The WISC-IV Intelligence Test: When and Why Is It Given to Children, and How Are Results Read?

What is the WISC-IV intelligence test and when is it given to a child? Learn about its four indexes, preparing for test day and how to read the report.

At a parents' evening, the teacher says: "He's actually a bright child, but he just can't pull things together. Have you thought about getting an assessment?" Or the opposite: your child learnt to read at four, you cannot keep up with their questions, and everyone around you says "You really must get them tested." In both situations, one of the tools that frequently comes up is the WISC-IV intelligence test. When parents come across this suggestion, they often ask the same questions: What exactly does this test measure, how should the child be prepared, what does the resulting number mean, and does this number determine the child's future? In this article we try to answer these questions while keeping in view what the test can and cannot do.

What Is the WISC-IV Intelligence Test?

WISC stands for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. WISC-IV, the fourth version of this family of scales developed by the psychologist David Wechsler, is used to assess individually the cognitive skills of children and adolescents aged between 6 years and 16 years 11 months. This version, for which a standardisation study has been carried out for Turkey, has gradually replaced WISC-R, which was used in Turkey for many years and is still administered in many institutions. Newer versions also exist internationally.

The test is administered in a one-to-one session in which the specialist and the child sit facing each other. The child is asked to carry out a wide variety of tasks, such as defining words, finding the similarity between two concepts, building a pattern with blocks, holding numbers in mind and repeating them, and matching symbols within a set time. Although some of these tasks resemble school exams, the test aims to understand the way information is processed rather than knowledge that has been learnt.

Administering and interpreting the WISC-IV requires specialist training in this area. The test materials and scoring system are standardised; administering it in line with these standards is a precondition for the results to be meaningful.

What Does the WISC-IV Intelligence Test Measure? Four Indexes and the Subtests

The WISC-IV consists of ten core and five supplementary subtests. These subtests are grouped under four main indexes:

• Verbal Comprehension Index: Assesses vocabulary, verbal reasoning and the ability to build relationships between concepts. Questions such as "How are an apple and a banana alike?" are examples of this area.
• Perceptual Reasoning Index: Measures the ability to analyse visual information, find relationships between patterns and solve non-verbal problems. It includes tasks such as building a shape with blocks or finding the missing piece in a matrix.
• Working Memory Index: Assesses the ability to hold information in mind briefly and work on it. Repeating number sequences forwards and backwards is an example of this area. Following multi-step instructions at school and doing mental arithmetic are closely related to this skill.
• Processing Speed Index: Measures the ability to scan and process simple visual information quickly and accurately. It includes tasks such as copying or matching symbols within a set time.

The combination of these four indexes produces the Full Scale IQ. Calculated so that its mean is 100 and its standard deviation 15, this score offers a summary of the child's general cognitive level. However, as we will discuss in detail below, the most valuable information is often hidden not in the total score but in the relationship between the indexes.

When and Why Is an Intelligence Test Given to a Child?

An intelligence test is not something done to satisfy curiosity or to compare a child with others. It is administered to seek an answer to a question. The most common reasons for referral are:

• Unexplained difficulties in school performance: If a child is falling clearly behind in reading, writing or maths despite making an effort, seeing their cognitive profile can help in understanding whether there is a specific learning difficulty. The article on specific learning difficulties may give you some ideas on this.
• Detailed assessment of attention and learning complaints: In an assessment of attention problems, information about working memory and processing speed helps complete the picture.
• Suspected giftedness: If a child appears clearly ahead of their peers, the test may be used to see their areas of strength and the aspects that need support. For details on this subject, you can take a look at the article on signs of a gifted child.
• Developmental differences: In children with observed differences in language, motor or social development, the profile of their cognitive skills can guide educational planning.
• Educational planning and official processes: In educational assessments carried out at Guidance and Research Centres (RAM, the state centres that assess children's special educational needs in Turkey), cognitive assessment results may be used in decisions about special education or additional educational support.

A distinction needs to be underlined here: selection of pupils for Science and Art Centres (BİLSEM, Turkey's state programme for gifted pupils) is carried out through the Ministry of National Education's own identification process. A test result obtained privately does not replace this process. For this reason, having a child tested solely as preparation for BİLSEM may not meet expectations.

Test Day: How Should You Prepare Your Child?

Depending on the child's age and working pace, the test usually takes between one and two hours; breaks are given when needed, or the session is split in two. For the results to reflect the child's real abilities, it is important to pay attention to a few points regarding test day:

• Don't use the word "exam". You could give your child an explanation such as: "You're going to do some puzzles, games with blocks and questions and answers with a grown-up. Some will be easy and some will be hard; you don't need to know them all."
• Don't coach them. Preparing a child for the test with sample questions found online can invalidate the results and cause the child's real needs to be overlooked.
• Pay attention to their sleep and food. A tired, hungry child's performance drops. If the appointment falls on a day when they are ill or very tense, it may be better to talk to the specialist and postpone it.
• If they wear glasses or a hearing aid, bring them along.
• Don't use rewards or pressure. Sentences such as "If you get a high score, I'll buy you a bike" make a child anxious.
• Don't interrogate them afterwards. When they come out of the test, rather than asking "Which questions couldn't you answer?", simply thanking the child for their effort is enough.

Parents are usually not in the room during the test, because a parent's presence can affect the child's attention and reactions. With young children, a short settling-in period may be allowed at the start.

How Is a WISC-IV Intelligence Test Report Read?

At the end of the test, families are usually given a report and a feedback meeting is held. The basic concepts you may come across in the report are:

• Standard score: Index and total scores are expressed on a scale with a mean of 100. Scores between 90 and 109 are considered the average range compared with peers.
• Percentile rank: Shows what percentage of children of the same age the child scored higher than. For example, a child with a percentile rank of 75 has scored higher than roughly three quarters of their peers.
• Confidence interval: No measurement is flawless. The range given around the score in the report means that the child's true score very probably lies within this range. Looking at this range is more realistic than getting fixated on a single number.
• Differences between indexes: Marked differences between the four indexes give important clues about the child's areas of strength and difficulty.

Let's imagine that the Full Scale IQ of a child in the fourth year of primary school comes out in the average range. At first glance one might say "Everything is normal." But when the indexes are examined, the Verbal Comprehension score turns out to be clearly above average, while the Processing Speed score is below average. This picture may suggest that the child understands what is explained in class very well but completes written work slowly, and so cannot get what they know down on paper in exams because time runs out. This information replaces the judgement "He's being lazy" with a far more concrete support plan: requesting adjustments such as extra time in exams, breaking homework into parts, reducing the writing load.

Do not hesitate to ask about every term in the report you do not understand during the feedback meeting. A good report does not consist only of numbers; it also includes the child's behaviour during the test, their strengths and suggestions that can be applied at home and at school.

How should you explain the results to your child?

Children sense very well when they are being talked about. Whispered conversations at home after a WISC-IV intelligence test, or scores passed on to relatives over the phone, can grow the thought "There's something wrong with me" in a child's mind. Pass the results on to the child not as a number but as information that helps you understand them better: "The test showed that you're really strong when you're explaining something and thinking. When you write, you need a bit more time; we'll talk to your teacher about this so that they give you more time." Avoid sharing the score with others in front of the child and using it as a label.

An intelligence test does not tell a child how clever they are; it opens a window for us to understand how they learn.

Common Misconceptions About IQ Scores

Many false beliefs circulate around intelligence tests. The most common are:

• "An IQ score never changes." Measurements taken particularly at a young age may differ in later years depending on the child's development, educational opportunities, emotional state and conditions on the day of the test.
• "A high score means high achievement." School achievement depends not only on cognitive skills but also on motivation, study habits, emotional well-being, family support and the relationship with the teacher.
• "A low score means the child can't do things." The score reflects performance on specific tasks; it does not measure the child's creativity, social skills, perseverance or talent in their areas of interest.
• "Siblings can be compared." Every child's profile is unique. Discussing the results in front of children or comparing siblings can damage a child's self-perception.
• "If we don't like it, we'll have it redone somewhere else." Repeats at short intervals do not give reliable results because of practice effects. If you are unsure about a result, having the report reviewed by another specialist is a better route.

When Should You Seek Professional Support?

The following signs can help guide you on whether an assessment is needed for your child:

• If school difficulties that you, as a family, have also observed alongside the teacher have been continuing for longer than a single term,
• If your child is acquiring reading, writing or basic maths skills clearly later than their peers,
• If homework time constantly ends in tears and arguments, and your child has started saying things like "I'm stupid",
• If you think your child is clearly ahead of their peers and notice that this comes together with boredom at school, adjustment problems or emotional difficulties.

Cognitive assessment is more meaningful when it is part of a holistic assessment that also covers the child's emotional state and relationships within the family. You can find information about assessment and therapy work with children on the child and play therapy page.

How Are Test Results Used in Therapy and at School?

Test results exist not to sit in a file but to make a concrete contribution to the child's life. For this reason, the steps taken after the assessment are at least as important as the test itself.

Collaboration with the school comes first among these steps. With the family's permission, and with the necessary information carefully filtered, recommendations shared with the teacher and the school counsellor can turn into simple but effective adjustments in the classroom: seating the child at the front, giving instructions in writing as well, allowing extra time in written exams or offering opportunities for oral assessment.

In therapy, test results provide important context for understanding the emotional difficulties the child is experiencing. A child who has faced the question "Why can't you do it?" for years often struggles with feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. Cognitive behavioural work can address this child's negative thoughts about themselves; in play therapy, room is made for the child to express themselves and to have experiences of success. In meetings with parents, how the results can be explained to the child in age-appropriate language and which expectations at home are realistic are discussed together.

Frequently Asked Questions

My child was reluctant or tense during the test. Are the results still valid?

The specialist observes the child's motivation, attention and anxiety during the test and notes these in the report. If something markedly affected the child's performance, it may be recommended that the results be interpreted with caution or that the test be completed at a suitable time.

What is the difference between WISC-IV and WISC-R?

WISC-R is an older version and presents its results under two main headings, as verbal and performance scores. WISC-IV, with its four-index structure, assesses areas such as working memory and processing speed separately. Which version is used depends on the institution's resources and the purpose of the assessment.

Can this test be given to children under six?

No, the WISC-IV is used from the age of six. For the cognitive and developmental assessment of younger children, there are other age-appropriate scales and developmental screening tools. The specialist decides which tool is suitable according to the reason for referral.

• #intelligence test
• #child assessment
• #learning difficulties
• #school performance

Yazar

Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

Eğitimler