How smart are you?

[dive_lover88]

hmm...let's see...want a part of my brain that is permenently caffine soaked?

 

[Diver0001]

Just to prove my ranking in the polls, here it is:

My friends said I should have my head examined... so I did!

The result is the image above.

Is it just me or did someone clocked you with the left hook from hell... ?

R..

 

[Scubaguy2]

Dang I must be pretty smart because there IS a University named after me Flinders University http://www.flinders.edu.au/

Mark

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Hey, Doc! I have some pretty neat scans of my brain, too. MRI, CT scan, head X-ray... (I have cluster headaches, so they did all of these tests just so they could tell me, "No, you don't have a brain tumor." http://clusterheadaches.com )

 

[DA Aquamaster]

It keeps going down the older you get. I think the tests for kids are just too easy, maybe based on old information or something. I tested well over 160 when I was 6 too but when they tested me for the job I have now I only scored 148. If I got tested today I'd be into the 130's ... LOL Fatherhood takes a lot out of you....

Theoretically IQ is a fairly stable property. But practically I do see significant changes in IQ over time, particularly in children. And a considerdation in IQ testing is that the tests themselves compare performance on the test to age so the older you are, the higher the expected score. So if you continue to age but stop getting "smarter" your score will go down.

There are two major IQ tests used (at least in the US) - the WAIS-III (for adults with the WISC-III being used for chioldren) and the Stanford-Binet, now in it's 5th edition, (smae test used for people aged 2-85). In a perfect world the two approaches would be comparable and be measuring the same thing. But in practice, the tests are significantly different and, especially in children, have produced widely differing scores on the same individual at more or less the same time. For example the S-B tends to give "gifted" children much higher scores than the WISC-III - on the order of 40 or more points in some cases.

The S-B also only provides a global IQ score that is very heavily verbally loaded rather than the WAIS and WISC which provide separate scores for verbal and performance intelligence. The S-B is also much more subjective in it's administration and interpretation.

Both tests have the potential to be culturally biased and this can produce lower scores in persons from minority groups and normally requires a different set of norms. A
t best what IQ tests tend to predict is academic success and they do less well at accurately predicting ability in other activities.

Both the SB and WAIS have a confidence interval of 4 or 5. What that means is that if you score a 100 on the test your "true" IQ probably lies somewhere between 95 and 105. So if you get a 120 and your freind got a 130, don't sweat it as you may still both have the same "IQ". They also both have a standard deveiation of about 15 with an average of 100. What this means is that people with IQ's between 85 and 115 are in the average range. If you score from 115 to 130, you are high average, if you score 130-145 you are gifted and if you score 145 or higher you get to call yourself a genius.

Given the interpretation that is involved in scoring an intelligence test, I regard intelligence tests as subjective rather than objective data. An IQ score all by itself means very little.

There are also some "IQ tests" that are really only screening tools that should be used to determine if a full IQ test is warranted The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) is a good example. Scores on a K-BIT are not all that accurate and do not tell you all that much.

Also, the idea of an IQ based only on verbal and/or performance scores has become a dated concept with most current theories of intelligence addressing the idea of multiple intelligences related to lots of different abilities rather than just academic ability. Or...to put it in scuba terms...who cares if a diver has a 200 IQ if their bouyancy control and SAC rate suck.

 

[ffestpirate]

Well, I'm not sure how to tie my own shoes, but I was smart enough to marry a genius of a woman who could explain the process to me and help with life's other little brain teasers.

 

[TSandM]

who cares if a diver has a 200 IQ if their bouyancy control and SAC rate suck.

The story of my life. If I could DO anything as well as I can understand it, I'd be euphoric.