What Are Some Solutions for IQ Testing & Adaptive Behavior?

IQ is a construct related to intellectual ability. First explored by French psychologist Alfred Binet in the early 1900s, IQ tests measure a person's ability to engage in verbal and nonverbal reasoning. On a standard IQ test, the average is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. This means that the majority --- about 68 percent of the population --- has an IQ of between 85 and 115. As such, scores below 85 may indicate difficulties in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Since IQ tests do not measure adaptive behavior, there are other measures that are combined with IQ tests to create a fuller picture of intelligence and behavior.

Adpative Behavior

• Adaptive behavior refers to an individual's typical performance across various domains of daily life. IQ refers to person's intellectual capacity and level of cognitive performance. To understand day-to-day activities required for personal and social sufficiency, adaptive behavior must be examined. There are many different ways to measure adaptive behavior, and each involve the observations of the clinician as well as those of the people surrounding the subject in his or her daily life.

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales

• The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition measures the personal and social skills of individuals from birth through adulthood. The test was created by psychologists Sara Sparrow and Domenic Cicchetti in the 1970s with it's most recent revision in 2005. The Vineland-II assesses adaptive behavior in four domains: communication, daily living skills, socialization, and motor skills. It also provides a composite score that summarizes the individual's performance across all four areas. The Vineland places an individual's adaptive functioning in terms of independent living abilities as well as how an individual can perform within cultural norms of behavior.

Neuropsychological Functioning

• Neuropsychological testing examines the relationship between brain functioning and behavior. IQ tends to be the basis for a neuropsychological evaluation. Once obtained, IQ is compared with adaptive functioning behaviors such as memory, attention and executive functioning. For example, if an individual has an above average IQ, but difficulties with executive functioning --- which includes attention, planning and working memory --- his adaptive behavior will be lower than expected. Though neuropsychological batteries can be a fixed set of tests, a recent survey suggests that of 184 clinicians, 86 percent take a flexible approach. A fixed approach refers to using the same tests and protocols regardless of the referral question or suspected diagnosis. A flexible approach, however, allows for the clinician to choose whichever tests he thinks will best answer questions related to IQ and adaptive behavior.

Putting it Together

• Once IQ, functional behavior and, in some cases, neuropsychological status has been measured, the clinician compares and contrasts the results to look for the level of adaptive behavior. This is done by looking for significant differences between areas of ability and discrepancies between intellectual capacity and actual behavior. For example, an individual may have a low verbal IQ based the IQ test, but their adaptive language scores may be normal. This means that there is a breakdown in the way the brain is using language and auditory input to engage verbal reasoning systems. Once the analysis has been conducted, the clinician can create a report for the individual and their caregivers to assist in treatment planning. He may suggest reading tutors, speech therapists and audiologists to help engage verbal reasoning skills more fully.