Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Psychologist will not tell us GAI. (WISC IV)

I had no idea that it made a big difference with the spread between those two scores! I have the same question as Morcheeba then. I'm wondering if my kids' GAI (WISC IV; I had all the scores so calculated it myself) isn't correct.

The GAI likely is technically correct, it just might not be the best representation of that individual's true range. In my experience, (backed up by the tables calculating predicted achievement from only one index score (e.g., VCI or PRI/VSI/FRI)) when an index score is significantly higher than the others, it is a better predictor of that individual's academic achievement in strength areas than composites (FSIQ or GAI) that combine cognitive strengths and weaknesses. This, of course, is why the aforementioned tables exist.

I can look up the actual critical value when I have my tables in front of me, but I can tell you now that Morcheeba's child's scores exceed it. It doesn't, btw, actually make the GAI invalid; it just makes it not fully representative of the range of that individual's ability.

Pinecroft, if you would like to tell/pm me the PRI/VCI difference in question, and its direction, I can check whether it tips the critical value for you, while I'm at it.

The question of index variation and which indices and composites are the best indicator of cognition is another one of the reasons it's important to have an evaluator who is a skilled clinician, and who will spend time with you explaining test results in the context of the whole child.

Thank you aeh!! So kind of you!

DS12 - VCI=158, PRI = 115 (other scores WM = 120, PSI = 97)
DD10 - VCI = 158, PRI = 129 (other scores WM = 123, PSI = 103)

Actually, I don't even have to look at the tables--these are definitely significant VCI>PRI splits, with a very low base rate (occurrence rate). Both DCs have an extremely wide range across all index scores, although your DD's profile for projected math ability is stronger than her brother's. (That doesn't mean it's played out that way IRL, of course.)

Thanks again aeh. Our tester (school psych) was not the best, and I got very little explanation of what all this means. I'm guessing this just means they have one area of significant strength and they aren't gifted across the board. Is that about right?

Depends on how you view globally gifted. They both have an area of extreme strength in verbal reasoning, and DD should be considered gifted in nonverbal intelligence as well (not clear if it's both fluid reasoning and visual spatial thinking, or only one of them, from the index scores, as this is the -IV, when they were conflated). As is not too unusual for GT populations, their efficiency skills are not as high, especially with respect to rote speed. I wouldn't consider that a factor in identifying them as globally gifted or not.

I think you could reasonably describe your DD as globally gifted, with particular verbal gifts, and your DS as verbally gifted (but the nonverbal area might conceal additional gifts, depending on the subtest breakdown). If you'd like, you may pm me details, and I can offer additional thoughts.

In this IQ range, and depending on other assessment data, I personally would begin to be more cautious about interpreting the GAI when PRI > VCI by 18 points or more. Other clinicians may have different cutoffs. Validly obtained scores don't really become inadmissable at any point, they just may hold less weight in the interpretation of a child's overall profile.

Sorry to piggyback on this thread, but my DS6 is in a similar boat with the WISC-V, and aeh seems to be better at helping people interpret results than many of the testers used!

I'm assuming a FRI of 151, VCI, VSI, and WMI in the low 120's, and an average PSI would also be above the split threshold, right? We weren't even given a GAI (his relevant subscores would total 79, FWIW).

How should we interpret significant splits between subscores within a section? For example, DS scored 99.6th percentile in digit span but 50th in picture span, making his index in the 92nd percentile. But his actual strengths seem very different to me than a child who is in the 92nd percentile with a more even split.

Thanks in advance for any help!

DS's level of difference occurs in less than 0.5% of the GT population.
DD's occurs in about 2.0%.

So if schools have difficulty figuring out how to teach them, it's not exactly surprising. Especially considering this is on top of having VCIs occurring in less than 0.1% of the population.