As a quick question... Does anyone know if there exists a table comparing the LOG for the GAI on the WISC-IV? Does the table in the above link function for GAIs, or just the FSIQ?

Thanks also for the second link. That one was new to me and was particularly interesting. If the FSIQ is not always applicable, as that link points out, then it seems sensible to publish a table based on the GAI. Just curious!

I also wondered... If the FSIQ and the GAI scores were fairly different on the WISC-IV, then which score would the SB5 correlate to?

Does the SB5 have the same issue of different scoring methods? Or is it just the way the WISC-IV is designed, with the 40% emphasis on working memory and processing speeds?

I'm not crazy about any of those charts myself, but most people I know that have had both tests, ended up lower on the SB-5. However, my data pool is WAY too small to make sweeping generalizations. Two of mine had a test called the K-ABC-II and did quite well on it. However "most" GT kids supposedly score in the low 120's on this one. So who knows what strength my kids have that is captured so well here? Each test seems just different enough...

The SB-5 does have a working memory component, but I don't believe it has anything measuring processing speed. It also has a quantitative reasoning section that is absent from the WISC-IV. They just seem to be somewhat "different". I've heard rumblings of problems with the SB-5, but nothing that's been officially released just yet. (That's not meant to discount any kid's high scores on that test!!!) And I'm not sure those "problems" would be any worse than the ones we have on the WISC-IV.

There is an alternate scoring on the SBV. There is a SBV bulletin where you can combine certain subtests to get different composites that might show a strength or weakness that the FSIQ otherwise wouldn't tell you.

So Dottie...........that's the second or third time you dropped the "problems" bomb concerning the SB.

Scoop....

c'mon, inquiring minds want to know

On the SB5, DS got a FSIQ of >140. On the WISC IV, he got a FSIQ of 129 (!) (with a GAI of >145). He found the SB5 more engaging, especially the working memory subtests (which he ceilinged on the SB5 and got under 100 on the WISC). Not sure what that all means, but that is what I have to offer in the way of comparison. FWIW DS was pretty old when he took both tests, so ceilings were an issue.

Oh sorry...still nothing concrete!

acs-

Those scores together are quite unusual. Over 140 on the SB is very high, and if he had a "not quite" gifted fullscore on the WISC, that's a big discrepancy. That GAI score though, is in the same ballpark. Does he have 2e issues?

DS does not pay attention well to things that do not interest him. It is pretty clear that the WM task on the WISC did not engage him. I believe it is remembering strings of numbers. The SB5 WM tasks were embedded in what DS considered really fun games. As I said, he got a ceiling score on the WM tasks for the SB5 and they were in line with his other scores. But in the WISC, there was a >50pt spread between his highest (VCI) and the WM!

This is basically how he is all the time, if he is interested and cares, he is amazing. But he has a hard time focusing to bring the right things from class to class or home in the evening. He has a hard time with easy problems and does great on the hard ones.

So, I don't know, is that 2e? We haven't ruled out ADD, since DH has it. But, except for us frequently getting frustrated with him for forgetting stuff, there has been no indication of it interfering with his life, so we haven't pursued the diagnosis yet. We keep it in mind, though, in case he does run into serious problems with his spaciness in the longer run. I know, Lorel, that you have kids with ADD. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

acs: My DS8 had the same issues with the WISC-IV!! He had a 42 point spread between his PRI and the WM, and a 29 point spread between his VCI and WM. I never really gave it a thought since most of the books say that the WM score drags the FSIQ down for most gifted kids. But he is a kid who has a photographic memory for anything that he has ever read or heard. And yet he scored really low on the WM. It made no sense to me.

Very, very, interesting!!

And for what it is worth, my DH has some symptoms of ADD (as do most of the boys in his family... a brother and cousins). But DS can sit and focus on books or building legos for hours at a time and not move a muscle. But if he is bored or unchallenged, then look out!!