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Do you know your own IQ score? Do you know what it means?

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You have probably heard the term ‘IQ’ many times, and you probably know it has something to do with measuring intelligence.

If your IQ number happens to be high, you may feel lucky and superior to other people.

If your IQ score happens to be low, you may worry that this number dooms you to a life of failure and mediocrity.

The letters ‘IQ’ stand for ‘intelligence quotient’, and an IQ test is widely used as a way to measure intelligence.

IQ tests are often used by educational institutions to segregate students into categories such as ‘normal’, ‘gifted’, and ‘challenged’. Children and young people are scored relative to each other on a variety of factors, including verbal and logical understanding, vocabulary, arithmetic and spatial orientation.

The test most frequently used today to measure intelligence is called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. The earliest version of it was developed in France in 1905. The original test has been revised several times over the years, with a major revision completed at Stanford University in 1960. The Stanford-Binet test is not the only intelligence test, but it is probably the best known.

A person with an IQ score of 100 is considered to be of average intelligence, while a person with an IQ above 130 is deemed to be intellectually gifted. Although the IQ test is very widely used, and the results are almost synonymous with our idea of intelligence, there has also been a lot of criticism of the test, and of the way the results are used.

Does having a high IQ score guarantee success in later life? No, it doesn’t! It doesn’t even guarantee success in school. A Canadian television program recently tracked down some of the people with the highest IQ scores in North America. One man who was interviewed on the program has an extremely high genius IQ, one of the highest scores ever recorded. Guess what line of work he is in? Is he a genius doctor or famous researcher? No! This man works as a motorcycle mechanic. He hangs out with biker gangs and is frequently in and out of jail.

Another man shown on the program has the highest IQ recorded in North America. He has worked as a bouncer in a bar for ten years. This man, who by virtue of his IQ score is a genius, earns minimum wage, and lives in a tiny garage. Clearly, a high IQ is not enough to guarantee success in life.

What IQ tests measure is a certain type of potential. That potential still needs to be developed and nurtured by the person who has it. Not everyone who has a potential talent also possesses the desire to do something with it.

One person may have a fantastic God-given singing voice, but may have no interest in music, and no desire to perform. Another person may have the perfect physique to be a high jumper, but may hate sports. You can probably think of other examples. Having potential is just a beginning.

The IQ tests we have now may predict which people have a certain type of intellectual potential, but they don’t necessarily predict who will become a good teacher, a good manager, a good president, or a good parent. Some critics say that the only thing IQ tests can really predict is who will do well on IQ tests.

No matter what your IQ score is, other qualities such as determination and vision can be more important to your ultimate success in life than the IQ number you started out with.

Being creative, optimistic, and flexible are important hallmarks of many successful people. Common sense, the ability to get along with other people, and knowing a good idea when you see one, may be more useful qualities than having a genius IQ.

Author: Royane Real

Royane Real is the author of the book "How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative" To learn many ways to improve your brain power, download it today or get the paperback version today at http://www.lulu.com/real

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Ever since the first IQ test was made by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905 and the term "Intelligence Quotient" was coined by American psychologist Lewis Terman in 1916, IQ has been the most discussed topic across the globe. IQ has fascinated many eminent scientists and psychologists around the world and several studies and researches have been conducted on it. Although there is no argument over the fact that a person who has a high IQ is considered as a genius, yet there are several myths related to IQ.

In this article, we will discuss with you the myths associated with IQ and also provide you with the evidence that negates it.

• Myth: IQ can measure intelligence: This is the first and the most common IQ myth. Majority of the people tend to confuse themselves between IQ and intelligence.

  Reality - A person is said to have a high degree of intelligence if he or she can quickly adapt to new surroundings and act according to the immediate demands of the new situation. If that person is successful in overcoming all the hurdles and in the process acquires some specialized knowledge from which he can benefit immensely in his future, he is declared as an intelligent person. Intelligence is just a relative term. It cannot be measured. On the other hand, IQ is a "measure of relative intelligence which is determined by a single or a set of standardized test." IQ is a mathematical ratio.

• Myth: IQ is fixed; it doesn’t change: The second most common IQ myth is that a person’s IQ never changes. People who are found to be academically poor in their childhood are tagged as one with low IQ for the rest of their lives.

  Reality - Since IQ is a ratio, the number changes depending on what a person learns. A study at Michigan University led by Swiss postdoctoral fellows Susanne M. Jaeggi and Martin Buschkuehl has revealed that at least one aspect of the IQ - a person’s fluid intelligence can be improved. Fluid intelligence depends upon short-term memory. The researchers gathered four volunteering groups and provided them with auditory and visual cues that they were supposed to store and recall. The training session would be held for half an hour after a gap of several days. The researchers found that the volunteer’s fluid intelligence would go up after every session. In addition, an IQ can actually go down: certain illnesses or medical problems (mercury poisoning, led poisoning) can actually cause brain damage and result in a person’s IQ becoming lower. Sad but true.

  If you wish to increase your IQ and memory, you may want to try those brain games at Lumosity. The claim is that they ‘Improve memory with scientifically designed games’.

• Myth: IQ depends fully on the genes of a person and is hereditary: This is also a popular myth. People have this misconception that IQ is solely the product of good genes. A child born out of parents having low IQ will also have low IQ. Besides, they also believe that this IQ will never change. 

  Reality - We all know that IQ comes from a combination of both genetics and environment. Experts believe that the genes affect our IQ by 40 to 80 percent and the remaining comes from external environment. Now, just think what will happen if a person is kept in isolation from all external stimuli? What will be the proportion of their intelligence coming from the environment? Obviously zero! Isn’t? Hence, the more stimuli a person gets from the world, the more is their intelligence based on the environment. It is, thus, proved that IQ is not fully depended on the genes and it does change based on the environment. Besides, studies have also found significant increase in IQ from one generation to the other. It increases 21 points on an average in 30 years.

• Myth: IQ is restricted to a single parameter of intelligence: Since there many types of intelligence and some people are good at something and some bad in that thing, most people have proclaimed that IQ is just restricted to a particular type of intelligence.

  Reality - IQ covers all types of intelligence. It deals with the general mental ability. Research has shown that different types of intelligence are highly correlated and IQ measures this relative intelligence. In short, smart people tend do well on most tasks, while a dull person fails to do most of those tasks.

• Myth: IQ is not important; it doesn’t matter at all: This is the last and the most deadly myth of IQ. Many people have this false notion that IQ is not required for success in life. Success depends more on personality, motivation and hard work.

  Reality - Personality, motivation and hard work are needed for success in all our endeavors, but these are primary requirements. The basic and the most important requirement for success is at least an average IQ. It is IQ that is the best predictor of a person’s capabilities. Moreover, it is hard to measure motivation while personality measures can be faked. Generally, it is IQ that is incredibly used for choosing employees at work place or students at a school. Hence, IQ does matter and one has to work upon it.

I hope the evidences and justifications which I have presented before you must have shattered all the IQ myths and cleared several of your misconceptions regarding IQ. However, it is quite unfortunate that a huge number of people, despite being able to see the differences between myths and realities, are still eager to promote these IQ myths for gaining their selfish ends.

To sum it all, I can just say that there have been many controversies concerning IQ and its meanings, and the controversies are likely to continue. But no one can deny that if you want to be a genius like Einstein and Newton, you need to have a high IQ. This is because Einstein and Newton were considered genius only for their extraordinary IQs that was far superior to the general mass.

Author: Linda Vincent

The author is an editor with IQTestExperts.com 

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