Psychoeducational and Intelligence Assessments

A Psychoeducational Assessment identifies factors that may have an impact on any aspect of an individual's learning. This assessment is used to determine the individual's learning profile. Factors that can affect an individual's profile includes their ability to process, retain, or output information. These factors can either have a positive impact (in the case of giftedness) or a negative impact (in the case of a learning disorder or intellectual disability).

A psychoeducational assessment consists of multiple components as described here:

Cognitive Abilities, popularly referred to as the intelligence quotient (IQ), is one measurement in the psychoeducational assessment. There are many different standardized tests that measure IQ, with one of the most common being the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (described below).

Other cognitive factors that can impact learning include:

• Memory
• Phonological processing (if this is impaired, it results in a reading disability, also known as dyslexia)
• Fine motor skills (if this is impaired, it results in a writing disability)
• Language (if this is impaired, it can cause an aphasia, affecting the expressive and/or receptive aspects of speech)
• Executive functioning

Adaptive functioning is how well an individual manages the common demands of day-to-day life, and how independent they are compared to others with a similar age and background. Areas assessed include communication, community function, functional academics, home living, health and safety, leisure activities, self-care, self-direction, social interactions, and work place interactions. These factors are usually assessed by questionnaires completed by teachers, family, or caregivers.

Other non-cognitive factors that can impact learning include:

• Access to education (i.e. - limited access to early education)
• Attendance issues (e.g. - due to truancy in conduct disorder)
• Behavioural concerns (e.g. - due to oppositional defiant disorder)
• Mental heath concerns interfering with learning (e.g. - due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
• Family functioning (e.g. - familial discord or parental separation)
• Medical illness

Standardized and normed educational assessment measures are the mainstay of psychoeducational assessments and testing. The individual's response to teaching, collateral information from self-report, parents, and teachers are also considered. The different Wechsler scales and tests are briefly described here.

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is an intelligence quotient (IQ) test that measures intelligence and cognitive ability in adolescents and adults. It is the most widely used IQ test. It can be thought of the adult version of the WISC (which is for children). The WAIS consists of 4 components that can be grouped into 1 of 2 categories (reasoning abilities and supportive processes of the brain):

1. Verbal Reasoning - How does an individual think about and solve problems using language? (tests reasoning abilities)
2. Non-Verbal Reasoning - A universal test of intelligence (tests reasoning abilities)
3. Working-Memory - How good is the individual at multitasking? (tests supportive processes of the brain)
4. Processing Speed - How fast is information processed by this individual? (tests supportive processes of the brain)

By understanding an individual’s IQ alone, one can determine if they meet the criteria of giftedness (the top 2 percentile of the population, by age and sex). If an individual's IQ and adaptive functioning (see below) is below the 2nd percentile (i.e. - IQ < 70), they are considered to have an intellectual disability.

The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) is an achievement test that measures how an individual (age 4 to 19 years) performs in academic school work. It assesses basic reading, mathematics reasoning, numerical operations, spelling, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, oral expression, and written expression. Similar to the WISC, an average score is 100.

A learning disability is when an individual's academic achievement does not meet their expected level of function for their given IQ score. By identifying the IQ-academic achievement gap with a psychoeducational assessment, the gap/discrepancy can be narrowed and the individual will be able to function better academically as a result. Methods to address this gap include proper access to special education resources, educational accommodations (e.g. - extended examination time) or more appropriate academic placements (e.g. - gifted classes).

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