WPPSI Scores | Understand Your Child’s WPPSI Test Scores

The WPPSI-IV (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition) has five primary index scores and four ancillary index scores. Your child’s overall score will be determined by norming his or her performance when compared against other students tested within the same age band and averaged across each given set of primary and ancillary subtest scores.

The Five WPPSI-IV Primary Index Scores

• Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) – measures a student’s acquired knowledge, verbal reasoning and comprehension skills, and ability to pay attention to verbal stimuli as it is presented.
• Visual Spatial Index (VSI) – measures a student’s ability to attend to visual details, organize visual information, understand part-whole relationships, and simultaneously integrate visual & motor functions.
• Fluid Reasoning Index (FRI) – measures both fluid and inductive reasoning skills, broad visual intelligence, simultaneous processing, conceptual thinking, and classification abilities in each student.
• Working Memory Index (WMI) – measures a student’s visual working memory, visual-spatial working memory and the child’s ability to resist proactive interference when using attention, concentration, mental control, and reasoning skills. A strong working memory is essential for other higher-order cognitive processes.
• Processing Speed Index (PSI) – assesses a student’s ability to quickly and correctly complete scanning and sequencing questions as well as discriminate amongst simple visual information as presented.

The Four WPPSI-IV Ancillary Index Scores

• Vocabulary Acquisition Index (VAI) – formerly known as the General Language Composite on the WPPSI-III, this score has been renamed to accurately reflect how its construct is covered on the WPPSI-IV and indicates how quickly a child acquires new receptive and expressive vocabulary skills.
• Nonverbal Index (NVI) – estimates a child’s cognitive ability using subtests that don’t require a verbal response from the student. If your child is multilingual, this score may be used to estimate his or her overall IQ score (FSIQ).
• General Ability Index (GAI) – estimates a student’s general ability by relying less on working memory and processing speed relative to the child’s FSIQ.
• Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) – estimates how efficiently a student processes cognitive information with regard to learning, problem-solving, and completing higher order reasoning tasks. This score is derived from the Working Memory and Processing Speed subtests and may be compared to the GAI score for children aged 4-7 years and 7 months old.

Understanding How Age Bands Work

There are three distinct age bands each child may fall into when being scored for the WPPSI-IV test. Each age band represents a four-month range and will be listed by year and month:

• Age band 1 – Year:0-Year:3
• Age band 2– Year:4-Year:7
• Age band 3– Year:8-Year:11

Example: If your 7-year-old child is taking the WPPSI-IV, the age bands that apply are 7:0-7:3, 7:4-7:7, and 7:8-7:11.

The Standard Score Ranges For the WPPSI-IV

• Extremely Low: Below 70. Students who test in this range may need to be placed in special education courses.
• Borderline: 70-79. Students who test in this range may have a learning disability and should review their subtest scores to identify specific areas of cognitive weakness.
• Low Average: 80-89. This is slightly lower than the mean score of 100, but still able to perform as expected in the classroom.
• Average: 90-109. The vast majority of children tested will score in this range with a mean (averaged) score of 100; the highest possible score on the WPPSI-IV is 160.
• High Average: 110-119. This typically indicates a stronger cognitive ability in one or more areas (review your child’s subtest scores to see where these strengths are indicated).
• Superior: 120-129. A score like this indicates your child is gifted in many areas required for school and testing success.
• Very Superior: 130+. If your child scores in this range, he or she typically will be accepted into most gifted and talented programs or private schools.

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