how reliable are iq tests?

[Thales]

Without wishing to offend people generally judge you on what you say and do not what 'potential' you have.

[MolecularMan14]

True, but if you're better at speaking than me, then your general potentail will be apparent through your speech.

[Guest kaypwnz]

The only way to be sure to be even close to a good IQ test is to see a pshychiatrist or something, not out of the internet. They actually test you things that can actually significantly influence the mental capacity, not only questions like math or science and so on..

[rakuenso]

even a person with an IQ of 100 can perform far better than a person with an IQ of 140 with simply hard work and determination

[SubJunk]

they're pretty silly really, in my opinion at least. Some member of mensa, a journalist or editor or something has the highest tested IQ in the world, in the 200s, whereas slow old Stephen Hawking is 194 (correct me if i'm wrong, not that you need my permission)

I've taken two online ones and on one i got in the low 170s and the other i got in the low 160s, i think they're only suitable for generalisation and not much else.

[philbo1965uk]

IQ tests give an average,age related score.On some i get scores of above 190 others 180.But i think its just a waste of time really and apart from getting in a club it serves no purpose,how can one compare the genius of say Einstein with Beethoven,anyone who isnt moved by either is doing too many IQ tests

[5614]

i hate those ones where it says "what is the capital of.....?" or "which breed of plant/animal has these characteristics?" because im not amazing at geography and i dont know loads of capitals and unless you've specificly studied the animal/plant the question is reffering to you are unlikely to know the answer (unless its obvious like tigers are black/orange striped!)... but just because i dont know the answers to those questions doesnt mean im no good at another subject.

if you take an IQ test which is general knowledge you will get a totaly different score to if you took an IQ test in science... every individual's IQ varies with the type of question and there is no "THE IQ test", each one varies in questions and questions topic/style, hence different IQ tests get very different IQ results.

 

my IQ results vary too much and i havent taken one for over a year now.

[Guest labyrinthe]

I agree that IQ isnt everything..and there are certain limitations with the interpretation of results.

 

For those who doesnt like IQs, I suggest you take EQ test...like the one below..

 

http://www.iqtestnow.com/eq-test.html

 

Hope this helps...

[Glider]

EQ tests are at the very best, questionable. To begin with, attempts to define "Emotional Intelligence" are shaky, to say the least. Attempts to measure it (i.e. the vast majority of instruments that exist, online, in magazines and in pop Psychology books) suffer many psychometric problems. Moreover, the strongest correlations between items on any EQ test and established tests exist between those measuring personality traits (e.g. Introversion, extroversion and neuroticism). This suggests that tests of EQ are largely measuring only existing personality traits and then calling them 'Emotional Intelligence' which makes them spurious.

 

The worrying thing about them is that they are being hawked by private companies using such hype as "...for jobs of all kinds, emotional intelligence is twice as important as IQ plus technical skills. Emotional intelligence is more than 85% of what sets star performers from the average" (http://ei.haygroup.com/default.asp).

 

'Popular' books also tend to make outlandish claims, such as: "Empathy and other qualities of the heart make it more likely that your marriage will thrive. Lack of those abilities explains why people of high IQ can be such disastrous pilots of their personal lives". (Golman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.

 

Such claims are completely unsupportable.

[Mokele]

Call my cynical, but EQ has always reeked of "sour grapes" to me, plus a way to "feel good about yourself". I'd be willing to bet that most people who take the test are told their EQ is "above average" or more.

 

"Oh, no, we didn't score very high on the IQ test! Let's make up our own test, claim it measures something totally non-quantifiable but of paramount importance, and support it with a slew of trendy books!"

 

Mokele

[Auk]

My IK is 101 although I must admit I did the test in about ten minutes. Still I was hoping it would be higher

[boxhead]

it is a relative thing... it also depends upon the type of society where you conduct the test. most of the african people dont go for the second question untill the get the solution for first problem .... so if you place a very very hard question as no.1 in the list even scientiest with that kind of tendency may get the iq of around 100 so .. it also depends upon the tendency of the specific group, society etc.

[PersonCube]

IQ... what a stupid thing... It was probably created by some people to help put other people down. "OH LOOK! He has an IQ of 89, let's all laugh and point at his petite knowledge!! *gay laughter*" And then the guy with 89 IQ pulls out Webster's Dictionary and recites it forwards and backwards and THEN finds the cure to AIDS or something... That's probably all it was and now IQ has just become a "standardized test of your basic knowledge." (I made that up, *snicker*)

[NavajoEverclear]

IQ tests are worth shit . I will never recognize them as a valid measure of value of any sort.

[MulderMan]

i havent really taken one personally, but its stupid to dwell upon a number on a peice of paper. just out of interest how or where can you actually take one, do psychologists have them? the nearest i think i have taken to this is a "Cognaive Ability Test" in school to seperate people into sets and predict grades.

[Hellbender]

IQ tests have something to them, but they can be lacking. I have a serious learning handicap with mathematics or math related topics. My average grade in school was 75-95. But I do not consider myself "stupid in any way". I took an IQ test, and because there were a lot of math questions I don't feel I got the grade I deserve. I think they just need to measure some different things. I am by no means stupid, I am just very poor at math. They have calculators anyway for that junk.

Humans are a very diverse animal and your background, upbringing, education quality and to an extent genetics differs with everyone. An inner-city kid with a poor education, bad upbringing etc. is not going to do as good as someone who grew up in the rich suburbs and got to take advantage of an good education and a much more nurturing environment. This does not meant the unfortunate inner-city kid is "stupid" by any means, it just means she/he hasn't had the same benefits as another person. I do think, however, that IQ tests give good "ballpark" statistics on intelligence.

[yangxu]

well, IQ tests are based on logic and intepretation, but how the writer designs the question so everyone understands what is required to be answered is a whole new problem... there are people with poor English comprehension skills who completed the IQ tests and got 75 or less, but that could just be the wordings and vocab limitations in the questions.

[Glider]

If items in an IQ test test knowledge (e.g. maths, history, general etc.), then it is flawed. Such items test prior learning, which is not IQ.

[Nevermore]

<SMARMY>I can is more important than IQ</SMARMY>

[MagicMoose]

I took an IQ test on the interweb. I forgot what the name of it was, but some how i got an 88. Now normally i would laugh @ something like that. Wow they got such a nasty e-mail. Then i took what they call "the most accurate test" by MENSA or something, and it was in the higher 120's. I liked that one...

[atinymonkey]

I'm trying not to be too offensive here, but isn't 120 average? Also, did they take your age? That part always seems to be missing on the tests I see on the web!

[MagicMoose]

I'm trying not to be too offensive here, but isn't 120 average? Also, did they take your age? That part always seems to be missing on the tests I see on the web!

 

Ouch my pride...

yes, i know it isn't that high,

i remember around 115 being average,

and they didn't take my name.

[atinymonkey]

Well, age is part of the IQ test. So if the test didn't take your age, it would be very hard for it to judge your IQ. I'd not worry about it too much,

[Mokele]

100 is average in IQ tests, always. That's how they're made: You make the test, administer it to a test group, and set the scores in the middle for 100. Makes it easier to remember.

 

Mokele

[Guest thekillers]

Intelligence is an area that greatly interests me. I have taken a few online tests, and don't think any of them adaquetley measure intelligence. If you really want to know your iq, get in touch with mensa, who will send you a home test for a small fee. This will be a preliminary test to see if you qualify for an official, standardised, monitored test. The tests they use have been around for a long time and are regarded as a yardstick in measuring intellectual capacity.