4-year-old maxes out IQ test
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2013 17:12 PM

Of the many benefits that IQ tests for kids can provide, their ability to identify unusual talent is one of the most important. Recently, a 4-year-old boy in the U.K. proved that notion true as he scored a remarkable 160 on an IQ test, putting him in the same league as such luminaries as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates.

Wechsler scale
Sherwyn Salabi, the young boy from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, scored the highest possible mark on the Wechsler scale, which is one particular measure of IQ. Although Einstein was never able to take an IQ test himself - modern measures weren't available during his lifetime - psychologists have pegged him as having a quotient in the same range as the score Salabi managed.

"Sherwyn has a very superior level of intelligence, he is incredibly gifted and his vocabulary is out of this world," Dr. Peter Congdon, an educational psychologist, told the Daily Express. "His intellect reaches the highest possible levels of reason and when he talks to you he has the social skills of a much older child. ... His mental age is measured at 8 years and 9 months, more than twice his actual age."

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) was first developed by American psychologist David Wechsler. The test is administered individually and does not require reading or writing.

Young genius' accomplishments
In his brief life span, Salabi has managed to back up his astounding score with several notable accomplishments for someone his age. By just 10 months old he was already speaking, and he was speaking in full sentences at 20 months. He started school two years early, and became a member of the genius club Mensa at the age of 3.

Salabi has also already read nearly 200 books, with the encyclopedia being his favorite, according to his mother, Amanda. She also describes him as a happy, curious child who loves asking questions and learning new things.