WPPSI

What is the WPPSI Test?

What is WPPSI Test? WPPSI – Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence is an intelligence test that assesses the intellectual ability of the students. The test was developed by David Wechsler in 1967 and can be administered to children between the age group of 2 years 6 months to 7 years 7 months. The test has been modified thrice, and its current edition is known as the WPPSI-IV which was published by Pearson Education in 2012.

The WPPSI test consists of series of subtests to evaluate the intellectual ability of the students in verbal and performance domains along with the processing speed quotient of the child, instead of assessing their grade-level knowledge. Simultaneously, the test also analyzes the general intellectual ability of the student. The test is to be given in a paper-pencil format and is usually completed in an hour. It is administered in a one-to –one session by a trained psychologist. Many schools as well as gifted and talented programs use the WPPSI test as a tool for application screening and enrollment procedure.

The WPPSI-IV test format consists of series of sub tests which are as follows:

• Vocabulary: Children have to name pictures displayed in a stimulus book or may have to define words given by the examiner.
• Receptive Vocabulary: The child is shown a group of 4 pictures and points out the one which is named aloud by the examiner.
• Information: Here the child has to either verbally answer general
  knowledge questions or choose from a group of 4 pictures to answer.
•  Block Design: The child is shown an actual design model or a printed image and he/she has to recreate the image using 3D blocks within a specific time limit.
• Bug Search: The child marks the image of a bug within a search group, using an ink dauber to match the target bug.
• Matrix Reasoning: Here the child is given a 2 by 2 picture matrix with an empty square. He/she has to identify the relationship between the first two pictures and choose an image from the answer choice that matches the picture at the bottom of the matrix.
• Similarities: An incomplete sentence is read out to the child. The sentence contains two terms that have a common characteristic. The child has to complete the sentence through an answer that reveals the shared characteristic.
• Picture Memory: Here the child is shown one or more pictures for a limited time and thereafter asked to select the picture or pictures he/she, saw thereby testing their memory power.
• Cancellation: The child marks target objects by scanning through two arrangements of objects.
• Picture Concepts: This involves scanning through 2 to 3 rows of different pictures to mark one picture from each row that relate to each other.
• Object Assembly: Here children have to put together pieces of a puzzle in 90 seconds to form a meaningful picture.
• Zoo Locations: The child observes one or more animal cards placed within a zoo layout. Thereafter the cards are taken away and the child has to place the cards exactly where it was positioned earlier.
• Animal Coding: The child has to analyze which shape corresponds to a pictured animal and mark it.
• Picture Naming: The child is shown certain pictures and he/she has to name them.
• Comprehension: Children are asked questions about their understanding of social conditions, general principles or cultural concepts.