I’ve done my internship 2 weeks ago and I just had my case presentation this morning. I will share a thought about defining IQ scores in intelligence tests with children.
One of my subjects was FK. He had been tested by CPM and WPPSI to get a clear understanding on his cognitive abilities. His CPM score is 15 (out of 36 items) and by that score, we can say that he has an average cognitive ability compare to his peers. But, his WPPSI scores are not as good as CPM and not consistent, if we just look at the numbers. His verbal score IQ is 62, Performance Score is 74 and Full Scale Score is 65. If we look only at the number, this boy has the possibilities to be diagnosed with Mild Mental Retardation. I was confused by this contradiction, between his CPM and WPPSI scores.
Then, I started to look at my raw data on his development before and after individual intervention that I gave to him. He could sit still and did his practices for 1 hour and 30 minutes! It was a long study period for a 5-year-old boy. Before the intervention, he was labelled as a difficult child, because he could not memorize numbers, colors and letters that had been taught in the class and reviewed at the orphanage (during study time).
If I look back at his background, it all makes sense. His parents died a few years ago and he was taken care by his uncle, who has 4 kids on his own. Then, FK was sent to a boarding house for adults and he was somehow abandoned, because noone was really look after him. And finally, on 16 February 2008, he was sent to the orphanage by his uncle. Actually, this is where his journey had just begun. He started to go to school and build relationship with his peers. He started to learn how to be discipline and follow the rules in the orphanage. He started to have his new life. But then, a new problems comes up, when his ability in the class is not optimal. He is somewhat has difficulties to understand the materials given in the class, compare to his peers.
My arguments for his condition are:
- He had missed the opportunities to grasp basic information, social skills and vocabularies stimulation during his early periods of life. It is due to the incident of his parents and his following unsupported environment.
- He needs an individual session to help him master the basic skills needed, such as: naming colors, numbers and letters. He can overcome his ‘missing period’ by doing this session with responsible adult in interactive and stimulated environment.
FK still has his talents to develop, so that he will be able to catch up with his peers. Even though his number now is below the expectation, with maximum help in a logical timeframe, he will be able to overcome this condition.
My Writing Paper 
I never used the WPPSI before but IQ scores derived from other Wechsler scales are supposed to tap the basic verbal & performance intelligence skills which are not very focused on acquired knowledge and supposed to be pretty much stable & does not vary much across time. So technically, further learning shouldn’t increase the score much?
do you think the score’s more influenced by differences in language & cultural factors? the PIQ looks significantly higher than the VIQ, which might suggest a language impairment or usually shows when a non-English speaker does the Wechsler. Also had a look at some of the pictures used in the WPPSI & saw pics of teddy bears and balls, which is probably uncommon in our Indo culture, if the child never saw a teddy before, that might mean he is less able to perform well on the test.
My other suspicion was the CPM – WPPSI difference, because I thought CPM & RPM uses more pictures and diagrams and is a non-verbal test. Or maybe the child’s non-verbal abilities are stronger than his verbal?
On the other hand, reading more about the WPPSI suggest that the child’s level general knowledge plays a greater influence to test scores compared to the WAIS & WISC. It’s also interesting how he was able to improve his concentration and attention after your intervention ^^ well done Ceh