What is the Distribution of IQ Scores Among Gifted Individuals?

  • Thread starter QuantumTheory
  • Start date
  • Tags
    Iq
In summary, the conversation revolves around the topic of IQ tests and their accuracy and meaning. The participants discuss their own experiences with IQ tests, including one person who took a standardized test at a young age and another who took an online test. They also discuss the concept of "orthodox" and its meaning. Ultimately, the group agrees that IQ tests are not a reliable measure of intelligence and should not be given so much importance.
  • #1
QuantumTheory
215
0
Have you ever taken an actual standarized IQ test? Not the online ones, those are not accuracy. See this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifted

When I was younger, I was in special ed because my english was bad. However, in high school, I somehow got great talents in mathematics and science. Both were my best subjects, but I still lacked in english

So when I was around 6th or 7th grade or so, (maybe younger? Maybe it was 4th?) they had me a do a real IQ test

I had to move blocks around to fit them in
I also had to do math problems
and logical reasoning

I did the best on everything but the block one. I can't remember it too wel, but now I am almost 18

I still have the paper for it, maybe I'll type it up and paste it, but it never mentioned my IQ in a number. Strangely, when I was in a hospital, the doctor was looking at the papers and said "Well, he's smart, his IQ is 100." (That is 'average') How did she get this number? It never mentioned it in the paper. Anyway, here's the statistics:
Bright: 115+, or 1 in six (84th percentile)
Moderately gifted: 130+, or 1 in 50 (97.9th percentile)
Highly gifted: 145+, or 1 in 1000 (99.9th percentile)
Exceptionally gifted: 160+, or 1 in 30,000 (99.997th percentile)
Profoundly gifted: 175+, or 1 in 3 million (99.99997th percentile)


I'm sure there a ton of gifted people here. Anyone here with an IQ of 175+?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
We've had this same thread over and over dozens of times. Try a site-specific google:

http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&...=www.physicsforums.com&as_rights=&safe=images

Use the "cached" versions, as the PF server drops the threads after some period of time. Recent discussions:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:-pc94nuViEwJ:www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-3372_Whip_it_out_boys-_time_to_see_who%27s_the_biggest.html++%22IQ+test%22+site:www.physicsforums.com&hl=en [Broken]
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:arJSQynSC-UJ:www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D85229%26page%3D2++%22IQ+test%22+site:www.physicsforums.com&hl=en [Broken]
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:SfPH3s4WTUEJ:www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-34645_Cool_Online_IQ_Test.html++%22IQ+test%22+site:www.physicsforums.com&hl=en [Broken]

And again, for the record, I think it's ridiculous how much attention is being paid to a practically meaningless index.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #3
Yes, but you have no idea if they used an online one or not. I used an extensive one with a psychologist or something.

The online ones are NOT accuracy. I even tried one, its not right.
Also no one mentioned if there's was online, they just said it.
 
  • #4
The online ones are mostly frauds. The few that aren't, are poorly-designed, very short, and inconsistent; their results don't necessarily correleate with orthodox IQ tests (of which there are several!).
 
  • #5
What does orthodox mean? Everything says its a religion, obviously it's not the context that its ben usd.
 
  • #6
QuantumTheory said:
What is your IQ?

Two, one to screw it in and one to...

Oh, never mind, that was something else.
 
  • #7
QuantumTheory said:
What does orthodox mean?
Conventional, established.
When you see ortho in a word, the word most likely has a meaning related to straight, right, correct, standard, and such. For example, see http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=orthogonal, orthography, http://www.merriam-webster.com/browse/orth- [Broken].

When in doubt, you can always just look it up in a dictionary.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #8
QuantumTheory said:
What does orthodox mean? Everything says its a religion, obviously it's not the context that its ben usd.
If you have Mac OS X Tiger, hover your mouse over the word and push apple+control+D.
 
Last edited:
  • #9
Mk said:
If you have Mac OS X Tiger, hover your mouse over the word and push apple+control+D.
That's totally cool. I wonder if windows has a comparable feature.
 
  • #10
zoobyshoe said:
That's totally cool. I wonder if windows has a comparable feature.


Features? Windows? HA! You're funny.


Personally I don't get why people are so obsessed over their IQ. Its a freakin number. Whoop dee frickin doo. My parents had me take the WISC before I was in high school (for the purpose of getting into high school early). Want to know what that number has meant to me? Nothing good. Some of you seem so eager to have yourselves summed up in a single number for the purpose of bragging rights, stoking your egos, or just assuaging your insecurities. Get over it already. Spending your life defined by a damn number sucks.
 
  • #11
franznietzsche said:
Personally I don't get why people are so obsessed over their IQ. Its a freakin number. Whoop dee frickin doo. My parents had me take the WISC before I was in high school (for the purpose of getting into high school early). Want to know what that number has meant to me? Nothing good. Some of you seem so eager to have yourselves summed up in a single number for the purpose of bragging rights, stoking your egos, or just assuaging your insecurities. Get over it already. Spending your life defined by a damn number sucks.
translation: IQ number was lower than he thought it would be.
 
  • #12
tribdog said:
translation: IQ number was lower than he thought it would be.


You're funny. Its a good thing looks aren't everything.
 
  • #13
lol. thanks. I'm rubber you're glue
 
  • #14
tribdog said:
translation: IQ number was lower than he thought it would be.
Zoobies put no stock in I.Q. for the same reason: no one whose tested us has ever been able to detect one.
 
  • #15
I've never been fussed about it, I don't see why it matters. You never get asked for your IQ for a university application or job interview. I think it's far more interesting and productive to find out what people can do, rather than what they know or how intelligent they supposedly are.
 
  • #16
brewnog said:
I've never been fussed about it, I don't see why it matters. You never get asked for your IQ for a university application or job interview. I think it's far more interesting and productive to find out what people can do, rather than what they know or how intelligent they supposedly are.


Exactly.

@trib: I don't have the time or patience to deal with you today, so go annoy someone else.
 
  • #17
I thnk IQ can tell you quite a bit about a person,
 
  • #18
I have an IQ of kilopi. Yes, I'm that intelligent, I can make mice blow up with the power of my mind (or feed them coca cola, whatever works best).

ok, seriously, I don't actually know the figure, though I remember it's somewhere in the 97-99 percentile range.
 
  • #19
That's an interesting article by wiki, although it seems to focus too much on "gifted" people as eccentric and emotionally inadequate.
 
  • #20
GCT said:
That's an interesting article by wiki, although it seems to focus too much on "gifted" people as eccentric and emotionally inadequate.
I think that's pretty much the point of the term. It's a PC term: a euphemism for a particular kind of problem child. The point is to take the sting off the "problem" part by only referring to the apparently positive aspects. Refering to someone as "gifted" means they are smart or talented but come with big problems. If a kid's smart and talented and doesn't have big problems, then you don't use the term "gifted".
 
  • #21
zoobyshoe said:
I think that's pretty much the point of the term. It's a PC term: a euphemism for a particular kind of problem child. The point is to take the sting off the "problem" part by only referring to the apparently positive aspects. Refering to someone as "gifted" means they are smart or talented but come with big problems. If a kid's smart and talented and doesn't have big problems, then you don't use the term "gifted".
When did that start?
What do you call someone who refers to children as problems? Is big meanie not mature enough? Seriously, even if that was how everyone used gifted, I don't see how you could consider it mere political correctness. Calling a child a problem child can actually affect their health and development, no?

Anywho, remember when Bart switched IQ tests with Martin and they thought he was a genius and sent him to gifted school? :rofl: I love that episode.
 
  • #22
honestrosewater said:
When did that start?
I first started hearing it a few years ago, but can't say when it actually started.
What do you call someone who refers to children as problems?
Not "problems", "problem child". It may be hard to believe but this used to be the PC term.
Seriously, even if that was how everyone used gifted, I don't see how you could consider it mere political correctness. Calling a child a problem child can actually affect their health and development, no?
That's the whole point of a PC term, no? So you don't offend anyone.
 
  • #23
My IQ drops each time someone asks this question @ PF.
 
  • #24
I only know that my IQ is very high and I know that I 'm not supposed to know that
 
  • #25
zoobyshoe said:
That's the whole point of a PC term, no? So you don't offend anyone.
I'm only talking about the labels you use when speaking to the children themselves. Most children don't have a mature, adult mentality; they're more impressionable, their self-image is still forming, and so on. You understand what I mean here, yes?
 
  • #26
honestrosewater said:
I'm only talking about the labels you use when speaking to the children themselves. Most children don't have a mature, adult mentality; they're more impressionable, their self-image is still forming, and so on. You understand what I mean here, yes?
Yeah, but where are you getting the idea anyone was calling children a "problem" or a "problem child" to their face? You just kind of pulled that out of thin air. This vocabulary is mostly invented for teachers and councelors to be able to talk to parents about their kids's.
 
  • #27
Chi Meson said:
My IQ drops each time someone asks this question @ PF.
Yeah, mine's getting into negative values.
 
  • #28
tribdog said:
I thnk IQ can tell you quite a bit about a person,
But people who spout out their IQ tell you even more about themselves.
 
  • #29
zoobyshoe said:
Yeah, but where are you getting the idea anyone was calling children a "problem" or a "problem child" to their face?
Sorry, let me go back on this one cause it's bothering me now. A phrase like problem child normally means a child who is a problem = a child who is problematic. Even if this phrase has a special, different meaning, most English speakers who haven't learned the special meaning are going to interpret the phrase in the normal way. And even after the special meaning is learned, the normal meaning is still there. (Not that I think you didn't already know that -- it just seems like you're not considering it.) So I think your distinction between calling a child a problem child and calling them a problem is weak at best.
You just kind of pulled that out of thin air. This vocabulary is mostly invented for teachers and councelors to be able to talk to parents about their kids's.
What vocabulary is used around the kids then? And what makes you think the terms used around the adults never reach the kids?
The reason I jumped in here is because gifted was the name of some programs when I was in school; it was also sometimes used for the kids in the programs. The adults and kids heard and used the term, and I never got the impression that it meant a smart, talented problem child. Actually, I tihnk the official name of one of the programs was something else, ESE or somesuch, but it was rarely ever called that. Perhaps one term was meant to be used only among adults and the other was meant to be used around the children.
 
Last edited:
  • #30
honestrosewater said:
Sorry, let me go back on this one cause it's bothering me now. A phrase like problem child normally means a child who is a problem = a child who is problematic. Even if this phrase has a special, different meaning, most English speakers who haven't learned the special meaning are going to interpret the phrase in the normal way. And even after the special meaning is learned, the normal meaning is still there. (Not that I think you didn't already know that -- it just seems like you're not considering it.) So I think your distinction between calling a child a problem child and calling them a problem is weak at best.
I didn't invent the term. I'm reporting my sense of what people mean when they use it. I have personally never referred to any kid as a problem, problem child, or gifted.
What vocabulary is used around the kids then? And what makes you think the terms used around the adults never reach the kids?
The term almost certainly gets to the kid at one point or another. I get the feeling you think I approve of the term. I, personally, think it's quite stupid.
The reason I jumped in here is because gifted was the name of some programs when I was in school; it was also sometimes used for the kids in the programs. The adults and kids heard and used the term, and I never got the impression that it meant a smart, talented problem child.
What did it seem like people meant when they said it?
 
  • #31
I have never heard the term "gifted" to carry any negative meaning. I can't find any referrence anywhere that supports what you are saying zoob, where did you find this definition?

The Merriam Webster dictionary says:

gifted

1 : having great natural ability : TALENTED <gifted children>
 
  • #32
Evo said:
I have never heard the term "gifted" to carry any negative meaning. I can't find any referrence anywhere that supports what you are saying zoob, where did you find this definition?
The Merriam Webster dictionary says:
gifted
1 : having great natural ability : TALENTED <gifted children>
It's in the link in the OP.
 
  • #33
zoobyshoe said:
It's in the link in the OP.
"Giftedness, as defined by The Columbus Group (1991), is "asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally."

In other words, the gifted are those people who have significantly higher than normal levels of one or more forms of intelligence."

I don't see anything in that entire article that could remotely convey that "gifted" means "problem" as in being a "problem child".
 
  • #34
honestrosewater said:
Anywho, remember when Bart switched IQ tests with Martin and they thought he was a genius and sent him to gifted school? :rofl: I love that episode.
That was the first regular episode of the Simpsons. It's one of my favorite episodes, as well. r dr r :rofl:

It ranks right behind the episode where the school bus drives by the Volkswagon dealership. Our family always did the "Slugbug, no punchbacks!" thing, too - proof positive my entire family has high IQs. :rofl:
 
  • #35
Evo said:
I don't see anything in that entire article that could remotely convey that "gifted" means "problem" as in being a "problem child".
What is a "problem child" to you, then?
 

Similar threads

Replies
51
Views
4K
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • Calculus and Beyond Homework Help
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
60
Views
7K
  • General Discussion
2
Replies
40
Views
22K
Replies
12
Views
4K
  • STEM Academic Advising
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • Set Theory, Logic, Probability, Statistics
Replies
8
Views
8K
  • STEM Career Guidance
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Back
Top