Problem
You bring up an interesting idea when you mention the unreliability of nonverbal communication and how it can skew test results. When our son was eight years old, we took him to a psychologist as part of the adoption process. The adoption agency's psychologist tested him, and the results indicated that his IQ was exceptionally high. His pre-birth history of extreme cocaine exposure and mild fetal alcohol syndrome combined with our experiences with him did not support her results but instead indicated that he was extremely capable of reading body language and providing the anticipated answer.
We took him to a psychologist in private practice who interviewed me before he met our son. I suggested to him that our son had a unique ability to 'read' his teachers and give correct answers based on their body language. Later, as he explained the test results, the doctor stated that he thought my comment to be odd and had tested it. What he found was that our son excelled in manipulating and reading body language to give the desired answer but floundered when the opportunity was removed. The second IQ test and a third test done when he was thirteen consistently place him in the lower normal range.
What are your thoughts on the validity and reliability of the first test? In a situation like this how might the child be negatively affected by the inaccurate test results?