does IQ test really make sense?

[glen]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
To a degree. If they'd add in a +/- 20 points, then they may be slightly more useful. Thus, if someone had a 100 IQ and someone else had a 120 IQ, the first person may be smarter than the second by as much as 20 points, or dumber by as much as 40 points. So for the most part, they'd still be almost meaningless.

I think you mean:
the first person may be smarter than the second by as much as 20 points, or dumber by as much as 60points.

 

[Chaotic42]

I don't know how I feel about them.

Those that I took were always split into Verbal and Performance, and your "Average" IQ was the average of the two.

I think that people who are generally considered "stupid" or "inferior" by those with higher IQs just don't try. I think it's all about how you spend your time. Drink beer and lay around all day, read books all day, or maybe the better option, do both and average it out.

Sorry, I'm tired.

 

[glen]

Originally posted by: nietsni3
does IQ test really make sense?

Your grammar does not.

 

[amcdonald]

IQ tests are very accurate if administered by a professional to a child.
I also think people who bash them are generally personally insulted by their scores, which is lower than they think it should be.

Edit: You don't see fat people arguing with scales, do you?

 

[JoeKing]

If the OP really scored a 118 then no.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: amcdonald
IQ tests are very accurate if administered by a professional to a child.
I also think people who bash them are generally personally insulted by their scores, which is lower than they think it should be.

Edit: You don't see fat people arguing with scales, do you?

Scales are a measure of weight which is the effect of gravity on mass. IQ test are by their nature more subjective, because they deal with psychology which is current a very inexact science.

Edit: Forgot the "is" between "which" and "the".

 

[BigToque]

I think that the tests measure a persons ability to quickly take something abstract and give an appropriate answer. Now this is something that is important to be able to do, but I don't think that it will actually tell you if one person is smarter than another.

The timing aspect is the part I most dislike about the test. For myself, I find that on questions dealing with math I get slowed down. It's not that I don't know the math, but I find it easy to loose myself in a calculation. On the tests I've taken before, I usually score between 145 and 160. I don't know how much time affects that score.

 

[amcdonald]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: amcdonald
IQ tests are very accurate if administered by a professional to a child.
I also think people who bash them are generally personally insulted by their scores, which is lower than they think it should be.

Edit: You don't see fat people arguing with scales, do you?

Scales are a measure of weight which is the effect of gravity on mass. IQ test are by their nature more subjective, because they deal with psychology which is current a very inexact science.

Edit: Forgot the "is" between "which" and "the".

I know... the edited in part was a joke.
But seriously... the tests aren't that crazy... if you react quickly you score higher. If you are better able to interpret/recognize patterns you score higher.

 

[nageov3t]

I don't put much faith in them. I had my IQ tested as a teenager by a shrink and scored a 143, so it's not really an issue of sour grapes... it's just that I can't put faith in multiple choice tests. saying that there can only be one right answer is too limiting, especially when it comes to identifying patterns and such.

that always pissed me off... in a series of 4 numbers, the number that comes next and follows the pattern could be just about anything. just because the pattern I see isn't the one that the test designer intended me to see doesn't mean that the pattern I see doesn't exist.

as with the SAT's, I just see IQ tests as a way to measure your multiple choice test-taking ability.

 

[Chaotic42]

Mine didn't have that many multiple choice questions, IIRC. It was more like "Arrange these cubes" and put these peices together.

Multiple choice was only a part of it.

 

[nietsni3]

Originally posted by: loki8481
I don't put much faith in them. I had my IQ tested as a teenager by a shrink and scored a 143, so it's not really an issue of sour grapes... it's just that I can't put faith in multiple choice tests. saying that there can only be one right answer is too limiting, especially when it comes to identifying patterns and such.

that always pissed me off... in a series of 4 numbers, the number that comes next and follows the pattern could be just about anything. just because the pattern I see isn't the one that the test designer intended me to see doesn't mean that the pattern I see doesn't exist.

as with the SAT's, I just see IQ tests as a way to measure your multiple choice test-taking ability.

exactly, many questions in those IQ tests can be answered in many ways. sometimes i found the side answer was even more reasonable than the one that the test designer intended. i mean there are alot of makeshift tests out there. a decent one should be nice whether it can measure your intelligence or not...