Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Which score is the IQ?

Our diagnostician gave me the following WAIS scores today as a preview:

VCI 141
PR 119
WM 102
PS 105

She said overall something was 123 (94th percentile) but then she said General Ability was 133 (99th percentile)

We have a meeting to discuss everything later this week but for now, can someone tell me what this means IQ wise? Can she qualify for Mensa with these scores?

Thanks

The full scale IQ is the overall something.

Some folks use a substitute measure which depends less on speed and memory and includes only VCI and PRI -- it is the GAI.

I find that speed and memory really do add something to a profile so I don't find the GAI to be a substitute for the IQ, but it is a good measure for reasoning capacity without speed being a factor.

Hi Nik,

This looks like the WISC not the WAIS. So these are the IQ scores.

I'm no expert on this, but my DS10 has almost an identical profile to your DD, so, while you are waiting for someone more knowledgable to answer you, I can tell you what I learned by posting my DSs numbers on this board about 6 months ago:

The FSIQ (full scale IQ) uses all 4 parts (VCI=verbal; PR=perceptual; WM=working memory; PS=processing speed). This is where the 123 number came from.

The GAI (general ability index) uses only the VCI and the PRI. This is the 133 number.

When there is a large difference between the VCI-PRI and the WM-PS (more than 15 points I think), the GAI is thought to be a better measure of "intelligence" than the FSIQ.

The VCI and PRI are the "thinking ability" and the WM and PS are the "processing ability." When there is a big gap between the "thinking" and the "processing" it can be a cause of frustration and academic difficulties. Low WM and PS relative to VCI and PRI can also be indications of an LD (but seems like not always, and you would need more information to know for sure).

Thanks Dottie!

Nik, best of luck with the meeting later this week. Let us know how it goes . . .

Thanks! Yes, she is 17, so she took the adult test.

I will be back posting all my concerns and q's after our official sit down with the center at the end of the week.

We really did the testing just to help find strategies for DD to succeed to her full potential academically and at the very least, survive college this fall. I was curious about the Mensa since I thought that it might be a fun way for her to meet interesting people in this area.

I have left the Mensa folks a message, but I suspect you are right, they probably only look at the FSIQ, not the GAI.

Verona, I think that is really interesting that your DS10 has a similar profile to my DD17 given the fact that they both verbalized the exact same concerns for the future. I am going to send you a PM

She might want to try contacting her local Mensa group even if they won't take GAI. Many chapters will allow prospective members to attend events and she could always see if it's a group with whom she'd want to hang out. She could take the home test to see if she'd have a decent chance of passing the Mensa test which would be a good alternative to submitting prior proof.

The only thing I can say is that many active Mensa members are older than your dd. I didn't get actively involved until I was much older b/c I was the odd token young person. Even now, my local bunch has just in the past year gotten a group of us in our 30s rather than 60s who get together at a coffee shop once/month. The Annual Gathering is in Portland this summer and the AGs do tend to have more teens and active teen events. If you are anywhere near there, that might be fun to attend. We are usually happy to have interested prospective members at the AGs.

Thanks for the suggestion Cricket...you are right about them being older, I checked and our local group meets at a bar!!! I guess we can just wait a few years on that lol.