Intelligence evaluation of children in Morocco: State of knowledge and practices

This article deals with the practice of intelligence assessment of children in Morocco and the biases inherent in the frequent use in Morocco of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC) in its French version. The universality of the concept of intelligence in the face of cultural differences is first discussed, as well as the different types of possible biases. The specificities of Moroccan culture are then detailed, as well as several examples of measurement bias resulting from the use of French-speaking WISC in Morocco in the verbal and visuospatial domain. Finally, we present the results of a survey conducted among 50 Moroccan psychologists, which shows that the many psychologists who use WISC in Morocco are aware of certain biases and propose various adaptations. Lastly, we discuss the different types of questions to be asked when adapting a psychometric tool to cultural environments very different from those of their country of origin.