What are IQ tests actually based on?

What types of questions are found on most IQ tests?

Is this a test?

Tater, if this were a test, what would your answer have proven? lol

I seriously want to know what IQ tests test and how.

They are supposed to test innate intelligence.

Not education, but inborn knowledge. Innate Intelligence.

How does one test that?

Good question. Supposedly it's not knowledge they are testing, but more like the ability to apply logic and reason.
I don't know how they test for that without testing learned knowledge at the same time. I apparently was tested 3 times in grade and high school, but never recall being told I was taking an IQ test; just scholastic aptitude tests. Maybe they are actually IQ tests?

Breezey Breezey wrote:
I seriously want to know what IQ tests test and how.

As I understand them I.Q. tests are designed to discover
the subject's 'ability' to learn.

Hmmm... kind of like saying a child has problems if he/she doesn't know what film is and can't tell how it works?
If so... the tests aren't going to be fair or accurate for all. If tests include things a child or person may not have used or been introduced to, it is already inaccurate. Not all people have used the same things or been taught the same things.

Breezey, I believe those are the kinds of things they try to avoid when testing for IQ.

Tater Salad wrote:Breezey, I believe those are the kinds of things they try to avoid when testing for IQ.

How do they know what a person has actually been around or not? Kind of like me not knowing a lot of the newer movies that everyone else seems to know....

Well, that's what I've been trying to say; they don't ask knowledge based questions. For example, rather than asking if a figure is a rectangle, triangle, square, etc.,
they might ask which of these figures is most alike.

Okay...
Where do I find a REAL example of one?

Good question. Wikipedia has information about IQ tests, but most of what you find when searching for it online are those "Take an IQ test online" things, which really aren't IQ tests at all. Try your local library maybe?

Bree,
NO... not like the "film" thingy - [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Moron - the teacher failed! that one - if it had been an I.Q. Test.
I.Q. tests don't! test the subject's "store" of info.
The questions are (they have different sections -
testing different types of learning potential.
Example:
Which one doesn't fit with the others:
A robin is like:
a. A bluebird
b. A crow
c. A pelican
d. a mouse
...and etc. with various "is like" examples.

Another section will be "in the following numbers sequence
" 2,4 6 _ " the next number is 8.
"
Now - in the following sequences , what is the next number?
10, 9, 8, _
5,10,15 _
4,9,15, _

(and -commiserate with the AGE of the Test-ee- [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
the sequence is NOT obvious.)

The have pics of various geometric shapes
and the test is to determine which doesn't fit with the others
and which of the given choices would be the next in the sequence.

Also ... questions like:
a lion is to a tiger as a gopher is to a:
fish, bird, frog, raccoon.
Etc.

There are written tests for logic; picture tests for logic,
etc.

IQ is the acronym for intelligent quotient, and refers to a score given for several standardized intelligence tests. The first of these was developed by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905. He constructed the IQ test, as it would later be called, to determine which children might need additional help in scholarly pursuits. Today, the IQ test is commonly based on some model of the Stanford Binet Intelligence scale.

Not all intelligence can be measured by an IQ test. In fact, primarily, an IQ test measures mathematical and spatial reasoning, logical ability, and language understanding. Thus a person who is speaking English as a second language might score poorly on the language comprehension aspects of a test, and an IQ test would not be an adequate measurement of intelligence.

Further an IQ test does not measure things like life experience, wisdom, or personal qualities like being a good friend or a devoted spouse. So it is not a predictor of a person’s quality or worth, though it has occasionally been used as such.

Some things can negatively impact IQ score. These include malnutrition in children who are tested, and fetal alcohol syndrome, or maternal addiction. Mental retardation or conditions that deteriorate the brain’s capacity to remember like Alzheimer’s disease also causes IQ scores to be lower. IQ may also be impacted by lack of appropriate education, often due to disparity in educational funding. If these disparities are corrected, then IQ scores normally increase.

People can also train to take IQ tests, which can increase scoring. However, it is not known whether a person who scores higher because of training or repeated testing is actually more intelligent. It is verifiable that the trained person does better on the IQ test than the person who is not trained.

There have been some studies on brain size and development and IQ scores. Specifically the frontal lobe of the brain seems to be the most indicative method for prediction of IQ scores. Larger frontal lobes tend to result in larger IQs.

Men and women seem to score approximately the same on IQ testing, though men exhibit a greater variance in testing, and have more very high and very low scores than do women. The American Psychological Association conducted studies on IQs and came up with the following conclusions:

IQ score was a fairly good predictor for school performance.
IQ score may also predict fairly well the degree to which a person may be successful in occupations.
IQ scores tend to exhibit some racial bias.
Test scores may be influenced by personal genetic history.

There is much contentious debate in evaluating the IQ test, as to whether nature or nurture most influences IQ scores. As well, debate exists as to how much IQ scores should be used as a predictor of behavior. Some are concerned that IQ scores might negatively affect the perception of colleges, private schools or employers if used to determine employability or acceptance into schools.

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"Howdy y'all!"

''the iq scores tend to exhibit some racial bias ''
i wonder how that would change if the tests were done in the others racial environment ?

roxanna wrote:''the iq scores tend to exhibit some racial bias ''
i wonder how that would change if the tests were done in the others racial environment ?

Rox,
I don't believe that staterment is true.
Where is the "racial bias" in
"Which of these doesn't belong in the group with the others"?
(pics of a square, a triangle, a rectangle, etc., and a pic of a flower)

I think Roxanna is referring to this part from Jack's posting...

Thus a person who is speaking English as a second language might score poorly on the language comprehension aspects of a test, and an IQ test would not be an adequate measurement of intelligence.


And... TRAIN for an IQ test? Suuure... another words... study, practice and gain knowledge for that test?

No "I.Q." test I ever took part in was skewed like that.
What's the point if they stack the deck?