Joining MENSA - How to Become a Member

[zoobyshoe]

This reminds me of the book Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid.

That whole interview hovers on the brink of being a stupid quetion/anser mini thread:

Q:"Did any kind of unified theory of stupidity emerge from the research?"

(Unfortunately, most of the ansers make too much sense.)

 

[hitssquad]

Why children's IQs are tested

Okay, I see there are tests preschoolers and kindergarteners. That seems too young to me, but whatever...

They use child versions of the tests. The child version of the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) is the WISC (Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children). The main reason children are tested is to help assess learning dysfunction. For example, if a child suffers from autism spectrum, a comprehensive mental ability test such as the WISC (the WISC features over a dozen individual and unique subtests) can help catch that since a peculiar profile of ability scores will likely show up in addition to achievement likely being incommensurate with overall ability.

Child IQ scores sampled at age 5 or over predict adult IQ scores and educational and social outcomes fairly well. (Below the age of 5, IQ scores are reliable and valid indicators of present performance level, but not reliable or valid predictors -- Jensen. Bias in Mental Testing. 1980. p281.)

 

[bomba923]

Hey, can somebody help me? I can't access the tests!

1) I go to the http://www.highiqsociety.org/flash/nonmembers/iqtests.htm site
2) I click on a test
3) I get a screen prompting me to "Start" the test
4) and what next? I go back to http://www.highiqsociety.org/flash/nonmembers/iqtests.htm !

Is something wrong with the links?!? Do I need cookies for the site?
What must I do to get to the test?--without getting sent back to http://www.highiqsociety.org/flash/nonmembers/iqtests.htm !?

 

[Evo]

This is a more accurate test, in my opinion.

http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/classical_iq_r2_access.html

 

[JamesU]

bomba- click on the 'start test' words.

 

[bomba923]

bomba- click on the 'start test' words.

That's what I did in the first place-->and I got sent back to http://www.highiqsociety.org/flash/...ers/iqtests.htm

 

[honestrosewater]

That's what I did in the first place-->and I got sent back to http://www.highiqsociety.org/flash/...ers/iqtests.htm

I had the same problem. I figured it was something with my security settings or the like, so I just gave up. I even tried typing the link, but it did the same thing. Maybe there's something wrong with the site. I took the test for exceptional intelligence before, so I know they worked at some time. Oh, it's working now.

 

[honestrosewater]

hitssquad,
You seem to know quite a bit about this. Do you know if or how I could get ahold of my test results? I was tested in first grade through school, about 15 years ago. I was asking about the age limit because my mom said they noticed I was different in kindergarten, but they said it was too early to test me then (I ended up being tested at a different school the next year). I'm just curious about how accurate the test was.

 

[Daminc]

This is a more accurate test, in my opinion.

http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/classical_iq_r2_access.html

I got 130 on that one but there was 2 questions that I left as 'don't know'.

There was one with 5 cities which I think were all capitals and I couldn't figure the odd one out and then there was one anagram which left me stumped.

You've got to laugh haven't you:

What does your score mean?
Wow! A score above 130 means that your performance on this test was way above average. Actually, according to this test, you are absolutely brilliant. Only a very small percentage of people score this high.

and then...

Click here to purchase your full results for only $6.20 US

 

[hitssquad]

Obtaining childhood IQ records; getting tested as an adult

Do you know if or how I could get ahold of my test results? I was tested in first grade through school, about 15 years ago.

No, but I would contact the school. Maybe you could pay to have the records forwarded to your university. Otherwise, they might want you to come down to the school in person with multiple forms of ID. I would think that they would not be willing to simply mail them to your house, because they wouldn't be able to be certain enough that you weren't some nefarious person trying to obtain someone else's psychological records.

If you want to see how predictive it was (and if you have not been tested recently), you might have yourself assessed for learning disabilities (LD college students can sometimes qualify for reduced courseload (where 9-11 credits qualifies as full-time enrollment and tuition cost is cut down to 3/4), extra testing time, etc.) since LD assessment normally includes testing with a comprehensive mental ability scale such as the WAIS (or, somewhat less commonly, the Stanford-Binet — which is very similar to the WAIS but published by a different company).

Here at Oregon State University, the campus disability office gave me a list of private off-campus LD assessors. If you have health insurance, it might cover LD assessment. Adult LD assessment typically costs around $300-1000 (and I suspect one gets what one pays for).

 

[honestrosewater]

hits,
Thank you very much for the information. I was actually tested for 'giftedness', whatever you call it, but I understand why you would think otherwise. Not that, you know, it matters or anything...

So I tried the queendom test for fun, but I think I've gotten them all correct, and it only gives me a 144 (that wasn't my original - it was 141, but I looked up the capitals and corrected that one). It doesn't say what the ceiling is; the little graphic goes to 180, but I want to try to find out how high it really goes. My answers are in white:
The ones I'm iffy about are marked by a ~
turtle, animal (iguana), grape, 16, emae,
sister, letter, 23, 6258, false,
forest, 9, 49, touch, d,
~juice, 49949944, true, city (Berlin), embryo,
false, u, 10, 25, 64,
~milkshake, ~steamboat, 52, Presbyterian, 62,
think, astronomer, Munich, 55, Martin,
e, fliter, c, country (Algeria), true,
Waterloo, 25, electricity, 6, floor,
29, metal, 5, 320, salamander,
~zebra, ~20, d, d, e,
a, e, a, ~c, ~d.[/color]
If you think my answers are wrong, let me know. If I have more time to waste, I'll start changing one at a time and see how it affects the score. I don't think it really goes to 180, but maybe I'll find out.
I'm up to 148, by changing 2 answers.

 

[Daminc]

I didn't get 'country (Algeria)' (that was the anagram right?)
I put Horse instead of '~zebra'

Most of the others I seem to recognise (except for the indivual letters)

 

[hitssquad]

Rachel, of the items that you weren't sure about, you got the following wrong.

16
27
51
60

 

[Daminc]

I think I put the same for 16 & 27

What would the alternative answer for 27 then? All the others have wheels.

 

[hitssquad]

If you are looking for something more challenging, you might want to try the Nicologic "tests." (The Nicologic "tests" are easier to cheat on, though -- a handy feature when you have completed a test and are curious about the answers to the items you found baffling.)
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:pSy2EV9U8H8J:nicologic.free.fr/index.php+nicologic&hl=en

 

[hitssquad]

What would the alternative answer for 27 then? All the others have wheels.

I don't see any wheels.
http://images.google.com/images?q=seaplane

http://www.earlham.edu/~biol/hawaii/seaplane.jpg

 

[honestrosewater]

27 and 60 were the two that I changed. 27 - I thought of wheels too, so chose steamboat. They are just typical properties anyway - I think most planes have wheels for use on land. My second choice was car, because the others are more for mass transportation, I guess. But a car can also be used for public transportation, and there are a lot of private planes, so I went with steamboat. Was mass transportation the correct difference? (car is my new answer.)
60 - The location of the inner shape wasn't right, but I thought there was a pattern to the number of sides - or I was just ready to be done. (a is my new answer)
16 - Juice - Egg - Steak - Salad - Cheese. Juice is the only beverage. What else? Nothing I can think of works. Maybe salad, being several different ingredients, but juices are also commonly mixed.
51 - Horse - Zebra - Deer - Moose - Eland. Do zebras have antlers? The stripes were all I could figure. Maybe the horse is the only domesticated/tamed one? Nope, deer seems like the correct answer. I haven't a clue why though - OMG, it's the only 4 letters v. 5 letters. That's cruel.

 

[unggio]

i could not get this problem: can some1 explain it to me? my only guess is 45

One hundred businesspeople gather at a meeting. 85 of them carry a cellular phone, 80 of them have a beeper, 75 of them speak at least two languages and 70 of them wear a suit. Therefore, a certain number of them have all of the above: a cell phone AND a beeper AND speak at least two languages AND wear a suit. Out of these 100 businesspeople, what is the least possible number who have all of the above?
10 - 15 - 17 - 18 - 20

 

[hitssquad]

Hardly anyone knows what an Eland is, Rose.

 

[honestrosewater]

i could not get this problem: can some1 explain it to me? my only guess is 45

One hundred businesspeople gather at a meeting. 85 of them carry a cellular phone, 80 of them have a beeper, 75 of them speak at least two languages and 70 of them wear a suit. Therefore, a certain number of them have all of the above: a cell phone AND a beeper AND speak at least two languages AND wear a suit. Out of these 100 businesspeople, what is the least possible number who have all of the above?
10 - 15 - 17 - 18 - 20

I found that numbering the people helped to keep track. Start with your 85 cell phone people: Let people #1-85 have cell phones. Now, 80 people have a beeper. You're looking for the least number of people who share all 4 things. So give people #86-100 as many beepers as possible. That's 15 people, leaving 80 - 15 = 65 more people with beepers. So let people #1-65 have cell phones AND beepers. Repeat the process for the other two. 75 people speak two languages. Let people #66-100 speak two languages...
There may be a shorter way, but this worked for me - and I'm quite sure it's correct.

 

[hitssquad]

There may be a shorter way

Yes. There is a shorter way.

 

[hitssquad]

Juice is the only beverage.

Cheese is not a beverage?

http://users.aol.com/rawpuscle/whiz/Cheez.JPG

 

[JamesU]

I don't like this test

IQ Score = 129


What does your score mean?
Way to go! Your performance on the test was well above the population average. Typically, people with scores in this range perform very well academically, can relatively easily make it through university and generally achieve success in life.

 

[Chi Meson]

I found that numbering the people helped to keep track. Start with your 85 cell phone people: Let people #1-85 have cell phones. Now, 80 people have a beeper. You're looking for the least number of people who share all 4 things. So give people #86-100 as many beepers as possible. That's 15 people, leaving 80 - 15 = 65 more people with beepers. So let people #1-65 have cell phones AND beepers. Repeat the process for the other two. 75 people speak two languages. Let people #66-100 speak two languages...
There may be a shorter way, but this worked for me - and I'm quite sure it's correct.

I like the explanation. I ended up with the same answer (10) but I wasn't sure how to prove it. I figured:

start with the 85 with cell phones ("C"), assume it is possible that all the "NOTS" (those without each of the next 3 criteria) could be in this C group. So C - [not beepers] -[not 2 languages] - [not suits] is 85 - 20 - 25 - 30 = 10.

Gotta say I had the advantage of taking a few logic classes, and I still think there could be a version of this question that would make my method not work; Honestrosewater's explanation shows a good conceptual understanding that I appreciated.

 

[honestrosewater]

Cheese is not a beverage?

http://users.aol.com/rawpuscle/whiz/Cheez.JPG

[/URL] Genius!

start with the 85 with cell phones ("C"), assume it is possible that all the "NOTS" (those without each of the next 3 criteria) could be in this C group. So C - [not beepers] -[not 2 languages] - [not suits] is 85 - 20 - 25 - 30 = 10.

Yes, that's shorter and makes at least as much sense. Everyone who doesn't have a cell phone is in the first group of 15 (1-15 don't have a cell phone, 16-100 do); Everyone without a beeper - next 20 (16-35 don't have, all others do); everyone without two languages - next 25; everyone without a suit - next 30; 15 + 20 + 25 + 30 = 90. Since everyone who's missing one of the things is among the first 90 people, the last 10 people must have one of everything. And this is the least possible because you only let each person in 1-90 lack one thing.
Oh, woops, I guess I changed your explanation. Short attention span, maybe.

 

[Andre]

How about this puzzle/test:

http://www.highiqsociety.org/common/puzzles/puzzle01.htm

COUNTRIES INVADING

Country x is planning to attack country y, and country y is anticipating the attack. Country x can either attack by land or by sea. Country y can either prepare for a land defense or a sea defense. Both countries must choose either an all land or all sea strategy, they may not divide their forces. The following are the probabilities of a successful invasion according to both strategies used.

If x launches an attack by sea and y prepares a defense by sea the probability of a successful invasion is 80%.

If x launches an attack by sea and y prepares a defense by land the probability of a successful invasion is 100%.

If x launches an attack by land and y prepares a defense by land the probability of a successful invasion is 60%.

If x launches an attack by land and y prepares a defense by sea the probability of a successful invasion is 100%.

What should the strategy of country x be, assuming the goal is to maximize the probability of a successful invasion?

it's so predictable that the anwer is wrong.

You see: it is wrong indeed:

Solution: X should attack by sea with probability 2/3 and by land with probability 1/3.

The missing information is that country Y is also doing some thinking and is likely to conclude that defending for a sea invasion is the best option, so don't go there

Lesson one sub A (1) in battle tactics: be unpredictable!

 

[Evo]

Who was it here that said "the only thing an IQ test score proves is how well you do on IQ tests".

 

[hitssquad]

Edwin G. Boring and what the IQ tests test

Who was it here that said "the only thing an IQ test score proves is how well you do on IQ tests".

That was said by Edwin G. Boring in 1921:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group...@efn.org+boring&rnum=1&hl=en#3ce8b211af42a62d

--
All we know about intelligence is that it is what
the tests test.
--


In 1923, Boring authored an article in New Republic wherein he said, "Measurable intelligence is simply what the tests of intelligence test, until further scientific observation allows us to extend the definition."

 

[*Kia*]

now, I know that everyone at PF hates MENSA immensly, but I don't care.

I'm wondering if anyone here know's how to join. it seems like the MENSA test is figuring out how to become a member. I know I'm qualified. I'm in the international high iq society, and my iq is about 135. but how to join?

An iq of 135 WILL NOT get you into mensa.
you have to be in the top 2% of the exam you take.

Generally, there are two ways to prove that you qualify for Mensa: either take the Mensa test, or submit a qualifying test score from another test. There are a large number of intelligence tests that are "approved". More information on whether a test you have taken is approved, as well as information on the procedure for taking the Mensa test, can be obtained from the nearest Mensa office. There are no on-line tests that can be used for admission to Mensa. Feel free to contact Mensa for specific details about eligibility.

 

[hitssquad]

Minimum requirements for Mensa

An iq of 135 WILL NOT get you into mensa.
you have to be in the top 2% of the exam you take.

Assuming the scores take the form of a perfect normal curve, the 98th percentile would be a score of 131 or above on a Wechsler test (standard deviation = 15) or a score of 133 or above on a Stanford Binet test (standard deviation = 16).
members.shaw.ca/delajara/IQtable.html

American Mensa actually accepts scores of 130 on the Wechsler and 132 on the Stanford Binet.
http://www.us.mensa.org/join_mensa/testscores.php3

This means that their requirement is not the 98th percentile, but simply two standard deviations from the mean on the more-able side of the bell curve (97.72 percentile).