The IQ test revealed
Almost everyone has heard about IQ tests. In a lot of printed publications, focused on women in particular, you may find them. Doing a web search will also find as many as you like. You simply fill in your answer to the tasks given in the test. Enter the answers and the site will respond with an estimated score.
But what exactly is an IQ test, anyway? What is the meaning of the IQ score? IQ is the ‘Intelligence Quotient’, a number telling how ’smart’ you are compared to other people. It’s supposed to give you an idea of how well you’ll do at a certain profession or how well you’ll perform academically.
The whole idea of the IQ test is to measure the potential of your brains using problems posed to you on paper. Written problem solving is the core idea of IQ tests. Your intelligence is gauged in respect to another person. It is the most used method to measure human intelligence.
Taken over the whole population the average IQ score is 100. If you’ve taken an IQ test and you scored 136, this means you’re a lot more intelligent than the average person. A score below 100 tells that you are less intelligent than average.
Positive sides of the IQ test
- Hiring E.g. you like to hire someone for a position. You could get a better understanding of the applicant’s intelligence by conducting an IQ test. The test could be on logical, linguistic and spatial intelligence. These may be more related to the type of work involved. The results should give a clue on the suitability of the candidate for the position. You could weed out those who don’t make the cut.
- College entrance On top of the SAT and other tests IQ tests to judge their intelligence. As there are often fewer places than applicants, this could be an additional screening tool. It would increase the likelyhood to find the top brass.
Disadvantages of the IQ Test
- IQ tests don’t tell the full story A High IQ sore does not guarantee that you also perform well in other important aspects. Quite a large share of high IQ persons are simply not as successful as you would expect from their IQ score.
- Not the most important success factor College students who initially showed promising scores on their IQ test ended up not being so hot when they sat their term papers. Studies have found out that a student’s self-discipline is a better gauge of how well they’ll do at college or high school. Relying only on smartness is not enough you must put whatever IQ you have to work to do really well. Many high IQ scorers have been overtaken by so-called ‘weaker’ minds with much lower IQ.
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IQ does not measure everythingLeadership is one area which is not measured by IQ tests Another area not covered is your emotional intelligence, also called EQ, how good you are at handling other people and relationships. There is also the theory of multiple intelligences, that defines 8 different aspects of intelligence that you may have to varying degrees. So your IQ score may not be the only defining factor in your overall intelligence.
