Psychométrie et WISC IV : quel avenir pour l'identification des enfants à haut potentiel intellectuel ?

Abstract

Purpose This work gives information about gifted children identification from a psychometric point of view. More precisely, it deals with the scores's heterogeneity in the psychometric profiles of gifted children. This heterogeneity is a very tricky subject because most of the time diagnostics are only based on an IQ score equal or superior to 130. With the multiple indices of the WISC IV test, this subject becomes trickier. From a theorical point of view, the results of these children could allow to cast doubt over the “ g factor” theory. Method The 20 children (aged 9;10 to 12;10) taking part in this research have been identified with the WISC III test (total IQ equal or superior to 130). The experiment consists of these children carrying out the WISC IV test (Wechsler 2005). Results The heterogeneity of these results proves that almost all the total IQ scores from this group are not interpretable. Besides the results underlines an absence of correlation among the various subtests. Conclusion A profile's interpretation for these children is more relevant than a diagnostic based on a single IQ score. From a theorical point of view, the absence of correlation among the subtests seems difficult to combine with the “ g factor” theory.