Read all about the IQ test

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’ll get this page of questions filling your screen and you’ve got to select your answer online quickly. 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 does the score mean? IQ is the ‘Intelligence Quotient’, a number telling how ’smart’ you are compared to other people. 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. Your intelligence is gauged in respect to another person. It’s one method commonly used to measure human intelligence.

Taken over the whole population the average IQ score is 100. Any score over 100 means you are more intelligent than average. A score below 100 tells that you are less intelligent than average.

Advantages 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.
• Academic admission You could get potential students to sit for an IQ test to gauge their intelligence in addition to their SAT scores. As there are often fewer places than applicants, this could be an additional screening tool. That way there is a better chance to pick the top performers and weed out students with less potential.

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. They didn’t rise high enough or fast enough up the corporate ladder.
• Not the most important success factor Many students with high IQ are a dissapointment when they hand in their term papers. According to some scientific studies have shown that a high self-discipline is more important than a high IQ score. Relying only on smartness is not enough you must put whatever IQ you have to work to do really well. Many high IQ scorers have been overtaken by so-called ‘weaker’ minds with much lower IQ.

• Many abilites are not measured by IQ testsFor example IQ tests can’t measure how well you’ll do as a leader. It doesn’t measure your emotional quotient or EQ – how you’ll get along with other people, including co-workers, superiors and peers. 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.