Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment how does testing work

So, I know this may be a silly question, but with IQ testing, if my daughter is tested at 4 or at 6, wouldn't she score higher at 6 because she knows more, or are they assessed by age? Does his make sense? DD (2 and 1/2) is on a 4-5 year old level cognitively based on her ped, and a 6 year old level verbally according to ped. She has about 3/4 of the skills expected at the end of K4 at the school my mom works at and about 1/2 of end of K5. But if she tested now, which we aren't doing, just trying to wrap my mind around this, she would be advanced compared to other 2 year olds but would not as advanced as she would be at 5 or 6.

So how does this all work. I was tested when I was 6, but that was eons ago

Yes, certainly, they take age into account. Too bad, because I'm sure I could rock the WPPSI.

IQ tests are normed according to age. This means that when the test was first designed, it was administered to a group of children of different ages. Within each age group, this gives a normal distribution of scores (looks like a bell curve.) The scores were assigned so that "average IQ" would have a standard score of 100.

When your child takes an IQ test, her score is compared with the scores of the norming group for her age. So she would be compared with kids of all abilities in her age group. You would get a standard score (the IQ score) and a percentile ranking which shows the percentage of kids your daughter's age who scored below her.

Ok, that makes sense I was just trying to wrap my mind around it. Thank you both so much

No problem (And no such thing as a silly question...)