within 2 years. By that time, he'll probably be old enough for the WISC-V.

Aeh- He took the WPPSI last year and he'll be six in November so he can take the WISC-V. A year will have passed between the tests. Because it's a different test, that should be fine, right?

Yes. That's fine. There's no minimum re-test time for different tests.

I started hanging out here a couple years ago. We had just tested DS (then 6.5). I was in the same room for the testing (to lessen the anxiety) and he was a disaster - hiding under the table, throwing toys around, giving silly answers, etc. I was stunned that he still tested gifted. The testing also pointed to a likely LD but he was too young to be sure.

Over the past couple of years I've learned a lot about gifted, LD's and the differences between the various levels of giftedness. We always figured his first scores were lower than if he had been cooperative. Reading here there were many stories of HG+ kids that resonated. Then again, there are also stories of kids reading at the age that DS had barely 5 words to cast doubt on my guesses. The joys of LD/asynchronous development.

We just retested him (now almost 9) and his GAI is in PG territory and he's officially LD (wow - that's the first time I've actually wrote that out... still weird). That was using the same test and the same tester.

Trust your gut and the psych that is telling you that his first scores were an under-estimation. Follow your gut!

Chay- Thanks so much for your perspective. That's how our testing went (but I wasn't there so I didn't know how poorly it went until later). My son is only five so I have no idea what we have ahead of us but your message is very reassuring. Thank you!