How valid is an IQ test for a 3-year-old? My son is being tested as part of a larger evaluation process (he probably needs o/t for sensory issues). What if he has an off day? And, are the scores stable? Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
Re: IQ testing and 3-year-olds
Short answer is not very accurate at all and definitely not stable.
It is difficult to define “normal” for three-year-olds because their development is all over the shop anyway; different skills develop faster or more slowly in different kids, and some develop gradually while others have spurts and plateaus. Then there is the problem of getting the kid to cooperate for the tester … if you’ve ever known a three-year-old, you know that cooperation at any time is a question, and a strange situation is guaranteed to set off resistance or other weird behaviour.
All an IQ measure can do at this age is flag really strong issues. If a kid is not communicating at all and doesn’t understand when spoken to, that’s an issue. If a kid isn’t showing interest in playing with others, that’s an issue. If a kid can’t feed himself (mess aside) that’s an issue. On the other hand, it can also flag *some* types of giftedness, like a kid who can already read or speak grammatically in complex sentences or solve logic problems, etc.
Basically all I would expect to get out of this testing is a general range — very behind normal development, slightly behind, average, slightly ahead, or very much ahead. About 80% of kids would come out in the average range, 6 to 7% in the slightly different ranges, and 2% or so in the farther ranges. Some of these same kids later might show up with other issues, but at age three it is just too early for a fair test.
And if the testing is repeated in six months and again in a year, the results might be very different because children change very rapidly at these ages.
Thanks...
Thanks so much to both of you for your help. I’m sure I’ll be back here once I get the results!
How valid IQ testing is a good question. Some say never but I’d say it can provide some insight.
The younger the child is, the more suspect can be the results. Try to think of IQ testing as taking a snapshot. Your appearance can change every time you sit for the camera. IQ testing at age 3 is a kind of ‘fishing expedition’ and not every tester is the right one for 3 year olds.
Any district should want to redo that testing as your son gets older to get a better snapshot of the greater intellectual maturity he will show as he gets older.