How many "types" of WPPSI scores are there?

[Anonymous]

I understand that a 4 year old taking the WPPSI gets a verbal score, a performance score, and an overall score. However, can anyone tell me whether there is also a Processing Speed (related to pre-writing motor skills) score? My child appears to have weak fine motor skills, and I am concerned if a pencil needs to be picked up during the test...

[Anonymous]

I speak from experience. Relax. Just relax.

I don't know if the child picks up a pencil...I suspect he does. I just think that there is no need to be looking at this thing with concern. The tester is generally equipped to understand that some children have weaker motor skills than others, but the motor skill element is not being measured.

It won't help you or your child one bit to get worried about a test in advance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I speak from experience. Relax. Just relax.

I don't know if the child picks up a pencil...I suspect he does. I just think that there is no need to be looking at this thing with concern. The tester is generally equipped to understand that some children have weaker motor skills than others, but the motor skill element is not being measured.

It won't help you or your child one bit to get worried about a test in advance.

Actually, that is incorrect. While the motor-skill may not be specifically being measured per se, it does affect the child's score. For example, on one section the kids have to copy patterns and they are timed, so a child who has more difficulty with the fine-motor action will be slower, and will generate a lower score on that portion of the test. If I remember correctly, there are several sections that involve being tied while "writing."

I agree with PP that there is no point in worrying since there is nothing you can do about it, but I just wanted to clarify that it is not accurate that allowances are made by the tester for fine-motor issues, nor that fine-motor issues don't affect the score.

[Anonymous]

That doesn't seem very fair...I know with my son (now 9) he had fine motor skill issues, with apparently have not had a lasting effect on his intelligence! Seriously, I can understand why they might use copying speed to determine some element of intelligence (memory for one, with children who can remember large portions of an object to copy better than others), but why would they penalize children who simply haven't fully developed motor skills? Is that in any way related to intelligence? (I'm actually curious, not defensive...much)

[Anonymous]

I second the pp. Do not worry. We did not do any preparation, not least because we had NO IDEA what the test entailed. I remember waiting for my son in the waiting room and another parent told me she had informed the testers that her son was a premie because it made a difference to how the tests were interpreted. My son was also born very early and had needed both physical and occupational therapy for gross and fine motor developmental delays. Well I had a horrible, agonizing 45 minutes kicking myself for not having thought about mentioning it before the test. As soon as the test was over and the tester brought my son out I told her about my perceived omission. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind and said my son had been absolutely fine. He ended up scoring in the 99th%ile.
I just made sure my son was well rested and fed. I told him the lady was going to ask him some questions, that it would be fun, and that he should try to answer all the questions he was asked.

[Anonymous]

To the person whose preemie son had needed therapy to catch up on motor skills: did your child have weaker than average fine motor skills at the time of the WPPSI or was he "caught up" by that point? I am concerned because my child does seem weaker than average on the fine motor skills. I wonder if his 99 percentile score reflected his motor skills (in your opinion)?

[Anonymous]

A lot of exceptionally bright kids score in the lower ranges on the motor skills portion of tests because they tend to be careful and cautious. Don't worry. Schools know how to interpret the results.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry to press on this - but how low can the processing speed scores go? I have heard that bright kids can score low on this portion.. but to what extent? Can the processing speed scores be at the 40th percentile while the verbal and performance are above 90th? Would such scores be below "threshold" for the top schools? And automatic bar? A sign to schools to proceed with caution.. that there could be a potential problem? Or nothing at all? Thank you to all those who are responding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the person whose preemie son had needed therapy to catch up on motor skills: did your child have weaker than average fine motor skills at the time of the WPPSI or was he "caught up" by that point? I am concerned because my child does seem weaker than average on the fine motor skills. I wonder if his 99 percentile score reflected his motor skills (in your opinion)?

He still has weaker than average fine and gross motor skills. i will fish out his test results tomorrow and let you know how he did in that area of the testing.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids scored 99% on all other parts of the test and 60-70% in processing speed. The tester and the schools thought this was perfectly normal. Both kids were accepted across the board to the most competitive schools. There is nothing to worry about.

[Anonymous]

To 23:25 - thanks very much for offering to fish out your child's results. It will help put my mind to rest. I am also curious exactly how many scores a kid does receive. Are there scores beyond verbal, performance, processing, and overall?

[Anonymous]

individual subtest scores which are combined to arrive at each composite score (PIQ, VIQ, PSQ, and FSIQ) can be given in reports as well as a General Language Composite (GLC) further measures expressive and receptive language skills.
Processing speed can be measured without the examinee having to utilize fine motor skills. The evaluator should pick up on the difficulty the child is having or know based on the info given, to substitute using a processing subtest more appropriate for the child.

[Anonymous]

WISC-IV: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children assesses cognitive functioning of children ages 6 to 16. WISC-IV produces the following scores:

Full Scale (FSIQ)
Verbal Comprehension (VCI)
Perceptual Reasoning (PRI)
Processing Speed (PSI)
Working Memory (WMI)

WPPSI-III: Wechsler Preschool and Primary School Scale of Intelligence assesses cognitive functioning in children ages 2.6 to 7.3 years of age. The scale provides the following set of scores:

Verbal IQ
Performance IQ
Processing Speed Quotient
Full Scale IQ
General Language Composite

[Anonymous]

I'm getting the sense from the replies that there isn't necessarily a standard across testers on the number/types of scores reported, or how they are computed? Is that correct?

[Anonymous]

PP here: I give the WISC, WPPSI, WIAT, Conner's, NEPSY, and so on. Scores are computed in a standard format, and when substitutions are made they are noted so in the report. There are standard excepted ways of reporting but it varies according to style a bit.

Each report should reflect the individual child as much as possible. A good "tester" uses the test to examine the child's profile of strengths and relative weaknesses AND is a keen observer of behavior: noting shifts in rate, ease of completion, focus, etc.

The more thorough the more beneficial, but my guess is that most just report PIQ, VIQ, and FSIQ. To obtain a FSIQ you only need P and V, so there you go. For admissions that is probably all you get.