and here's what I remember:

The vast majority of people who say they have taken an IQ test have never done so. They have taken a short quiz that claims to give an estimate of what their IQ score "would" be, if they took the actual test.

The only two actual "IQ Tests" used for making medical assessments are the Stanford/Binet and the Piaget. Notice that neither of these is available "online, for free!" Nor can they be completed in 15 minutes. I haven't taken an IQ test in twenty years, and I remember it taking 3 or 4 hours. . . .

I was part of a study at the Univeristy of Texas in the 1980's, to see how IQ changed over time. Mine dropped four points between my first semester and graduation. (Actually . . . there were some pretty wild weekends that could have cost that much IQ, easily .. . )

Personally, I am against IQ scores and IQ testing.

For one thing, there's the "Flynn Effect," where the whole population has their IQ increasing over time. By definition, though, it should always average 100. So obviously, it is error-prone.

Think of it this way. What if I started a "car rating service." And I assigned each car a three digit score based on my "highly scientific" set of criteria.

Suppose you want to buy a vehicle for your cabin in the mountains. I recommend you buy the Cadillac CTS, it's a genius car-- it scored a 180 on my test. Now, you say you want to buy a jeep, but a jeep is retarded; it doesn't get good MPG, it doesn't look cool at the mall, and the ragtop doesn't work well in the car wash where I rate cars.

See, a 3 digit number is USELESS for descriping a car. It all depends on what you want it for.

And people are MUCH MUCH MUCH more complicated that a mere car.


all the best.

Just don't get the Cadillac CTS 2003 as 3 kids this past week died in an accident. It is now revealed it may be because of the fact most of the 2003 Cadillac CTS were recalled for a faulty bolt, that if fell out, would leave steering completely useless.

Just a small bit of information when I saw the car you listed. Completely off topic I know but 3 kids died and it might be because of that faulty car. When I saw the name I had the impulse to post the information

Originally posted by grimreaper797
Just don't get the Cadillac CTS 2003 as 3 kids this past week died in an accident. It is now revealed it may be because of the fact most of the 2003 Cadillac CTS were recalled for a faulty bolt, that if fell out, would leave steering completely useless.

Just a small bit of information when I saw the car you listed. Completely off topic I know but 3 kids died and it might be because of that faulty car. When I saw the name I had the impulse to post the information

Learn something new everyday.

Originally posted by fiftyfifty

I do strongly believe that being open minded is the key to better intelligence and that strongly backs up my theory that religion and skepticism is holding the race back technologically.

I semi-agree. (I'm trying to keep an open mind, in an effort to raise my I.Q.) all right, joking aside ...

I believe it is individual intentionality that is holding the human race back in regards to all disciplines. I believe it is intentionality which dictates how an individual is motivated to act and behave.

Incidiently, concerning your higher score .....

** An 18 year old and a 25 year old can take the same I.Q. test.
** They can answer the questions identically.
** Although the answers they supplied to the same questions are identical:
The older person automatically gets a higher I.Q. score, due to age, and the way they do the math.

[edit on 13-1-2007 by Esoteric Teacher]

Originally posted by JSR
i have no idea how to answer this.
i would say your psychologist was right then.

may i ask, what disability you were diagnosed with?

I was labeled "learning disabled" in mathematics in high school.

Amazing... three pages of posts, and apparently not only does no one on this thread understand what IQ is a measure of, but no one even bothered to look it up.

In any case... for a good history of IQ tests, I recommend SJ Gould's The Mismeasure of Man

IQ absolutely can change over a person's lifetime. IQ is a measure of your mental age vs. your chronological age. So if you are 10 years old, and you score the same on an IQ test as the 'average' 15 year old, then your IQ is 150.

One's IQ may increase of decrease over time. Personally, my IQ scores have gone up over the years, but it merely reflects my exposure to knowledge, and is not measuring any change in my brain's ability to learn.

My sister-in-law, who has Down's Syndrome, has had a steady decrease in her IQ over the years. Has she lost the ability to learn? No, she simply can't keep up with the learning that an average person is capable of. Her mental age and chronological age are incapable of matching up, and thus, her IQ decreases over time. But she's not getting 'more retarded' as time goes on. In fact, she's got a great wit about her, and has a very impressive vocabulary. It just takes her a lot longer to process.

IQ is a measure of one's age-related abilities compared with age-related abilities of others who've taken the test.

BTW, Binet developed the test to identify students who require additional help. Using IQ tests to label one as a 'genius' are dubious at best.

[edit on 16-1-2007 by kallikak]

Originally posted by kallikak

My sister-in-law, who has Down's Syndrome, has had a steady decrease in her IQ over the years. Has she lost the ability to learn? No, she simply can't keep up with the learning that an average person is capable of. Her mental age and chronological age are incapable of matching up, and thus, her IQ decreases over time. But she's not getting 'more retarded' as time goes on. In fact, she's got a great wit about her, and has a very impressive vocabulary. It just takes her a lot longer to process.

Yeah, there have actually been "down syndrome" victims that have been labeled "genius." Now, before some one says, "Oh, come on!!" One needs to understand what "genius" is. Typically, a "genius" is extremely intelligent in one specific category of knowledge,not the wide range of knowledge that most associate "genius" with. While Einstein was certainly knowledgeable in physics, he was quite moronic when it came to beasic math skills or simple everyday tasks such as tying shoelaces... He even admitted as much.

[edit on 16-1-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]