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

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In summary: So my IQ has definitely fluctuated over time. Although, as stated earlier, most IQ tests raise your score if you are younger.
  • #36
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?
 
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  • #37
lol

BoulderHead said:
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
 
  • #38
the number 42 said:
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.
 
  • #39
The question is pointless because few actually know their IQ. Those that do are almost never honest about it. :)
 
  • #40
Is IQ a good measure of g

Dooga Blackrazor said:
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 ([itex]\sqrt{.77} = .88[/itex]) 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 [itex]\sqrt{.69} = .83[/itex]. 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.
 
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  • #41
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.
 
  • #42
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)
 
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  • #43
Just a note though, and sorry if that is going to be something un-nice to listen...
 
  • #44
TenNen said:
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?
 
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  • #45
I am referring to a genius from NewYork as he once mentioned. (smile)
Hello, NewYorker!
 
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  • #46
The_Professional said:
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.
 
  • #47
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?
 
  • #48
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.
 
  • #49
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.
 
  • #50
How do you do on story problems in math?
 
  • #51
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
 
  • #52
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.
 
  • #53
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?
 
  • #54
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.
 
  • #55
1990? oops. in 1990 adam is 14.
 
  • #56
sorry, didn't read question through. I am rather dazed.
 
  • #57
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
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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.
 
  • #58
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. :wink:

Paden Roder
 
  • #59
Brennen said:
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.. :redface:

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.
 
  • #60
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.
 
  • #61
Brennen said: 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.
Hey man, I wasn't saying that to you, but to everybody. Your (when I say your, I mean everybody's) IQ doesn't mean anything. It's success. How you define success is up to you.

I'm in the same boat you are though man. I'm 16. I'm going to be a Junior (year 11) in high school. Fortunetely for me, I know (or have a pretty good idea) of what I want to do with my life. I find that pretty successful myself.

IQ is potential. Knowledge is power.

Paden Roder
 
  • #62
i still believe that certain success is directly proportional to someone's intelligence.
i mean someone with an IQ of 200 is likely to be more successful in certain areas that someone with an IQ of 100. but otherwise i completely agree, all IQ is is an indication of how much potential you have for success, or how much knowledge you could possesses in the future. whether or not you do anything with what potential you have is what really matters. being 16 and italian, I am greasy enough as it is without having to work at mcdonalds. i know i could make something of myself in the future, knowing my IQ is "above average" gives me a certain amount of confidence that i can.

knowledge is power, but i thought IQ was an indication of your potential knowledge.

then again, my physics and chemistry teacher, who's taught me all throught high school, told me once that him and his brother (who i believe are the same age) were very competetive all through their school years. His brother had a photographic memory, and hardly exerted any effort at all, but Mr Thompson (my teacher) tried to his absolute limit, and in the end he graduated higher. i think actual effort (something i lack) comes into it a great deal. someone with a lower IQ, or potential, can still be more successful than someone with vast potential, because they actually fill what potential they have.

i guess that's the key, filling what potential you have.
 
  • #63
Monique said:
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?


These questions are far far too easy to be a reasonable test for someone with an IQ of 187. At best, they should be testing material for someone with an IQ of 100. However, if they are challenging material for someone with an IQ that high, then I probably have an IQ of 195. That is the score that I am awarding myself on this IQ test.

Seriously though, the only IQ test I ever did was the UK mensa one, which has a upper limit of 155 (standard deviation = 24). This was the score that I got, which put me in the top 1% of the population, and I was a little bit dissapointed that it did not tell me where I stood within this top 1%.
 
  • #64
That was not intended as an IQ test but rather an example of word problems, anyone can solve them, the question is how quickly and with what accuracy.
 
  • #65
challenging? when did i find them challenging? one of them i misread but did actually get right, and the other one was confusing as to what was required. it was midnight, and I am sick (stomach ulcers), and i was tired, so cut me some slack. i know they were easy questions, but i knew em. stop awarding yourself an IQ based on mine and how stupid you might think i am. you shouldn't assume things.

sorry if I am being snippy, I am in a bad mood. i'll just go now, bye bye "plus"
 
  • #66
i mean someone with an IQ of 200 is likely to be more successful in certain areas that someone with an IQ of 100.

Not true. There have been numerous studies done on both gifted children and adults. High IQ and success only correlate up to a certain IQ level (about 150 S.D. 16) Often times, those with IQs in the stratosphere are not very successful.

For more info, see http://www.prometheussociety.org/articles/Outsiders.html
 
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  • #67
Monique said:
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?
So, the trick to this one is recognising, in the time alotted, that it asks how the cost of a soda in cents relates to any given daily total? In other words, the difficulty is not really a math difficulty, but a verbal comprehension under time constraint difficulty?
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?
This one, you're saying, is difficult for the same reason: it is easy to miss the fact that the answer they want you to submit is Adam's age in 1990.
 
  • #68
Tasthius said:
Not true. There have been numerous studies done on both gifted children and adults. High IQ and success only correlate up to a certain IQ level (about 150 S.D. 16) Often times, those with IQs in the stratosphere are not very successful.

i didnt mean historically speaking, like, history tells us smarter people are more successful, that's not what i meant. i just mean, if you've got 2 people, in identical fields, working along side each other, and both exerting equal effort, isn't it likely the higher IQ's work would be more advanced or more eccentric or more brilliant? (or whatever word you want to label it with)

i didnt mean to imply that intelligence equals success, merely that i think higher intelligence would equal a greater likelihood for success in certain fields. wouldn't it? :confused:

not success, just potential for success. isn't that what IQ is?
 
  • #69
Brennen said:
i didnt mean to imply that intelligence equals success, merely that i think higher intelligence would equal a greater likelihood for success in certain fields. wouldn't it? :confused:

not success, just potential for success. isn't that what IQ is?

I don't think so. In the example above, I think talent would also have to be considered - in any field.
 
  • #70
Brennen said:
i didnt mean historically speaking, like, history tells us smarter people are more successful, that's not what i meant. i just mean, if you've got 2 people, in identical fields, working along side each other, and both exerting equal effort, isn't it likely the higher IQ's work would be more advanced or more eccentric or more brilliant? (or whatever word you want to label it with)...

I agree with what you're saying --- but I think you might think Tasthius is saying something he isn’t. But – maybe Tasthius will speak for Tasthius -

Barring that ------ I think Tasthius may be saying that if a child is really IQ smart that may translate into some odd behaviors relative to other kids. Talking like you're 30 in the 5th grade doesn't make you cool. That in turn will make the child with the 'very berry' high IQ a social outcast. AND THOSE bad experiences will make the kid a tad 'nurture weird' in addition to his/her 'nature weirdness.' It's like compounding interest. Compound weirdness doesn’t help one get along with others --- and getting along with others is an important factor in the common definition of “success.” Tas? -- can you put the batteries in and enlighten?
 

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