IQ test facts
Almost everyone has heard about IQ tests. They’re in lots of magazines, especially women’s magazines. 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. Then you submit the test and before you can count to ten, you get your results - a two or three digit number.
To start over, what is an IQ test really? And what’s the number mean? IQ is the ‘Intelligence Quotient’, a measure of how smart you are compared to the whole population. There is some connection between your IQ score and what professions may suit you or how well you may do in college.
The IQ test measures your intelligence to solve problems written on paper. Written problem solving is the core idea of IQ tests. Then your results are compared to other people. It’s one of the standard methods to estimate human intelligence.
The average IQ score is 100. If your score is higher than 100 you are more intelligent than average. A score below 100 tells that you are less intelligent than average.
Positive sides of the IQ test
- Hiring Let’s say you’re hiring someone for a new job. You could get a better understanding of the applicant’s intelligence by conducting an IQ test. You could select the type of test to use. This should be guided by the requirements for the type of work offered. 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 IQ tests could complement the SAT in the judgement of a student’s intellectual potential. This would be useful if there are too few places on the course to accommodate everyone who wants to study. It would increase the likelyhood to find the top brass.
Negative sides of the IQ test
- IQ tests are not perfect A High IQ sore does not guarantee that you also perform well in other important aspects. It is quite common that they do not climb very fast or high on the corporate career ladder.
- Not the most important success factor Many students with high IQ are a dissapointment when they hand in 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. Quite often students who made a stellar performance with little work at lower levels fare less well as courses become more difficult, as they are not used to work and become discouraged when they do not immediately understand.
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Many abilites are not measured by IQ testsFor example IQ tests can’t measure how well you’ll do as a leader. 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.
