Neuropsych testing

[Anonymous]

I was wondering how accurate are the neuropsych results? My child didn't bond with either of the people giving the test, he was very nervous, and worried about the tests. Some of his scores were significantly lower than similar results on the WISC IV taken a year earlier. It got us wondering on accurate the test results are and how much of the results can depend on the day, the kids emotions and/or exhaustion on the day of the test and the reaction to the tester. I don't question some of the results but a few things seem subjective.

[Anonymous]

Did the tester make note of that? in our kids's test, she wrote things like "DS response on this section was low due to whatever so it is probably lower than his ability" and although she didn't give him points for that, she was aware. If you didn't see that, perhaps ask your tester and also ask why the difference from the last test.

[Anonymous]

Personal health and comfort level during the test can change IQ results, but experts disagree as to how much and this probably varies with the individual.

I was just reading about the famous M&M test given decades ago to low-income young children. They were tested first equally, with no incentive. Then the lowest performing group was re-tested and told they would get one M&M for each correct answer. Their score, which was in the low range, shot up to the average range, which was a very significant change.

So if your child is usually prone to marked variations in performance, he could very well have have a better score in a better environment.
If your child is usually a steady sort of person, less likely to be influenced by his environment, then the results are probably a bit more reliable.

[Anonymous]

We just went through a similar situation. Prior to testing I had attended a presentation held by Xminds on choosing a tester that was pretty informative. The psych who did the presentation said you should always ask the tester how confident she or he is of the validity of the result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Personal health and comfort level during the test can change IQ results, but experts disagree as to how much and this probably varies with the individual.

I was just reading about the famous M&M test given decades ago to low-income young children. They were tested first equally, with no incentive. Then the lowest performing group was re-tested and told they would get one M&M for each correct answer. Their score, which was in the low range, shot up to the average range, which was a very significant change.

So if your child is usually prone to marked variations in performance, he could very well have have a better score in a better environment.
If your child is usually a steady sort of person, less likely to be influenced by his environment, then the results are probably a bit more reliable.

We were middle to upper middle income. I was given this test when I was 3 or 4 and didn't want to appear greedy so I only took 1 m and m the entire time I was there. If they had told me that I could have as much as I wanted I would have put my mouth near the opening of the machine where the candy came out and just kept pulling the lever and taken mouths full til the machine was empty. For me it was about instruction, and expectations. Without I was uncertain.