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IQ Assessment

Intelligence Testing is a

Comprehensive assessment of the child’s strengths and weaknesses in processing information
Considers a wide range of life experiences
Tests the child’s ability to apply information in new and different ways

The cognitive assessment of children is commonly known as IQ testing. These tests must be administered by a psychologist and are conducted one-on-one. To read about what your child will do in the assessment, please read Assessing Children.

Here we talk about the two most popular tests in use, world-wide: the Wechsler Intelligence Scales and the Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale.

Wechsler Intelligence Scales

In the Wechsler Intelligence Scales there are 3 tests: The WPPSI – III (Preschool approx 2 years to 6 years); the WISC- IV (School Age approx 6 years to 16 years) and the WAIS – III (Adult from 16 years +).

The WISC-IV comprises 10 Compulsory subtests and 5 optional subtests. It takes approx 90 minutes to complete. The test derives four Index scores: Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Processing Speed and Working Memory Index and a Full Scale IQ score.

The Verbal Comprehension Index - VCI - includes subtests called Vocabulary, Comprehension and Similarities and optional subtests called Information and Word Reasoning
The Perceptual Reasoning Index - PRI - assesses non-verbal areas and includes compulsory subtests of Block Design, Picture Concepts and Matrix Reasoning. An optional subtest is Picture Completion
The Working Memory Index - WMI - includes subtests such as Digit Span and Letter Number Sequencing and the optional subtest, Arithmetic
The Processing Speed Index - PSI - includes compulsory subtests called Coding and Symbol Search and the optional, Cancellation

The Stanford-Binet 5

The Stanford-Binet 5 (SB5) is the most recent version of a family of tests that assess intellectual ability, its history extending back as far as 1916. It can be used for examinees from 2 years through to 85+ years.

The current edition assesses Nonverbal (NV) and Verbal (V) domains. These in turn are divided into so-called cognitive functions or Factor Indexes called Fluid Reasoning (FR), Knowledge (KN), Quantitative Reasoning (QR), Visual-Spatial Processing (VS) and Working Memory (WM).

There is a Verbal IQ (VIQ) and Nonverbal IQ (NVIQ) as well as a Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). Each of the factor indexes is a combination of scores obtained from both domains: for example, Nonverbal Fluid Reasoning (NVFR) plus Verbal Fluid Reasoning (VFR) becomes the unitary Factor Index, Fluid Reasoning (FR).

A Routing Procedure in Non Verbal and Verbal means that the number of compulsory subtests administered depends upon age and ability.

Testing takes approx 90 minutes to complete and a "deviational IQ score" is determined by the child’s mental age score.