Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Assess my scores for WISC-IV

Hello,

I took the Wechsler IQ Test for Children recently and my scores are as follows:

VCI=121
PRI=123
WMI=144
PSI=123
FSIQ=134

Although the full scale IQ places me in the Very Superior range which is for gifted kids, it is actually the working memory at pulled up the final score. Furthermore, I learnt that gifted kids often have lower scores for working memory and processing speed. I think and feel that my verbal and perceptual scores are low even though they are under the Superior range. I mean, they aren't even high Superior (above 125), they are in the low 120.

I took the test because I grew up with my parents and others around me thinking that I am stupid and useless. I was even placed in a special stream for students who are labeled as slow learners. I still feel inferior to my sister and brother because my parents favor them due to their bright intellect. I still think that I am a dummy.

Anyway, I also thought that the test would enable me to finally understand why I have always disliked reading. There are times when I have to picture the words in order to understand the text. This doesn't happen all the time though.

Or maybe I am just being too hard on myself? I am not sure. My Vocabulary is only High Average and I know that I could have scored higher.

By the way, I was 16 years, 10 months when I took the test, almost grew out of it!

May I also know how the full scale IQ is calculated? What are the percentages from the four areas?

Thank you.
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Edit:

Similarities: 15
Vocabulary: 13
Comprehension: 13
(Information): 14
(Word Reasoning): 14

Block Design: 12
Picture Concepts: 12
Matrix Reasoning: 17
(Picture Completion): 10

Digit Span: 19
Letter-Number Sequencing: 16
(Arithmetic): 14

Coding: 12
Symbol Search: 16
(Cancellation): 13

Space, these are excellent scores! And you have an amazing working memory-- 144 corresponds to the 99.8th percentile! Even though some gifted kids score lower on working memory, it doesn't follow that a higher score means you are not gifted. Giftedness can manifest itself in many ways!

The FSIQ=134 is 98.8th percentile, which is very high. It is calculated by totalling up the subtest scores and looking up the corresponding standard score in a table.

You can find the percentiles for your other standard scores using this tool: http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/psychology/iq-conversion.html

Do you think it's possible that you are gifted, but perhaps in a different way from your siblings?

Did the psychologist who tested you explain the results? If you have concerns about your learning and reading, the psychologist may be able to tell you if your WISC results indicate a learning disability. It is very possible for a person to be both gifted and learning disabled... knowing this information could help you make the most of your talents.

If you do talk to the psychologist, I think you should also mention your feelings about comparing yourself to your siblings. Have you talked to your parents about your feelings that they favor your siblings? I think it is important for you to clear the air about this. What they have to say may surprise you...

A person's self-worth should not be based on an IQ score or on his academic performance. You are a valuable person with something unique to offer, no matter what your scores are. And just from reading your post, I am sure you are not stupid, useless or a dummy.

Now I'm wondering about ceiling issues since your age is so near the limit of the test. Maybe Dottie has some insight into that?

Yeah, I did mention to my psychologist about having a little problem with my reading but she didn't say much about it. I have OCD and it makes me re-read. But I guess I re-read at the very first place because I am unable to understand the text with picturing at times. So OCD manifests itself by having me read the sentence a certain number of times while holding my breath.

Well, my parents are aware of my feelings that they demonstrate favoritism but guess what, I get a scolding for thinking that way. This is how it is, my sister before me and I were called useless and hopeless by my dad. My dad also scolded me for being too philosophical and psychological and thinking that I am always right. So I withdraw from people because I do not fit in, especially with what they like. Doesn't matter though cause I am shifting to a schizoid.

What are ceiling issues?
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Actually, my psychologist suggested that I take an IQ test because I told her that I think I am stupid, but she begged to differ. She thought that maybe having my IQ tested would change my mindset/belief of myself, but to no avail. I still think that I suck.

Welcome space,
I'm glad you found this forum. You have some great scores and I hope you can stick around and find more answers on the forum. This is a great group to bounce questions off of.

Well, she is right...this is objective evidence that you are an intelligent person. I think you're discovering though, that external validation doesn't change how we feel about ourselves inside. We have habitual ways of thinking about ourselves, but with practice and effort on your part, that can be changed. You are the one who has to decide to make the change. I'm sure your psychologist can support you during that process. Here's a book that helped me:

The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns

You can read part of it online at Amazon (just click the link.)

Thank you very much for the explanations.

I guess you are right - external validation doesn't change how we feel about ourselves inside.

Space, I think it's very brave of you to be doing this kind of introspection... I didn't really face any of those things about myself until I was 40!

Hi Space!
So glad you are here!

I don't think that it is at all unusual that you don't feel smart. Of the people I know, the smartest ones feel the dumbest. We also, as a group, can be a bit more critical of others than is helpful. Both of those situations are called 'Perfectionism.'

Basically, being gifted, as you certianly are by your scores, is about being smart enough to notice what could be better, and being intense enough that our vision is very vivid. The difference between reality and our vivid vision can be very dissapointing, and lots of us give up, or drive those around us crazy with our drive, or both! ((Humor Alert)) Sounds like for your family the answer is D: All of the Above.

So what does 'gifted' mean, afterall?

Did you know that they isn't any definition that all the experts agree on?
My favorite definition is 'having special educational needs that won't often be met in the regular classroom.' In my definition, a kid from a really poor area, who scores 'just barely gifted' might have more need for school modification than a gifted kid who goes to a special school for gifted kids, or lives in certian neighborhoods where companies that need lots to employ supersmart scientists to work at their location.

I tease my DH that his definition of Gifted is 'Anyone Smarter than me, but I'm not gifted.' I don't agree, and I remind him that his gifted friends must not have hung out with him out of charity.

Another definition of gifted talks about what society values and what a person's strengths are. Apparently your strength is thinking in philosophical and psychological ways, and in the mini-culture of your family that isn't valued. My guess is that as you were growing up in school that your strenghts weren't appreciated by the teachers either. If you put yourself in their shoes,you can see why they cringe when my son starts asking questions that none of the other children could possibly understand, and resent the 'time and space' he took up in elementary school. If you are a Trek fan, you will forgive me for asking if the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many.

Of course, In my vision there is no true conflict between anyone's true needs, and my vision is so vivid that I live inside it most of the time.

So, if you are still with me, read around here and see if it reminds you of you. One of the best definitions of Gifted is that it is an 'Identity Group,' like being African American, or Gay. We have a set of shared experiences that is rooted in the predictable conflicts between our hardware, and the culture's software. Of course we are all unique, and some say that highly gifted people (which you might be - the test you took isn't sensitive enought to tell at your age) are the most diverse group of people, but there are some basic societal problems for which we are the 'canaries in the coalmine.'

Post more, what are your goals are? your dreams for your future? Are you 'diagnoses OCD' or 'self-diagnosed?' What are your favorite books? What feeds your soul?

Hey, that was fun!
Grinity

I am not from the States.

Here in the East, intelligence is judged a lot by a person's academic achievement. I am inconsistent in my results in school, swaying from the lowest to the highest grade. On the whole, I am just an average kid. I am certain this is why my parents favored my sister and brother as opposed to my other sister and I. Once a dummy, forever a dummy. Maybe because being stupid is a label I have carried with me for more than half of my life, I am comfortable with it.

I used to want to be an astronaut but was told by my mother, teacher and classmate that you have to be the best of the best in order to be selected. So I gave that up. I wanted to be a psychologist. I was so sure about it. However, just a couple of months ago, my feelings just changed. I am not sure what my dreams are. Ha, probably blast myself off to outer space where I will live till I die naturally, not having to step foot on earth again.

Anyway, I didn't used to read much until this year when I withdrew from school temporarily. I read books on existentialism and hatred towards society. Existentialism is one of the reasons why I no longer have the feelings to be a psychologist. Why, simply because as a psychologist, you work in alliance with your clients to resolve issues, so that they would lead a happy life. But so what about living a happy life? It is not an extrinsic meaning in life. The thing is that in order for people who aren't sensitive enough to turn inwards and sense their existential predicament, they would be tuned into existentialism only when they are experiencing relational or health or financial problems. But it is important to be aware of existentialism because it may lead you to the Absolute Truth, whatever it may be, God, perhaps. I used to be a Christian but now I am more of an Agnostic. I'm still searching.

I diagnosed myself with OCD but it was done without a doubt. Been to three psychiatrists and finally, I am able to more or lease settle down with a psychologist. She's alright.

What feeds my soul. Being alone, talking with my imaginary friends and reading, I guess. Hey, I'm not sure I have a soul, you know. There could be some life force so microscopic it is yet to be discovered by scientists. I mean, they took hundreds of years to study waves.

Thank you for posting to me.