Do iq tests really measure intelligence?

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Chief__
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15 Oct 2009, 6:45 am

I think it measures the speed at which a person gets things and how good he might be at them.But it doesn't measure creativity,wisdom,talent....



digger1
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15 Oct 2009, 7:27 am

it measures your capacity for intelligence as compared with the number of people who have already taken the test and compares it with your chronological age and gets a number.



Ambivalence
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15 Oct 2009, 8:10 am

No.

The problem solving capability of one hundred billion interconnected neurons cannot be reasonably approximated by a three digit (at most!) number.

And yeah, I'm rubbish at IQ tests. :lol:


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mgran
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15 Oct 2009, 8:14 am

Define intelligence.

If intelligence is defined as the the skill sets required to do IQ tests, then yes, it defines that abilty.

However, I do not believe that is what intelligence is.

Sadly, I'm not smart enough to figure out what intelligence is though. :?



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15 Oct 2009, 5:19 pm

I believe IQ tests can accurately gauge how well one can take an IQ test.



Mdyar
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15 Oct 2009, 10:06 pm

Chief__ wrote:
I think it measures the speed at which a person gets things and how good he might be at them.But it doesn't measure creativity,wisdom,talent....



The testers(psychometricians) have taken these test to the extreme 'chief.'
Originally intelligence testing at it's 'inception' was never intended to measure/identify anything but ones who would need a different form of education...... They have taken this to the extreme now at 100 years later.

What they do/all they do is take a random sample of people, say 10,000 ,and test these with questions that relate to cognitive ability.
The person who scored in the middle (the 5000th individual) they number i.q. '100' or smack-dab average.
Any below 5000 is below and over 5000 is above average on that particular test.

Ive noticed you seem to be taken aback by your score as I have seen your concern in different threads.
I would concentrate on being you and forget the number as you said it doesn't measure the application of knowledge(wisdom) ;creativity or talent.

I've noticed some here have disclosed their lower wais scores in various postings and it certainly doesn't corelate well with above average insight that I have seen here by them......

I would take it with a grain of salt.



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15 Oct 2009, 11:50 pm

Chief__ wrote:
I think it measures the speed at which a person gets things and how good he might be at them.But it doesn't measure creativity,wisdom,talent....

What you said, is my opinion. In other words, I agree.


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16 Oct 2009, 2:09 pm

mgran wrote:
Define intelligence.

If intelligence is defined as the the skill sets required to do IQ tests, then yes, it defines that abilty.

According to legend, when Alfred Binet introduced his intelligence test, a reporter asked him what intelligence was. He replied, "Intelligence is what my test measures!"


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DaWalker
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16 Oct 2009, 4:57 pm

Do iq tests really measure intelligence?
Noun: IQ
1. A measure of a person's intelligence as indicated by an intelligence test; the ratio of a person's mental age to their chronological age (multiplied by 100)



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20 Oct 2009, 6:21 am

I don’t think iq tests necessarily show how intelligent someone is. The ones one usually find online tend to be very reliant upon time. I don’t think the speed of your problem solving really says much about intelligence. I just find myself completely stressed.

These tests often contain some more or less advanced math problems. I never really learned to solve them. Obviously my mathemetical intelligence is quite low, however not being able to solve them doesn’t mean I’m too stupid to, it means I was never given the needed help to become able to pass them when I was in school. And even if I had, I doubt I could do it in the 30-45 seconds available.
Likewise there are some logic tasks, like being given a list of several reptiles and one amphibian and pick the one that differs. I learnt the difference in a school I went to, my mother however has never learnt to classify animals like that. Therefor I would pass, she would fail that one.
And I keep thinking: What does this have to do with measuring intelligence? These tasks only test if you learned this or that while you were in school - or on your own, and if you still remember it if you did learn it.
I fail to see how this measure someone’s intelligence…

I’m very sceptical to IQ tests. It’s seems so arbitrary how anyone will do. I’ve scored from 90 to 137 on online tests.



Last edited by Skilpadde on 20 Oct 2009, 7:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

saywhatyamean
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20 Oct 2009, 7:49 am

IQ tests and those like them (like some of the test for Autism in children)are held up as being worthwhile mainly because they keep some not so good Psychologists in work, in this country anyway. They were originally invented as a mere tool but now are given far too much credence. In my opinion they are used far too often for far too many important reasons and too much is based on their findings.

I remember doing an assignment on it at Uni around 20 years ago. It turns out they are very biased to gender, race, culture and people with communication issues. ASDians usually don't rate very well in most of them because they very often, have such uneven patterns of skills. IQ test are scored on averages over a range of areas. Also because ASDians particularly as children have communication difficulties of all sorts

Worst of all many ASD kids are labeled as developmentally delayed or Intellectually disabled on the basis of IQ testing. Then especially if they are nonverbal or have communication issues ( which lets face it, most of us do) Or even just having a bad day. Are labeled and then stuffed into schools for ID which can be disasterous if the powers that be get it wrong, as they inevitably do because IQ testing is such rubbish.

One of my sons was supposed to have one years ago. I niavely thought that because we knew atleast 20 years ago that they were rubbish they would have changed them. I couldn't believe it when the Weschler was pulled out. My son must have read my mind because for about the first 20 minutes he went beserk. Crying screaming trying to get out of the room. When I finally calmed him enough to start the testing my son was away with the fairies. The pshychologist did nothing to get my son to participate at all. If my son didn't respond straight way that was marked as non compliance......... then I assume latter marked as wrong. I walked out 10 mnutes into the testing because I could see my son was not getting a fair assessment. I still got the stupid results and report that went with them. I suppose they had to give me something as I still had to pay for it.........and it cost a bomb. I wonder why the psychologist remembered to report that my son had stopped testing to take off his shoes at one stage. At the same time forgetting, so didn't report, that my son had screamed and cryed for a good twenty minutes and then threw the shoes he took off at the psycholgist. Also that he was exhausted from the prolonged meltdown he had endured once he did show some measure of compliance. LOL I can't believe I was sucked in and then had to pay for being sucked in........never again. LOL



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20 Oct 2009, 10:28 am

pigeons are quicker to recognize shapes and forms, a major part in IQ tests

if we're in bad luck, a pigeon may outdo us in such a test...


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21 Oct 2009, 2:25 pm

WritersBlock wrote:
I believe IQ tests can accurately gauge how well one can take an IQ test.


Ditto.


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21 Oct 2009, 2:25 pm

deleted duplicate


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Last edited by visagrunt on 22 Oct 2009, 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

linah
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21 Oct 2009, 5:35 pm

WritersBlock wrote:
I believe IQ tests can accurately gauge how well one can take an IQ test.


hehe, I agree with this one...



david_42
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21 Oct 2009, 5:41 pm

IQ tests strongly correlate with the speed at which your brain reacts to stimuli and the complexity of that reaction. Across all professions, people with higher IQs do better, advance more quickly and make more money. This is true for lawyers and IT people as well as plumbers. It's true across education levels, ethnic groups and age. If this isn't a measure of intelligence, then it will do until someone comes up with a better definition.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is considered the definitive study. If you haven't read and studied it, do so.