Free IQ Tests

Jimmy Cox asked:


Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which comes first, intelligence or achievement? (By achievement we mean the ability to perform basic skills in reading, arithmetic, writing, and the like.)

Consider Joey, for example, who is in the sixth grade and reads on a fourth-grade level. Is he a slower reader because his I Q is 88? Or is his I Q recorded as 88 because he is a slow reader and this curtails his performance on his I Q test? Which comes first, the chicken of achievement or the egg of intelligence?

Now Joey’s I Q is relatively low at least in part because he does not read as well as the average child of the same age. If he were given remedial reading instruction and his reading level improved as a result, it is very probable that his I Q score would be higher if he were retested.

But Joey’s chances of getting remedial reading instruction on an individual basis are probably slim, for most schools and school systems do not have the funds and facilities required for extensive programs in this area.

Joey’s reading is probably considered satisfactory: that is, he is over a year behind what is considered average for his age, but he is also somewhat below average in intelligence. Given his intelligence, the schools reason, we should expect no more of him; therefore, his reading is satisfactory.

But for Joey, whose reading trouble might very well be the result of factors other than his intelligence, this should not be a satisfactory answer. He might be capable of profiting from an enriched curriculum. He might have abilities which could be developed only when exposed to the curriculum being enjoyed by the brightest class in his age group.

Indeed, he might have the ability to score well above average on an IQ test. If his IQ were higher he would get a better education. It is also true that if his education were better he would have a higher I Q. But Joey, whose below-average I Q traps him in slow classes, has little chance to extricate himself from the vicious circle in which his I Q adversely affects his education which adversely affects his achievement which adversely affects his I Q-and so on.

The school, having classified and grouped the child on the basis of his I Q-and, in some instances, with the aid of such related factors as reading ability and arithmetic level-begins to expect and accept of the child the kind of performance his I Q indicates as most probable.

The parent, usually placing confidence in the school’s superior experience in evaluating the educational progress of children, begins to accept the school’s general picture of the child’s strengths and weaknesses.

And the child, always to some extent unsure of his ability to go beyond a familiar level, and normally preoccupied with the more exciting everyday aspects of growth and life, develops a self-image that is strongly shaped by the attitudes of his parents, his teachers, and his fellow schoolmates.

Even though the school does not identify the average, bright, or slow groups in any way, it does not take long for the children themselves to sense the I Q-based distinctions. The teachers, of course, know of the differences, and this knowledge affects their conscious and unconscious attitudes toward the children of each group.

The parents, whose attitudes toward their children’s abilities are so highly colored by the school’s evaluation, often betray their attitudes to the children. Thus, though in many thousands of instances the school is underrating the potential of individual children, the child will develop and reinforce a self-image that incorporates many unreal limitations. And once these limitations become part of the child’s self-image, they operate just as if they were real.

And so another vicious circle is begun in which the child is directly and indirectly penalized by a conception that originates with the I Q.



Maria Long

Dr. Enigma Valdez, C.H. asked:


You may think that you’re stuck with the current IQ that you have for good. However, there is a way that you can boost your IQ to a much higher level than you thought possible.

A French psychologist by the name of Alfred Binet first published the modern intelligence tests to evaluate if special students need help in school classes in 1905. Then a few years later in 1912, a German psychologist by the name of William Stern came up with the term “intelligence quotient” or I.Q. After him, there was a formula developed to identify the intelligence level of a person that is used up to this day.

The formula is as follows; 100 multiplied Mental Age divided by Chronological age. For example, if a 10 year old child scored as high as the average 13 year old, then the child would have an IQ of 130. (100 times 13 divided by 10)

The best way to boost your IQ and to land high IQ test scores is to buy study versions of the standardized tests. There are many kinds of IQ tests and they do come in many forms. Some of them use several sub portions, and are divided into different sections, such as verbal, math, spatial, etc. Others use a single item or type of question.

The typical IQ test will require you to solve a number of problems in a supervised setting. You may also be timed. The IQ test will include things from various domains, such as spatial visualization, perceptual speed, short-term memory, and verbal skills.

There are other IQ tests, that are not supervised and do not have a time limit. These are usually geared for measuring very high intelligence. When you are preparing to study for your IQ tests, determine which kind you are going to take. The most widely used IQ test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or WAIS. There are about 14 subtests within this IQ test, which include object assembly, symbol search, picture arrangement, matrix reasoning, block design, digital symbol coding, picture completion, letter & number sequencing, vocabulary, and numerical reasoning.

So, you can search for study guides for the main IQ tests, such as the WAIS, Stanford-Binet, Miller-Analogies, Cattell Culture Fair II, and Raven’s Progressive Matrices. You can go to Amazon.com or to Barnes & Noble to find study guides.

You can also buy brain teaser books and go over the exercises. Don’t just do them once or twice, but practice them over and over, until they are imprinted on your brain. What starts to happen is that you will subconsciously pick up a pattern of these IQ tests, and you’ll be able to easily solve almost any question or problem. The thing about standardized IQ tests is that that they all pretty much have the same questions over and and over again, except they are worded or arranged a little different. The main patterns and principles remain constant.

You can also test for the Graduate Record Exam or GRE. This test is accepted by major High IQ societies such as MENSA. I have found that the Graduate Record Exam has a lot of the same questions and structures in it that the standardized IQ tests have.

Getting a study copy of the GRE is pretty easy, and you could probably get an older copy at your local public library. Just do the exercises over and over again, so you can get used to the structures of the questions.

Then, after you have taken your IQ test and scored high, you can take the results and join different high IQ societies. This can help you in your personal life as well as your career. A lot of people will list the fact that they are members of certain high IQ societies on job resumes, and it can mean the difference between getting hired or rejected.

Boosting your IQ is nothing short than practicing IQ tests. The more you practice taking them, the easier they get, and pretty soon, you, too can have a genius IQ.



Sean

Jimmy Cox asked:


Perhaps never in our country’s history have we been so aware of our schools, so well informed about the problems our schools face, and so deeply concerned with raising the quality of public school education.

Yet in spite of our general information and concern, one of the key factors in the education of our own children continues to be a blind spot, a shibboleth, and an old wives’ tale.

One has only to mention the words “IQ” among parents of school-age children to produce a number of immediate, revealing, and poorly informed responses:

“IQ? My Bobby must have a pretty high IQ. He’s bright as a button, always asking questions, and I’m sure he’ll make out all right.”

“IQ? Well, IQ isn’t so important with girls, you know. And Marsha’s such a pretty little thing she’s bound to get married.”

“IQ? I don’t care about Jimmy’s IQ. I love him just the way he is.”

Of course it’s admirable to have confidence in your child, to want to help your child, to be realistic about your child’s future, and to love your child just as he is; but, these reactions are not enough. For a child’s IQ is no matter for pride or ineffectual worrying or contented ignorance. Its importance must not be underestimated, though it certainly should not be overemphasized, especially in the presence of the child. The IQ should be treated for what it is, a not too reliable statistic that has a continuing and often unfortunate effect on the child’s life. For example:

Bobby, who is as bright as a button with an IQ of 89, is placed in a slower class and will follow a watered-down curriculum, while Jimmy, whose IQ is just one point higher, is placed in a brighter class and will follow a normal curriculum. At the end of two years, when they are tested again, the chances are that Bobby’s IQ will be somewhat lower and Jimmy’s somewhat higher as a result of the different education each has had. Tests will continue to reflect the discrepancy in their education throughout their school years.

Marsha, the pretty little thing who is bound to get married, has an IQ score of 128 but will be denied admittance to a Special Progress class because her score is two points below the minimum 130. Thus this bright youngster will miss the opportunity of working in the stimulating atmosphere of the children and curriculum that make up this kind of class. She will also lose the chance of doing three years’ work in two years.

The pattern may persist in the use made of the IQ by the military services.

Bobby’s IQ (or AGCT as it is called in the armed forces) is three points below the fixed minimum for this specialty, and so he will be rejected for training as a radar technician.

Jimmy will not be eligible for officers training because his AGCT score is a few points below the required minimum of 110.

And in private industry, Marsha, still unmarried, will not get the research position she applied for because her IQ is two points below what the company considers the minimum for this job.

These IQ scores played a limiting role over a period of time, and a relatively small increase in them would have opened up many new opportunities for each individual. And these examples are neither farfetched nor uncommon. In the January 20, 1957, issue of The New York Times Magazine, David Wechsler, one of the foremost authorities on the IQ, estimated that half the population of the United States has been given I Q tests at one time or another. Undoubtedly all the 85 million who have taken a test have been influenced to some degree by their score; and it is likely that those who have been adversely affected by the lack of a few crucial points number in the millions.



Albert