How accurate are IQ tests?

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


The standard Wechsler sp? Goodness it's been a long time!

is considered to be accurate plus or minus 10 points either side of a single administration score.

Of course . . . I Q has been defined as what it is that IQ tests measure.

Now we tend to think of about now 9 types of INTELLIGENCE . . . off the top of my head . . .

Welllllllllll here's the Wiki link:

en.wikipedia.org...

1 The multiple intelligences
1.1 Spatial
1.2 Linguistic
1.3 Logical-mathematical
1.4 Bodily-Kinesthetic
1.5 Musical
1.6 Interpersonal
1.7 Intrapersonal
1.8 Naturalistic
1.9 Existential

It seems everyone has got their own opinion regarding IQ tests and the validity of them. After reading through all the responses, I am leaning more towards the fact that IQ test should only be used as a guide, not a true reflection of your intelligence..

Now I will tell you why I asked it in the first place. I am what you will call a stereotypical surfer. Because of how I look, (long blonde hair, wearing surfer branded clothing, etc.) i get judged on that criteria. Now let's say you take your stereotypical nerd, and we both stand in front of another person. We then asked him to pick the smarter one of the two, without actually knowing anyone of us. The result will be that the stereotypical nerd will always be chosen over me, the surfer, even though my IQ might be higher than his.

So here it goes about preconceived notions that people have about other people. I can thus conclude, that although I might have a higher IQ than the stereotypical nerd, I will never get the acknowledgement, purely based on how I look. The IQ test, and its result, thus becomes a moot point.

This situation i just explained, really happenned. You see, me and the stereotypical nerd where both on the beach. Another surfer got trapped in a current, hit some rocks close to the edge of the beach. I pulled him out, applied some cpr, and he was fine. In this time the stereotypical nerd was standing around there. Some people asked him to come and help, but he couldn't. He looked smart, but didn't know what to do in that situation. So again, people get judge on how smart they are, by the way they look. And even an IQ test results, will not break some peoples conceived idea of how smart you are. Even if the facts had to be present to them in black on white.

VVV

IQ tends to get higher by a few points as you get older. I think it is worthless.

Your IQ is only part of what intelligence is.

There is also EQ or Emotional intelligence

1.Perceiving emotions – the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts—including the ability to identify one's own emotions. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible.

2.Using emotions – the ability to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand.

3.Understanding emotions – the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time.

4.Managing emotions – the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals.

But I'd like to mention QQ. which includes.

Inter personal intelligence.
Logical mathematical intelligence
Physical motorical intelligence
Linguistic intelligence
Musical intelligence
Spacial intelligence.

Molten together by a magazine called quest from the Netherlands.

Anyway...

IQ only shows our masters the level of deceit needed for us to cooperate.

Originally posted by xxcalbier
What is a test? A test is knowing the answers to a question. Ok, well then here is something to try. Take the same IQ test five times .
The thing is each time you take it, EVEN if the questions were changed, you will get a feel for the format .
So each time your score will be higher . It may not only change but one point BUT it will change .
IQ is NOT a static thing. It changes every day and even every hour, as even what you eat can affect how well you can learn .
You want a really good example? When I am just not in the mood to bother with it, my spelling looks like a fifth grader .
So if i ¿spell bad? one post and ¿spell good (well)? on another, which indicates my intelligence?
P.s. I can ¿do? a post without spell check if I really try. Lol.

Though I somewhat agree with the point you're tying to make, please try a bit harder next time.

I'm interested in knowing if anybody knows of, or has a link to an IQ test they think may be accurate (or as close to) when attempting to determine ones intelligence. If so, I think it could be a neat project to have our posters screenshot their scores for another thread. Obviously, everybody would have to take the same test, and testing for photo manipulation may be required depending on the quality of competition. If anybody has a test they think would be reasonable for this activity, feel free to toss up a link. Heck, start the thread yourself if you're confident with your test!

Cheers,
Strype

Originally posted by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep
Thanks i understand and appreciate your comments.

I do feel however you are missing my point.

Let's say a person did an IQ test and the results were, 140 IQ. This then automatically makes this person think he is intelligent or clever, smarter than 3.6 billion people, purely based on the result of the test. But if the test was inaccurate, his whole belief and credibility is destroyed with that information.

So how do we know then how smart someone really is?

VVV

Don't rely on one test to determine for you your capabilities.

reply to post by Strype

I'm interested in knowing if anybody knows of, or has a link to an IQ test they think may be accurate (or as close to) when attempting to determine ones intelligence.

If you want at least a little accuracy then you should look for a test that last for about 3 days several hours a day.
Any Internet test will not be good enough. The multiple days are to avoid you get graded on a bad day.



Don't do the grammar police thingy.

Please ? It doesn't add anything. Send a U2U or something

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


So, because you CPR-ed some guy, and a guy with glasses and black socks with his sandals didn't, you.... wait a minute....what has this got to do with a person's IQ?

Your associative thinking is a wonder to behold. There is absolutely no correlation between you mouth-to-mouthing some surfer while everyone else (including someone you tagged as a nerd) stood by and allowed you to, and whether that "nerd" is smarter than you. Only in your mind is there any connection whatsoever.

IQ isn't assertiveness. It's not initiative. It's not the ability to get along with others. It's not the talent for finding success under a pile of failures. All it is is raw intellectual capacity. Like having a better processor in your computer than the computer your buddy has. That's it.

It's not wisdom. It's not moral integrity. It's not a rolled-up conglomeration of all the good things that a person can be. It's just carbon hardware that sits between the right ear and the left ear.

Don't make it out to be any more than it is. And don't hate people for being brighter than you. Or even just looking brighter than you.

Maybe that "nerd" wishes he didn't look like a nerd? Then again, maybe you were the only one who noticed him at all on that beach, or that he looked like a nerd. Maybe you need to think about why his appearance bothered you so much?

I.Q tests, i take one every couple of years since i left school, the first resulting in a score of 121 when i was 16, its got slightly higher each time i take it, my last test was last year i scored 146, yes this is a high score but does it make me clever, my spelling/grammer are awful hence the name, i was always in the bottom 50% in all classes in all subjects at school except maths, since i left school with no qualifications, ive always done manual work for mediocre pay, so my I.Q hasnt helped me with a better paid job as you might expect, im 47 now and currently unemployed and £25,000 in debt so having a high I.Q is not all its cracked up to be, i actually put it down to being able to think outside the box something ive always been very good at aswell as being very good at chess once i started playing chess at 14 this helps me see the bigger picture about everything.

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


IQ tests don't account for "wisdom" they account for mostly only intellect type thought. IMHO being wise is far superior to being intellectual. What are the differences?

An intellectual person needs science, research, and data to formulate theories on technologies. For instance an example of a person with extremely high intellect would be someone like Newton. These people are your scientists.

A wise person, is someone who understands implications of actions/ideas and formulate their own theories based on mostly on great ability to observe and recognize patterns. This form of thought isn't really accounted for with any IQ tests I've seen or taken. These people are your philosophers.

It's rare to find someone who is very adept in both wise thought and intellectual thought. Einstein and Tesla were a couple who were both intellectual beyond their time and wise as they knew the implications of their theories. The best example imho of someone capable of being very adept in both intellectual and wise thought process is Leonado DeVinci.

When I was in High School, my parents sent me for an "evaluation" because they felt I was underperforming. I would do well on tests, but refused to do homework as I found it redundant if I could pass the test.

Basically, it was a huge battery of tests over a two day period and, being 16 at the time, I wasn't really sure what they were all for.

When my parents got the results back they didn't tell me what they were, but they left me pretty much to my own devises afterwards (not that they didn't push me, but just in a different way) and when I expressed an interest in going to an art school they were fully behind me. Now this was a pretty extreme turn about as my Dad was a strict traditional college advocate.

Long story short. I went to college, did well, got a job and started what was to become a successful career.

Later in life, I was talking to my Mom about the whole incident and why they had the abrupt change after the tests. She said I had scored high on the tests, one of which was an IQ test, and that the Dr. said I was bored and unchallenged and that if I found something I wanted to do that I would probably apply myself and do well. She also mentioned that they were considering putting me on medication, but that these tests convinced them otherwise.

She told me they didn't want me to know the scores as they didn't want me to use it as an excuse or lord it over people. I told her I thought that was pretty sound judgement and we laughed at the whole incident. Of course I was curious what the results were and she said she would look for them.

So now I was curious so I took the IQ portion of the tests again. This was now 20 plus years since the original tests. While I was waiting the results I took one of those online IQ tests. It was a fairly extensive one as those things go. There was a time limit to complete it and it looked pretty similar to the test I had just taken.

I got the results and the first funny thing was that they were within two points of my wife's IQ test. The second was that it was identical to my online test.

My Mom called me soon afterwards to say she had found my original tests in the attic. Now I was fully expecting there to be at least some improvement from the test when I was 16, but the scores were the exact same.

So, the good news is that an IQ test saved me from being jacked up on meds, the bad news being that, apparently, I'm no smarter now than when I was 16 : P

As a side note, I always loved puzzles from a young age, anything from the little slider puzzles to crosswords to Zork. I have always considered problem solving to be one of my strengths and I think this would be beneficial for IQ tests.

I don't think that IQ tests are the be all end all for establishing someone's overall intelligence, as there are many components, but I think it is reasonable as a general measuring stick.

I think that the real question to ask here is, "What is intelligence".Before any kind of test can be devised and applied, we first need to agree on a comprehensive definition of intelligence.

It seems to me that most IQ tests are in fact, aptitude tests.They are designed around a particular view of what intelligence is,defined by the designers themselves,rather than by those being tested.

Add to this,physical changes,and the weight of experience and retrospect which occur over time in the human brain and we see that an IQ test would need to observe and address such metamorphosis, in order to be accurate.

I think we need to define intelligence first,in it's human context as opposed to a standard biological definition

There's no correlation between genius and an IQ over 120. If you can score this high, you've got the capacity to excel at what you've got a passion for, imo. IQ seems to be related to a certain type of thought process that tends to do well in the educational system. Still, there are plenty of individuals who score within the 90-110 range that have excellent street smarts/common-sense and/or have excellent creative potentials. The only test I ever took was the AFQT portion of the ASVAB on their pretest at the recruiting center. I scored into the 97th percentile. They said it was both the highest score they've seen, and a record time for completion at under 8 minutes. I honestly thought the test was a joke. That test certainly didn't measure my intellectual potential.

reply to post by unityemissions


Exactly the IQ tests for specific types of thought processes/abilities, it doesn't take into consideration other mental attributes that are very important,useful. It doesn't address wise thought processes "street smarts", adaptation and creative thinking abilities, all of which are essential to "intelligence".

I'm very skeptical of the history of IQ tests in the IQ tests since they got their start with the eugenics movement in the early-20th Century. They used to administer them to blacks and immigrants from Mexico and Southern and Eastern Europe and score them in such a way that "Nordics" always came out as the most intelligent. They'd give these tests to people in English even when they couldn't speak the language and then make sure they got very low scores. These were used by Charles Davenport, Harry Laughlin, the KKK and the rest as part of their effort to pass the National Origins Act of 1924, which was designed to keep out "non-Nordic" immigrants.

Originally posted by unityemissions
There's no correlation between genius and an IQ over 120. If you can score this high, you've got the capacity to excel at what you've got a passion for, imo. IQ seems to be related to a certain type of thought process that tends to do well in the educational system. Still, there are plenty of individuals who score within the 90-110 range that have excellent street smarts/common-sense and/or have excellent creative potentials. The only test I ever took was the AFQT portion of the ASVAB on their pretest at the recruiting center. I scored into the 97th percentile. They said it was both the highest score they've seen, and a record time for completion at under 8 minutes. I honestly thought the test was a joke. That test certainly didn't measure my intellectual potential.

I took the AFQT when I was 17 and did well on it. They said "You can do anything you want in the Army" and I said "Okay".

Needless to say, they had some ideas about what I was supposed to do. I was very young then, and had hardly even been out of my hometown very much, so I just went along.

Originally posted by lellomackin
When I was in High School, my parents sent me for an "evaluation" because they felt I was underperforming. I would do well on tests, but refused to do homework as I found it redundant if I could pass the test.

When I was very small, my parents took me to a pediatrician who gave me all kinds of IQ tests. I don't remember any of it, but from what they told me later I did very well on them.

When I was in second grade, I was given more tests and then taken out of the rest of the class and allowed to work on my own in what they called a "private office". They just kept putting all kinds of books in front of me and I sat there alone, filling them out. I was just a little kid and didn't even know what was going on, but I thought it was fun sitting alone in my "private office" answering all these questions in the books.

Later, in 6th Grade, I was in another class that was very different, in which there were all kinds of books, magazines, maps and things on shelves and bookcases all around the room, and the students were just allowed to pick out the things that interested them and work on them. The teacher just sat at the desk and answered questions, provided more information, and sometimes gave us all tests.

Call me crazy, but to this day I still think he was some kind of military officer in civilian clothes, but an extremely sharp and well informed guy on a lot of subjects. I mean, he had a military haircut and bearing.

This was a long time ago, back in the 1960s and early-1970s, when Vietnam was still going on. Funny thing is, I can only recall bits and pieces of it. I can recall what happened in general, but not a lot of the details, and I cannot picture most of the people I went to school with. I remember other kids were there, but I can't really recall their names or what they looked like. It was a small class, and the teacher/officer just sat at his desk and monitored us in a very low key way, but he also knew a great deal about any subject that we asked about.

I hadn't thought of any of this in years, but then the other poster mentioning the military AFQT test caused me to reflect back on it.

And I just remembered something else. There was another man who seemed to be in charge of a lot of this education program, who called himself "Dr. Sam". He seemed like a military guy, too, and I remember he used to talk about World War II. I remember that he always had a briefcase and lots of very big, think files, and seemed to enjoy discussing religion, philosophy, psychology and history. Just about any subject, in fact.

Come to think of it, even the music teacher who used to come into the class about once a week was a military or ex-military guy, too, and he used to tell stories about what he did during World War II and other historical events while he played records for us.

I haven't thought about any of this in years. At the time, I just thought it was all a normal part of going to school.

Even stranger, I have trouble remembering much about my parents during the time when I was little. It all seems very vague and dream-like, and I never saw them much at all after I was six. I remember that they left me with my great grandmother most of the time, and she also seemed to have an education program. She taught me to read, write and do mathematics before I ever went to school. She had several sets of encyclopedias that she let me look through and all kinds of books and pictures as well, so I just looked through them.

After I was six, I was just left with my grandparents. They basically became my legal guardians and gave the school permission to do what it wanted with my education. In fact, I never saw or heard from my father again for many years and did not even know whether he was alive or not. When he died, though, someone sent me an email to notify me and I came to settle his estate.

So much of this seems very vague and "blurry", if that makes any sense.

A real IQ test doen't test intelligence in the conventional sense. It tests abstract problem solving and critical thinking skills. There are no science, history,math, or reading/writing questions. It's basically full of allegories using shapes and words. It's more or less a way to quantify general problem solving ability. It's not perfect, and the same person can get different scores at different times, but their score shouldn't deviate that much. I would suspect that a 20 point deviation is a lot, 10 might be more normal.
An important aspect of IQ tests is that being educated with facts and figures doesn't provide much advantage in itself, the ability to derive solutions does.

reply to post by Strype


I don't really understand the point of making a thread to see what members IQ's are, but if you're interested in taking an online one check this one out. I've taken a few over the years, and remember this one to be one with a higher level of quality. It's also non-verbal/cultural-fair, so tests purely abstract reasoning without needing any factual knowledge.

Test

IQ what is IQ? They make take these test to some how determine what your capability is. I have taken a fe IQ tests, they didn't do any thing for me. I am still unemployed, can't spell very well, and have no family. Enough said.