Is a High IQ at a Young Age a Good Thing?

[Evo]

Nope, average. That's a 100% true story. I was crushed.

Just goes to prove how wrong these tests can be. You're one of the most knowledgeable people I know.

 

[Gelsamel Epsilon]

This is the internet, everyone is knowledgeable with a search engine

 

[Math Is Hard]

I agree, Evo. Zooby is not only knowledgeable, but he is also BOTH very analytical and creative. He's also pretty darn funny.
And yes, anyone can use a search engine to gather data, but that doesn't mean s/he will be able to use it for anything meaningful.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I agree, Evo. Zooby is not only knowledgeable, but he is also BOTH very analytical and creative. He's also pretty darn funny.

Thanks, Math! And Evo! It takes one to know one.

Anyway, the point of my story was just to relate the amusing variation of being damned with faint praise: "Oh, don't worry. It's average."

 

[Dagenais]

I've taken at least 10 internet IQ tests, most claiming to be real, scientifically proven etc. I've gotten between 90 and 210

Mine have ranged from 93 to 164.

They were all "PhD Certified" or scientifically proven.

I guess it doesn't matter as long as I have enough intelligence to live my life comfortably.

We never had IQ tests at my schools. We've had reading tests, but that's about it.

 

[the number 42]

Apparently you can boost your IQ simply by taking vitamins (7.6 points) and practicing the tests 5 times (10 points). I've been told that if you factor in the speed of completing the test, this makes a big difference because any free-range banana can get a high score, given a few weeks.

Are IQ tests routinely timed, and is time a factor in the final calculation?

 

[Tom McCurdy]

lol

Oh, those boyz, they'll just lie about damn near anything! lol

Oh to someone interested in physics they would lie about there IQ rasing it before they would lie about their penis size lol

 

[Dooga Blackrazor]

Apparently you can boost your IQ simply by taking vitamins (7.6 points) and practicing the tests 5 times (10 points). I've been told that if you factor in the speed of completing the test, this makes a big difference because any free-range banana can get a high score, given a few weeks.

Are IQ tests routinely timed, and is time a factor in the final calculation?

Time is factored into some tests and not others. I disagree with the speed factor myself. IQ tests usually have generalized questions that everyone can answer in a certain time. The hard questions are usually in low amount. More intelligent individuals may spend more time looking over their answers or evaluating possible outcomes. Some people, like myself, hate to be bested by a question. If I'm stumped I'll let the clock go usually until I figure out the answer. Alot of factors can effect speed when certain individuals look at a question. After doing a project on IQ, I don't find it to be an accurate measurement of intelligence. I think it can roughly tell if someone is very exceptional, or very below average. Besides that I don't think it's fair for people to use it to deem another more intelligent. That's my opinion of course.

 

[JohnDubYa]

The question is pointless because few actually know their IQ. Those that do are almost never honest about it. :)

 

[hitssquad]

Is IQ a good measure of g

After doing a project on IQ, I don't find it to be an accurate measurement of intelligence. I think it can roughly tell if someone is very exceptional, or very below average.

• when the correlations among a large number of learning tasks are factor analyzed, a general factor common to all of the learning tasks is revealed. This common factor could be called "general learning ability."
  
  The important point is that this general learning ability factor is highly correlated with the g factor extracted from psychometric tests, and seems to be essentially nothing other than g. When a number of learning tasks and a number of psychometric tests of mental abilities are all entered into the same correlation matrix and factor analyzed, they are found to share a large common factor which is indistinguishable from psychometric g. In fact, there is no general learning factor (that is, a factor common to all learning tasks) that is independent of psychometric g. The general factor of each domain--learning and psychometric abilities--is essentially one and the same g.
  
  Certain kinds of learning tasks, of course, are more g loaded than others. Concept learning and the acquisition of learning sets (i.e., generalized learning-to-learn), for example, are more g loaded than rote learning, trial-and-error learning, and perceptual-motor skills learning. Attempts to devise tests of "learning potential" in which the subject is first tested on some task (or set of tasks), then given some standard instruction, coaching, or practice on the same or a similar task, and then retested to obtain a measure of the gain in task performance resulting from the interpolated coaching have proved to be a poor substitute for ordinary IQ tests. Standard IQ has higher validity for predicting scholastic achievement. [8] The existing tests of "learning potential," when used in conjunction with an IQ test, add virtually nothing to the predictive validity of the IQ when it is used alone, probably because the chief active ingredient in predictive validity is g, and tests of learning potential have not proved to be as good measures of g as conventional IQ tests.

Arthur Jensen. The g Factor. p276.

• The g Loading of IQ Tests. Here it is important to distinguish between two things: (1) the proportion of the total variance attributable to g when we factor analyze the set of various subtests that compose the IQ test, and (2) the g loading of the IQ itself (derived from the total of the standardized scores on all of the subtests) when the IQ is factor-analyzed among a large collection of diverse cognitive tests.
  
  1. Probably the most typical example is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and for Adults (WAIS). The Wechsler battery consists of twelve subtests (Vocabulary, Similarities, Information, Comprehension, Arithmetic, Digit Span, Digit Symbol, Picture Completion, Block Design, Picture Arrangement, Object Assembly and Mazes). When this battery is factor analyzed in various age groups of the standardization population, the percentage of the total variance in all the subtests accounted for by g averages about 30 percent in a hierarchical analysis and about 37 percent when g is represented by the first principal factor. The average percentage of variance accounted for by each of the three group factors in a hierarchical analysis is: Verbal 6 percent, Performance (largely spatial ability) 6 percent, and Memory 4 percent. Some 40 percent of the total variance is specific to each subtest, and about 10 percent is measurement error (unreliability). The g factor scores obtained from the whole Wechsler battery are correlated more than .95 with the tests' total score (called Full Scale IQ). With such a high correlation between the factor scores and the IQ scores, it is pointless to calculate factor scores. 17

Arthur Jensen. The g Factor. p90.

• The correlations between various IQ tests average about +.77. The square root of this correlation (\sqrt{.77} = .88) is an estimate of the average g loading of IQ tests, since the correlation between two tests is the product of their factor loadings. This value (.88) is an overestimate of the average g loading if it is assumed that various pairs of tests also have certain group factors in common (for example, two purely verbal IQ tests). If we look at just those tests that appear to have no group factors in common (e.g., the Raven and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary), the average correlation between them is +.69, which estimates an average g loading of \sqrt{.69} = .83. It would seem safe to conclude that the average g loading of IQ as measured by various standard IQ tests is in the +.80s.

Arthur Jensen. The g Factor. p91.

 

[The_Professional]

One character trait I notice among geniuses is their steel trap memory. Von Neumann can memorize a column of phone numbers, divide two 8-digit numbers in his head. Bobby Fischer remembers every movement on every game he's played. Billy Sidis could learn a new language in a day and can recall everything he's ever read.

 

[TenNen]

Can you do the same ? to be a genius ?
I have heard from one of my people that he talked as if he knew more than anyone else does in the world...(Rolleyes)

 

[TenNen]

Just a note though, and sorry if that is going to be something un-nice to listen...

 

[The_Professional]

I have heard from one of my people that he talked as if he knew more than anyone else does in the world...(Rolleyes)

I have no idea what you just said. You're not making any sense. What are you referring to?

 

[TenNen]

I am referring to a genius from NewYork as he once mentioned. (smile)
Hello, NewYorker!

 

[zoobyshoe]

One character trait I notice among geniuses is their steel trap memory.

I don't think you can safely correlate steel-trap memory with genius, though, since it is also demonstrated by autistic savants in their field of interest.

The autistic savant I knew in high school had memorized the call letters of every radio station in the US east of the Mississippi and the town in which the station was located.
People tested him on this all the time out of curiosity, and no one seemed to be able to trip him up. You could give him the call letters and he could name the location, or you could name a location and he could give you the call letters. Naming larger towns and cities, of course, resulted in a larger list of call letters. He knew both AM and FM, of course.

Academically, he was a C student with the occasional B. He was incapable, really, of any kind of meaningful analysis of a problem or situation.

 

[Brennen]

im 16, and the last IQ test i did i got 187 (tested as adult). i also have a really good memory. it's not photographic but i can create vivid memories in my head of things from a long long time ago. for example, i remember once being bout 2-3 yrs old and chucking a hissy fit. and if i close my eyes and think about it, i was wearing my dark red with black collar mickey mouse jumper, walking from the lounge room into the kitchen (with ugly 70's browny orange tiles), past our 6 seater dining table, and picking up my tiny orange drink bottle with the faded sticker and throwing it at my brother. i remember this so extremely vividly, as with many other memories. and i can memorize reasonably long series of numbers and words etc.

im not the most brilliant mind you'll ever meet though. i mean, I'm smart, and i constantly get high distinctions (usually top .5%) in our nation wide tests (australia) and such, but like... my last report card read A A B B B C (the C was due to an attack of a heart condition during the exam, was on a B) which wasnt as good as some of my friends.

how is it that my IQ can be higher than freakishly smart people who can learn languages, and divide 8 digit numbers in their head etc etc? wouldn't they be "smarter" than me?

 

[recon]

Brennen, by IQ test, do you mean that you were tested by a certified psychologist? Also what kind of IQ test was it? There are many types of IQ tests, and on some tests 187 wouldn't be considered as an astronomically high IQ although it would still be pretty high. My IQ does not come near yours, however I've scored in the top 0.5% too. Still, school tests should not be used to determine intelligence. It IS a good guide, but in some cases is unreliable.

 

[Brennen]

school psych, not sure about accuracy of test. not really sure on details. I am not overly confident about my own intelligence anyway, I've got enough to breeze through high school without exerting any effort, and that's plenty for me.

 

[selfAdjoint]

How do you do on story problems in math?

 

[Brennen]

story problems? like logical solving where u have a situation and u have to apply common sense and do lots of formulae and stuff anyway?
i do Intro Calculus and G&T...and last yr i got top .2% in australia in the nationwide maths competition (didnt get a question wrong)

wat exactly you mean by story problems? i probably know them by a different name

 

[Brennen]

just today i had an EPW in G&T and the answer the teacher handed out in the solutions was right, but the answer i did on my test was simpler and easier to find, as well as correct.

 

[Monique]

Let's test it :)
Take about 60-90 seconds to answer each question:

Question 1
A vendor sells h hot dogs and s sodas. If a hot dog costs twice as much as a soda, and if the vendor takes in a total of d dollars, how many cents does a soda cost?

Question 2
In 1980, Judy was 3 times as old as Adam, but in 1984 she was only twice as old as he was. How old was Adam in 1990?

 

[Brennen]

Question 2
in 1980 judy was 12 and adam was 4. in 1984 judy was 16 and adam was 8.
answer is 4. i just looked at that and it came to me pretty quick, bout 20-30 seconds (no writing).

its nearly midnight here and that first question has too many variables for me to think about at the moment...ill come back and try again tomorrow morning, when i am able to think properly, right now i just cant, i don't understand what u want me to do there. me tired, my school holidays started today. i shall take another look at it tomorrow. bye bye.

 

[Brennen]

1990? oops. in 1990 adam is 14.

 

[Brennen]

sorry, didn't read question through. I am rather dazed.

 

[Brennen]

Today, 11:39 PM · View Monique's Warnings · #1
Monique
Molecular Biologist


Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: 1,5m below sealevel
Posts: 2,130 What does a soda cost?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A vendor sells h hot dogs and s sodas. If a hot dog costs twice as much as a soda, and if the vendor takes in a total of d dollars, how many cents does a soda cost?



Good luck keep in mind, this is a question taken from an actual test that should be solved in 60-90 seconds..
__________________
Hum apne pairo mein jaane kitne, bhawar lapete huye khade hai


Today, 11:48 PM · View Gokul43201's Warnings · #2
Gokul43201
Registered User


Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: at the bottom of a Quantum Well
Posts: 787

100d = h(2x) + s(x) = x(2h + s)
So, x = 100d/(2h+s).

Surely, there's a catch somewhere, that I'm missing !


Today, 11:56 PM · View Brennen's Warnings · #3
Brennen
Registered User


Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 18

Monique, its me from the IQ post. hell, i figured that out, i thought there would have had to have been a catch to it more complex than that. if that's all you were looking for then i got that. sorry.

 

[PRodQuanta]

I know a kid that works for McDonalds that is 28 and has an IQ of 170, on some mensa sponsored test.

You know what I say. Tell me a success story first. THEN, if you wish, give me your IQ.

Paden Roder

 

[Monique]

Monique, its me from the IQ post. hell, i figured that out, i thought there would have had to have been a catch to it more complex than that. if that's all you were looking for then i got that. sorry.

Coming up with a solution doesn't make up for not realizing what the answer should be..

Anyway, the trick is being able to handle such questions logically and with speed. Those questions actually came from the GRE I'm studying and are one of the more tricky ones, since it's easy to miss to answer in cents or to answer the age for 1990 in the limited time for each question.

I agree with Paden, IQ is your potential, now you've got to fullfill it.. make a difference. Brennen, I think you should just do what interests you most, information technology.. economy.. science.. being a cook.. being innovative is the key and will get you noticed.

 

[Brennen]

yeh one of my problems is getting overly confident and not reading the question properly, answering in the wrong units and such. yeh i admit that last night when i read the question, i went over everything like that in my head, but i was trying to assign an actual value to d instead of a formula. i'd like to blame some of it on it being midnight and me being absolutely exhausted, but still.

im still trying to figure out what i want to do. I've written a book with a friend, with a somewhat confusing complex storyline which apparently needs simplifying according to other friends who've read some of it, oops. its about 70,000 words but its unedited and we're going through it over again. I've also got a large collection of poems (most of which i wrote to my ex, who has since burned them). i got one of only 4 B's in english of all the year 11 students, our teachers are rather difficult.

But in the end, half of my school subjects are science, and one possibility is a double degree course at UWA for Psychology and Neuroscience. i think to specialize in both could be very interesting, considering the relation between subjects. topped my class in human bio and chemistry this semester (messed up the physics exam a bit, got threatened by some guy during the exam because i was being noisy, kinda threw me off :P)

i really don't know what i want to end up doing though.
i only just realize now how off topic i actually am :) :P

p.s. Paden, I've hardly had an opportunity for a success story, but i believe I've succeeded in school so far, top grades, high distinctions etc. ill get back to in 10-15 years. i guess i'll either be an author, a psychologist/neuroscientist, or working the deep fryer right along side Mr 170 at Mcdonalds.