Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment V superior result on WPPSI-3, *update* at bottom

Gifted Mom, Thanks for letting me know about that study. It sounds interesting. I will see if I can get it through my library system.

I asked the psychologist who administered the test if the fact that writing was required in the coding section would explain a lower result as compared to her symbol search score and he insisted that it had nothing to do with it. However, I know that my DD is slow in writing tasks so I am not convinced. I did wonder if they factored that into the scoring since it is a preschool test. Still, there is a wide range of ages that the test is appropriate for and older kids would have better writing skills.

I am still wondering why these optional subtests exist? Why are they administered if they don't factor into the score? What do we learn from them? Does anyone know?

Thanks!
Dawn

I'm a relative newbie to all this so someone PLEASE feel free to correct me.....here is what I think. The optional subtests are usually not given. My son was not given them. If there is an a priori reason to think a DC won't perform well on a test...say DC has writing issues, then the optional subtest will be administered. That score will be used for FSIQ. But this has to be done a priori. There is a file i downloaded at some point on the WISCIV stating the expected variance between the various subtests. For one of them, if there was greater than a 5pt difference between the 2 subtests scores, calculating the score for that was misleading. So if DC had a 5 coding and a 12 on the other PSI subtest, the final index score for PSI shouldn't be used. You would look at the individual indices instead as well as GAI. If the two subtest for each index measure the same thing ie VCI or PRI or WMI or PSI, you'd expect them to be close...if not, then one or the other is in error or signals some hidden disability.

i've always wondered how the optional subtests work, but don't follow everything i've read on the web concerning this. My son has a very low coding score relative to the rest of his scores, thus pulling down his FSIQ. No one at his school seems to know what a GAI is.. so I was wondering if we had him re-tested and had another test substituted for coding, his FSIQ would be better. is coding a test that can be "swapped out"?

Thanks for the replies! Maybe someone will chime in about choosing the subtests for the children.

I did come across this interesting link: http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/About_GDC/relevant.htm

The most interesting part to me was this:
"A Full Scale IQ score that averages gifted reasoning and average processing skills fails to identify either the giftedness or the relative weaknesses.

Test authors have wrongly assumed gifted children are fast processors. Some are very quick; others are reflective or perfectionistic, slowing their speed."

I wish I had heard of this center before I had my DD tested. I would have gone there.