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Metaphysics & Psychology

IQ tests are 'fundamentally flawed'

By T.K. Randall
December 23, 2012 · Comment icon

44 comments

Image Credit: sxc.hu

New research has added weight to the notion that IQ tests do not reflect an individual's intelligence.

For years IQ tests have been accepted as a definitive way to measure a person's intelligence. Consisting of a set of logic-based conundrums, the tests have been used to determine the intellectual capabilities of an individual in a variety of circumstances. But how accurate are these results ? A new study has found that IQ tests fail to take in to account the complex nature of the human intellect.

"The results disprove once and for all the idea that a single measure of intelligence, such as IQ, is enough to capture all of the differences in cognitive ability that we see between people," said Roger Highfield of London's Science Museum.

The idea that intelligence can be measured by IQ tests alone is a fallacy according to the largest single study into human cognition which found that it comprises of at least three distinct mental traits.

Source: Independent | Comments (44)

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Recent comments on this story

#35 Posted by Mag357 11 years ago

I know a guy that has an IQ of 136. Even though he can crunch those numbers he doesn't have the brains to do home maintenance on his house. It falling apart around him. He has a 50k job and single.

#36 Posted by Render 11 years ago

Like Math? Thank Your Motivation, Not IQ Looks like Tiger Mom had it half-right: Motivation to work hard and good study techniques, not IQ, lead to better math skills, a new study shows. But there's a catch: The findings, published this month in the journal Child Development, show that keeping children's heads in the math books by force probably won't help. http://www.livescience.com/25854-motivation-fuels-math-ability.html

#37 Posted by JGirl 11 years ago

Sadly he was never actually tested. (or it wasn't made public) So it's all hearsay. Also back then IQ testing was very different. So you can't compare an IQ test from then with one from now. It's changed a lot over time. http://www.einstein-...sthings.html#iq People like Einstein, Tesla and Braun where not your typical intellectual. They where more thinkers. They thought outside the box. They where the type of people you would call crazy and laugh at in today's world. They where the kind of people who wouldn't listen to mass media and ignore other peoples doubts. Now a days a lot of these peop... [More]

#38 Posted by shrooma 11 years ago

IQ tests aren't a test of intelligence, they've just been labelled as such. what an IQ test does, is help find how well your brain organises information. i'm very good at recognising patterns, whether they're numerical, geometrical, or grammatical (left-handed piscean), so score highly in IQ tests. my first one scored 136, 20yrs ago, and my last one, 2yrs ago, scored 160. the way the scores are calculated, are correct answers over age, which means your IQ should decrease over time, but mine hasn't, because I do IQ puzzles in my spare time, and have trained my brain to recognise patterns, which... [More]

#39 Posted by Everdred 11 years ago

The Telegraph's article is highly misleading. Scientists who use IQ tests never posited they served as a full test of all brain function, rather they asserted the test was a measure of g, or general intelligence, which is the "reasoning" category of the three types discussed in the article. IQ tests themselves are still quite valid so long as they're interpreted correctly.

#40 Posted by Orcseeker 11 years ago

I personally think there has been an effort by certain ideologies to get rid of the legitimacy of IQ tests because they were proving to give very low scores to people they would otherwise want to achieve high scores. At the end of the day, no matter what a number on a piece of paper tells you, it means nothing if you don't apply it usefully. So many people think a lot differently to each other. To deem the IQ test a legitimate measure of intelligence is a farce. For example, those people who compute numbers and patterns in their head in amazing times might do incredibly well. But completely fa... [More]

#41 Posted by shrooma 11 years ago

At the end of the day, no matter what a number on a piece of paper tells you, it means nothing if you don't apply it usefully. So many people think a lot differently to each other. To deem the IQ test a legitimate measure of intelligence is a farce. For example, those people who compute numbers and patterns in their head in amazing times might do incredibly well. But completely fail when creativity or real world problem solving comes into play. However some artists or musicians are incredibly talented and very intelligent but don't have that thought process deemed desirable for an IQ test rank... [More]

#42 Posted by solubus 11 years ago

It is possible that even a hundred tests of mental acuity, agility, and accuracy would not yet so narrowly and correctly determine the level of a person's intelligence.

#43 Posted by JC2 11 years ago

Just for the record, I.Q. Test's are now by the thousands yet the standard test is formatted in such a way that if you do well on the first you will be presented with a second then a third until ultimately you reach the forth, of which a score of 162 will max out the actual test rendering it mute! First format test the memory, second the numerical, the third the analytical and the forth the philosophical. The current algorithms enable a greater test-bed via the technology now being used yet the philosophical houses worldwide perfected the testing of your quota way back in the days before such ... [More]

#44 Posted by Render 11 years ago

Learning Strategies Outperform IQ in Predicting Achievement The most important learning strategies for predicting end-of-semester GPA were (1) seeking information, (2) reviewing the textbook, and (3) seeking assistance from peers during the midterm week. While the correlation between prior SAT scores and semester GPA was significant, once the most predictive learning strategies were considered, prior SAT scores didn’t explain any additional variation in end of semester GPA. Considering IQ scores (which are highly correlated with SAT scores) are known to be excellent predictors of academic ac... [More]

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IQ tests are 'fundamentally flawed'

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