Do You Consider IQ Tests a Good Measure of Intelligence?

[MOBIUS]

Absolutely, those people get right up my nose...

[Meticulous Man]

IQ thinking is a rather good example of objectifying the self. What is given importance here doesn't seem to be whether anyone actually acts in a constructive or intelligent manner but whether they have the static quality of "having a high intelligence". People who get low scores on these tests will in the worst scenario lose their motivation to study and learn about what is going on around them as they seem to have been predestined for stupidity, and blame "objective" factors in their psyche for their misfortunes to no end. Those who get a high score, on the other hand, can be lulled into a false sense of security (and self-importance) and thinking that they don't actually have to make any effort when trying to complete tasks that require intellectual activity (IOW, any task that a human can face).

How well one succeeds in the tasks posed in an IQ test depends a great deal on the individual's prior knowledge and tastes as to what is perceived as meaningful. Anyone that has studied mathematics knows how important pure mechanical "drilling" and automatization of mental tasks are when preparing for a test. Also, it is a fact that many people in principle know how to perform a task but are unable to use this knowledge outside a certain context. Just to demonstrate, I heard once of a psychological test where people from a different culture from ours were poor at completing tasks on paper but better than Westerners at tasks that were thought to involve the same kind of logical reasoning processes but where the subjects were supposed to manipulate a concrete physical object.

Also, different people have different cognitive styles. Nobody should question the fact that some people are slower at arriving at conclusions but still get very accurate results. AFAIK, most IQ tests are timed. Situational factors have a great impact on the results you get. People who are afraid of being evaluated will get stressed and do worse than they otherwise would.

As to the tests that measure memory: memory is very context-bound. Being able to remember something requires that that "something" is perceived as being meaningful and connected to a greater body of information in some way. I think it was already in the 19th century that it was concluded that most people only can remember some 6 or 7 meaningless (or as meaningless as thought possible) separate "pieces of information" (numbers, letters) at once without practice.

If anything, verbal intelligence is something that everyone should agree is completely unmeasurable by any objective standard. Try completing a verbal IQ test that is not in your native language if you want to experience first-hand the importance of cultural factors in people's use of language.

IIRC, IQ tests were originally devised for the identification of children with learning disorders in schools so that they could be given special attention, and it could be that IQ testing indeed could fulfill this function in the early 20th century, but I personally think that IQ testing, as it is, should already be left in the dustbin of history

[Drogue]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
For my current job (programming) I sat a logical deduction test, which instead of word & number puzzles described a scenario and then asked questions about what could be logically deduced from the facts, and what could not. The test catches out people who let prejudice get in front of the facts, and people doing well on the test tend to be good at programming, where dumb assumptions are no good, but cold hard analysis is essential.

I felt the test was far more appropriate for applying logic to real-world problems than the usual magazine-type puzzles that fraudulently claim to have a full definition and measure of intelligence.

And any good IQ test should have sections like that - what can be deduced, what can't, that kind of analysis. Other puzzles test different things, which is why a range of tasks is needed.

[Drogue]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
Well the REAL IQ test is avoiding actually joining Mensa, because they appear to be mostly socially dysfunctional weirdos...

I was going to say. I joined for a year, until I realised that. Oh well.

[SlowwHand]

Look at Mobius' mensa remark. Does that answer all questions? I think so.

[Straybow]

Ages ago I took an IQ test that wasn't timed. It didn't matter. Even after I turned in my answers I poked and prodded at the questions I didn't understand. Weeks of cogitation got me nowhere. I never heard back. I think it was a test devised by one of the superIQ clubs that never really got off the ground.

Before that an IQ test I took in high school returned an improbably high result. I see similar things every time somebody posts a link to an online IQ test and people here claim they get 163 or something.

Bah. If anyone were that smart they'd be doing supergenius stuff like getting their PhDs instead of wasting time here.

[Drogue]

I wouldn't count on it. I think there are a few people here with 163+ IQs from proper tests. Although that doesn't necessarily say much.

Also, aren't there a few people here with/doing PhDs too? Poly is a pretty high achieving group.

[TCO]

Originally posted by MrFun
**** size (men) and breast size (women) are good measurements of intelligence.

I am a smart man who likes smart wimmen.

[TCO]

Kitty is very shmart.

[TCO]

Oh shoot, I forgot about the dick size thing. Yikes.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by TCO
Kitty is very shmart.

Thank you.

[KrazyHorse]

Sort of stupid too though. Cracked a tooth in half 2 months ago (had a huge filling in it and filling fell out). Was strapped for cash and time due to wedding so didn't do anthing about it. 3 days ago it starts to hurt like hell. Now am taking antibiotics to control raging infection under gumline so they can restore tooth. Laziness leads to intense pain lasting a week.

[KrazyHorse]

On the other hand, I also got some codeine out of it. Now where's my whisky...

[TCO]

Take care of your teeth. Especially if you tend to cavities. I've spent a lot of money on crowns after age 35...

[KrazyHorse]

I don't tend to cavities. Only had two in my life (one with filling that just fell out and one in a wisdom tooth half buried under gums)

Plus I should have dental for the rest of my life now (just got on sugar-momma's plan, and any posdoc or faculty position comes with that stuff).