WISC-R Profiles of Children with Superior Intellectual Ability

Abstract

The WISC-R profiles of 456 Grade 3 students with full scale IQs of 120 and above were analyzed. Large subtest scatter, verbal-performance discrepancy, and idiographic variability appear to be normal for the test profiles of bright students. They excelled in complex reasoning but were often not different from average students in their attention span, memory, sequential reasoning, visual-spatial perception, or visual-motor coordination. Differences were identified in subgroups according to verbal or nonverbal strengths and gender. Boys showed strengths for simultaneous and visual-spatial reasoning, and girls showed strengths for sequential and social reasoning. Academic achievement varied as a function of full scale IQ and verbal or nonverbal strengths. Implications for educational programming are discussed.

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