Secrets, Lore, Mystique and Facts About IQ Tests

 

The most important question of all is why knowing your IQ is important.

Knowing your IQ allows you to discover your natural talents. The Pearson Intelligence Battery™ analyzes your abilities in six core areas: mathematics, verbal and linguistic ability, analytical reasoning, creativity, spatial perception, and general knowledge.

Taking the test enables you to see a highly detailed blueprint of your talents and abilities in each of these categories. Having this information is vital before deciding on a career or making a career change. Many people are unhappy with their academic or career performance because their talents and goals are mismatched. Taking the test will quickly reveal if this is the case with you. Taking the test will also reveal exactly what goals you should pursue to maximize success.
 
? What is intelligence?
   
  My own short-form answer: Intelligence is the ability to solve problems through reasoning and creative application of knowledge. A cynic's rejoinder: Intelligence is whatever an intelligence test measures. IQ testing has ornamented the study of intelligence with a colorful tapestry of secrets, lore and mystique, but few settled facts.
   
? What is the relationship between creativity and intelligence?
   
  Many psychologists believe intelligence has two components: fluid and static. Fluid intelligence is strongly related to a creative personality and represents the ability to see new relationships and patterns. Static intelligence is marked by the ability to reason using acquired knowledge. Although fluid intelligence normally peaks in the late twenties and declines steadily thereafter, static intelligence steadily increases with age. The Pearson Intelligence Battery™ measures both fluid and static intelligence.
   
? What is IQ?
  IQ is a measure of different components of intelligence as measured on a standardized test so arranged that exactly half of the people taking it score 100 (the 50-th percentile). When the test is given to a large number of people the distribution of scores resembles a bell curve, with intellectually gifted people falling on the curve's right side and their less fortunate counterparts on the left. By tradition, scores of 140 or better indicate genius, whereas those under 90 suggest impaired mentation. The arguable view of Herrnstein and Murray is that scores to the far left of the median are the human equivalent of sawdust; those to the far right, stardust.
? Why are test scores sometimes stated as a percentile?
  The idea is to show how a person's IQ relates to that of the general population. IQ tests, as explained above, have a mean score of 100 and—here come the hated statistics—a standard deviation of 15, leading to the following relationship:

 

Correlation Between IQ and Percentile

IQ

Percentile
65 1
70 2
75 5
80 9
85 16
90 25
95 37
100 50
105 63
110 75
115 84
120 91
125 95
130 98
135 99

 

This chart demonstrates that a person with an IQ of 125 is brighter than 95% of the population as a whole, whereas an IQ of 135 puts the person ahead of 99% percent of the pack. In other words, only one person in 100 is brighter than someone whose IQ is 135. Scores above the 99-th percentile (or below the 1-st) are virtually meaningless because so few people fall into either group. (Additional IQ test secrets, tips and facts.)
? Is the free IQ test biased?
To a degree, yes.  The test is somewhat biased in favor of native English speakers who are at least sixteen years old, and strongly biased in favor of those exposed to Western culture in early life. We are not aware of any other biases.
? Is IQ really the quotient of two numbers?
  Sometimes. When IQ tests are administered to children, it is necessary to calculate their score (often called mental age), multiply it by 100, and divide the result by their chronological age to arrive at a figure called intelligence quotient, from which the acronym IQ is derived. This convoluted process is unnecessary with adults.
? Are bypasses a clever way of cheating?
  Absolutely not. Bypasses simply make it easier to answer questions on any test—IQ, SAT or otherwise—with a scientifically proven methodology formally introduced into Complexity Theory in 1983. If Bypasses are cheating, then Newton cheated when he wrote the Principia and Einstein did the same with Relativity—both made extensive use of bypasses long before the term was formally defined or generally understood.
? What do you call Easter Eggs and the other exploits you describe?
  Tutoring. Test designers have always included subtle clues to correct answers—we call them Easter Eggs—since Binet and Simon published the first IQ test in 1905. (Brief history of major IQ test developers since Galton.) Knowing something about test construction gives you an edge when you take the test, probably between 10 and 25 IQ points when the effects of bypasses and other exploits are factored in ... which should come as no surprise because the tutored graduates of prep schools do better at Harvard, Dartmouth and Yale than their untutored peers from Central High, a fact that explains why this site is popular at Groton and Choate.

Incidentally, the vaunted Stanford-Binet can be nudged in your favor by reading the tester's face and convincing him that the wrong answer you gave to a question is really as valid as the one in his answer book. A psychology teacher in the UK claims to have scored an IQ of 158 on the S-B at the age of 14 using this simple trick. His argument is solid: "the ability to persuade the tester that your unorthodox answers are legitimate may be a valid indicator of intelligence." More detail on this little-known IQ test secret can be found near the bottom of his webpage.
? Can IQ be raised or is it innate?
  IQ can be raised by keeping your mind nimble. Play word games like crossword puzzles and Scrabble. Visit online sites that offer mentally stimulating puzzles and problems—for starters, try those in our links section. Your quickness and cleverness will grow in direct proportion to the degree that you exercise your brain. Mentally gifted people do not necessarily have the most formal education; however, exceptionally bright people—those scoring near the 99-th percentile on IQ tests—have learned specific techniques that develop hidden mental abilities and talents. Most of these techniques are revealed in the Bypasses tab. IQ test scores are lowered by lack of rest, pressure, and excessive social activity.
? Are there requirements for taking the Pearson Intelligence Battery™?
  The test is designed for people at least sixteen years old. If you are younger than sixteen the test will understate your IQ. Designing the test for adults avoids the need for a timed test that manipulates mental and chronological age into an unreliable composite requiring a separate test for ages up to sixteen. (Stanford-Binet still operates this way).
? Does the Pearson Intelligence Battery™ correlate well with the SAT?
  The current (January, 2005) version of this test correlates highly with the latest (2400 point maximum) SAT. Extensive changes were made to insure that essay portions of the SAT are reflected in the Pearson Intelligence Battery™. A high IQ reported by this test is a very good predictor of a correspondingly high SAT score. Essentially everything tested by the SAT is also measured by the Pearson Intelligence Battery™: creative thinking, knowledge of core subjects, and problem-solving ability in both left- and right-brain activities.
? Is this test easy?
  Relative to what? The test is designed to measure IQ accurately, not flatter your ego. Many online IQ tests award ridiculously high scores in response to random responses. If you try that here you will probably do no better than three right answers out of twenty questions, resulting in a pathetically low score. Try it before you actually take the test and see for yourself. (Click your browser's Back button to return to the test from the answer page, but be warned: Memorizing the answers is cheating!)
? Is specialized knowledge required for a high score?
  No. This is a conventional test in the sense that it assumes reasonable proficiency in six core disciplines: mathematics, verbal and linguistic ability, analytical reasoning, creativity, spatial perception, and general knowledge (including ability to answer certain questions based on information assimilated from hints in the test itself). No knowledge of core subjects other than that taught in high school is required.

References and Authorities

 

R. Herrnstein and C. Murray. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free Press, 1995. 
 
 
     

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