The Gibson Test was developed by Dr. Ken Gibson, Founder of one the leading clinical programs that helps students who struggle with learning challenges to succeed. Dr. Gibson is dyslexic. Even though he graduated from medical school, learning was always hard for him. He married a special education teacher and with her help learned that he is dyslexic. That finally explained why learning was so hard for him. He dedicated his career to understanding learning struggles and finding solutions so others would not have to struggle as he did to learn.
He created a clinical training program with the help of hundreds of education professionals and psychologists, including his brother who is a psychologist. Dr. Gibson used a variety of tests to support his original clinical program but found that no one test battery provided all the information needed. So he developed the Gibson Test, initially in paper version. The paper version was converted to an online version in 2009. It was normed using a diverse sample set of over 6,000 students using the Item Response Theory methodology. This included reliability and validity and test/retest analysis. The test is normed by age.
The test consists of seven sub-tests and measures the following skill areas:
- Processing speed
- Working memory
- Auditory memory
- Visual memory
- Long-term memory
- Word attack (learned skill)
- Visual processing
- Auditory processing
- Logic and Reasoning
The Gibson Test is not intended to diagnose or label the learning capacity of an individual.
The Gibson Test was designed only to be used as an affordable screening tool to identify whether weak cognitive skills may be present which could be keeping a student from achieving their full potential. More detailed testing may be necessary depending upon need and circumstances. For example, if a medical diagnosis of a learning disability is desired, you must obtain testing from a licensed practitioner.
Results can be affected by various circumstances. It is critical that the date of birth be entered correctly as the results are calculated based upon the age of the student at the time the test was taken. If the age is not correct in the report, please send an email to smarter@gcstest.com with the correct date of birth information. Expected cognitive skill abilities change based upon age. If a student was stressed, did not understand the instructions, is not comfortable using a computer mouse, was distracted or the computer did not have satisfactory sound, the results may not accurately reflect the true cognitive skill abilities of that person. Results should be compared to symptoms, observational data and academic test scores to help validate the results.
Beyond IQ
The Gibson Test goes beyond traditional IQ testing. Standard IQ tests can be misleading. Most only report an average or combined score which could hide the presence of one or more weak skills. It is similar to having a great car with a high-performance engine, great aerodynamic design but one flat tire. You need to know how each component is performing to identify what may be causing the lack of performance.
The Gibson Test is a compilation of seven subtests that measure eleven core cognitive skills critical for learning. Nine values are reported in the tables and charts below. It is not an average but a report on each skill area. It goes beyond IQ. This gives you the Power to Know™ if any weak skills may be holding anyone back from achieving their full potential.
Overview of what the test results mean:
The Gibson Test (GT) measures individual cognitive and decoding skills. These findings represent current cognitive abilities, not one’s potential cognitive abilities – because cognitive skills are not fixed and can be enhanced. However, the current level of these cognitive skills will determine the current ease, speed, and quality of one’s learning and performance.
The purpose of the test results is not to diagnose or label. It is intended to:
1) Indicate relative cognitive skill strengths and weaknesses,
2) Understand the reason/cause of a learning problem,
3) Compare change in cognitive skills over time,
4) Measure the effectiveness of skill intervention,
5) Determine the best intervention to bring weaker skills to productive levels,
6) Predict performance,
7) Guide future life choices.
The online Gibson Test is based upon a clinical test that has been used for over 10 years to serve 15,000 plus students in over 300 clinical settings. It was adapted for online use in 2009. Unlike many individual ability tests, the GT sub-tests are explicitly designed to assess a student’s abilities on many specific Cattell-Horn-Carroll “cognitive factors,” not just a total score or a few factors. Word attack, a learned skill, is also included as a sub-test because this measurement is very helpful to identify causes of weak reading performance.
The Gibson Test is only intended to be used as a screening tool to identify if weak core cognitive skills are an issue that may be impeding a student from achieving their full potential.