What is IQ and how is it measured?

Would you like to know what your IQ is? What exactly is IQ? Do you think your IQ is above average? Would you like to take an intelligence test to find out your IQ? Are these types of tests really reliable? Surely you have asked yourself on more than one occasion questions how you are. In this article we will try to answer them.

Surely throughout your life you have done several of these intelligence tests. In almost all educational stages, intelligence tests are usually done, and companies also usually do them in some selection processes. And why deny it? Most of us don't have much appreciation for them.

But are these intelligence tests really useful? The truth is that there are discrepancies between specialists who argue that intelligence is something too complex to be measured with this type of test, and therefore these are not reliable, and others who do defend its usefulness. Undoubtedly, an intelligence test will not be able to measure all the abilities and intelligence that a person has, however it is one of the tools we have to measure and compare their intelligence, even if it is biased.

Next we are going to continue talking about what the IQ is, what tests are carried out to measure or calculate it, the intelligence scales based on IQ and what are the best web pages and apps where you can take an intelligence test. Interesting? Well keep reading.

What is IQ

Surely you have heard many times about IQ, but what is IQ? What are we really measuring when we do an intelligence test?

The intelligence quotient or intelligence quotient is a figure with which we measure the intelligence of each person. To find out this figure, tests are carried out that measure, on the one hand, mental age and on the other, chronological age, and from these data the intellectual coefficient (CI or IQ) is calculated.

To measure the intelligence quotient, a series of tests are usually proposed that include problems of all kinds: language, spatial, mathematical, logical, etc. The results obtained are valued with respect to the results obtained in a certain population, taking into account its chronological age and its maturational limitations.

The intelligence quotient is just a number that helps us to compare the result that has been obtained with the average of a population of a certain age. In this way, we can determine if the IQ is at values ​​that we consider standard, if we stand out (and if so, to what extent) or if, on the contrary, it costs us a little more than the rest of the same people. age.

How is IQ calculated?

Although there are different tests to determine the intelligence quotient, in our country one of the best known tests is usually used: the Wechsler scales. In the case of adults, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or WAIS is used and in almost all children the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or WISC.

The WISC test is divided into four types of exercises that will help us measure:

      Verbal comprehension.

      perceptual reasoning.

      working memory.

      Processing speed.

The characteristics of the WAIS test for adults are similar to those performed for children, although some tests are added to provide complementary information for further analysis.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WISC/WASC) test scores

What score corresponds to a normal IQ? From what score is a person considered gifted? Below you have a list with the different ranges of intelligence according to the IQ score.

      IQ scores less than 70 points: Very low performance profile.

      IQ scores between 70 and 79 points: Borderline intelligence level.

      IQ scores between 80 and 89 points: Low, but within the normal average.

      IQ scores between 90 and 109 points: Average normal.

      IQ scores between 110 and 119 points: High, but within the normal average.

      IQ scores between 120 and 129 points: Intelligence level above average.

      IQ scores of more than 130 points: Intelligence level well above average.

      IQ scores of more than 130 points: Average much higher than the rest of the population with similar characteristics. Individuals with high intellectual abilities.

In the Wechsler intelligence tests, the base of the scale is always the IQ of 100, so that the range between 90 and 109 points is considered the standard score for the population group that we are assessing.

There are no different IQ ranges by age, but both the test and the results are adapted to each age. The results in each segment of people will be in relation to the rest of the people of their age. We cannot equate the IQ of a 12-year-old child with that of a 45-year-old adult.

IQs of the smartest people in the world

Would you like to know what IQ the smartest people in the world have or had? Here is a ranking of the 10 people with the highest IQ:

      Terrence Tao (IQ 230): This Australian won the International Mathematical Olympiad at the age of 13 and received his PhD at the age of 20 from Princeton University.

      Christopher Hirata (IQ of 225): This American won the gold medal in the International Physics Olympiad, at the age of 16 he was already working at NASA and at the age of 22 he became a doctor in astrophysics from Princeton University.

      Kim Ung-Yong (IQ of 210): Korean by birth, at 6 months he spoke and at 3 years he was fluent in 4 languages. NASA hired him when he was 8 years old.

      Rick Rosner (IQ of 192).

      Garry Kasparov (IQ of 190).

      James Woods (IQ of 180).

      Judith Polgar (IQ of 170).

      Albert Einstein (IQ of 170).

      Sir Andrew Wiles (IQ of 170).

      Paul Allen (IQ of 170).

      Stephen Hawking (IQ of 160).

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