IQ

We explain what IQ is, how it is measured and what each score means. In addition, various tests to evaluate it.

What is IQ?

IQ or intellectual quotient, abbreviated IQ, is called a tool that estimates the general intelligence of individuals, obtained through a specialized measurement popularly known as a “test.”

That is, it is a figure that attempts to encompass the intellectual abilities of a person in order to be able to compare it and relate it statistically with the average.

This term was used for the first time in 1912, when psychologist William Stern, from the University of Wrocław, wanted to name a new method for scoring the results of the children's intelligence test invented in 1905 by Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon.

So, The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was born in 1916 becoming the most popular intelligence test in the United States at that time, and universalizing the name IQ.

However, it must be said that IQ It is a concept that is highly debated today which has numerous detractors. Researchers such as the Lebanese Nassim Taleb (1960) have shown that this is a statistically invalid concept, given that the human brain is so complex that its capabilities cannot be reduced to a mere number.

Others even call it pseudoscience. However, there are those who consider it a revealing factor of the qualities of a subject in terms of academic or work performance, or even as an approximation to the mental performance of populations.

How is IQ measured?

First of all, we must understand that intelligence is not the same as knowledge or mental speed. In fact, it is not a universally understood concept.

However, it can be said that Intelligence is the ability to adapt thinking to difficulties that appear and find an appropriate solution. Therefore, the values ​​of an intelligence test should always be taken as an approximation or indicator, not as absolute values.

IQ tests usually measure IQ on a numerical scale that usually ranges from 0 to 200 (or above). Thus, the following lines are obtained:

• From 0 to 4: Zero cognitive capacity The person does not know how to read, write, or communicate with other human beings, and exists outside a certain culture, like “feral children.”
• From 5 to 19: Profound cognitive disability These are generally individuals with identifiable neurological diseases, incapable of almost all tasks without specialized supervision.
• From 20 to 34: Severe cognitive disability The individual has a recognizable intellectual disability that limits his or her work and academic training, only allowing the performance of the simplest tasks and the most basic calculations, given adequate support.
• From 35 to 54: Moderate cognitive disability Individuals who, despite their obvious intellectual disability, can integrate into life in society and perform unskilled or semi-skilled jobs, always under supervision. With proper teaching, they can acquire self-care skills.
• From 55 to 69: Mild cognitive disability This step is known as the “educable stage”, in the sense that they can be educated for an independent life or within an institution, but with a wide margin of independence. Their disability becomes noticeable after they have gone through the first stages of childhood, or when they have to face situations of stress or intellectual or emotional demand.
• From 70 to 84: Borderline intelligence What is commonly called “mild delay” or “learning difficulties” usually falls into this category. Many of the children who fail in school have this level of results.
• From 85 to 99: Below average These are perfectly normal, useful and healthy individuals, but they have intelligence levels below the population average. Many times this is not even noticeable, and they do not usually present problems integrating into society.
• Out of 100: Established intellectual average This is a non-absolute value. Each decade it increases by three points to always remain at 100, since in principle the generations become more and more intelligent. But it is, for measurement purposes, the midpoint of the scale, where the large percentage of the human population is.
• From 101-114: Above average Without being precisely gifted, individuals at this level show above-average intelligence, which can stand out or become evident on specific occasions, and otherwise go completely unnoticed.
• From 115 to 129: Brilliant intelligence Individuals with an intelligence noticeably above average, especially if their living conditions allow the use of their abilities. The average for the most demanding performance professionals in the West, for example, is 125 points.
• From 130 to 139: Intellectual giftedness Generally, individuals with a score above 130 are called “gifted,” which places them above 98% of the world's population. The brightest minds in science tend to be in this range, or even higher.
• From 140 to 154: Intellectual genius One person in every 1000 has this intellectual level, and constitutes what we commonly call “geniuses”, that is, people exceptionally gifted in some type of intellectual exercise or field, often capable of completely radical and different patterns of thought, which sometimes in turn implies numerous psychological problems.
• From 155 to 174: High intellectual capacity These are individuals with thought models so radically different from the rest, that they often present emotional and social syndromes and disorders as a result of their enormous departure from the average human intelligence. Sometimes it would be virtually impossible to understand those who are 20 points below your level on the spectrum.
• From 175 to 184: Exceptional intelligence One in every 700,000 people in the world has this level of intellect, which allows exceptional advances in the educational path, brilliant perspectives at an early age and other brilliant abilities, which often requires special educational models and a life radically different from the of the average.
• From 185 to 201: Deep intelligence These ranges of intellectual ability are so rare (one in every 18 million people) that they are difficult to describe and understand. Suffice it to say that these are the highest and rarest values ​​on the scale.

Average IQ

The intellectual average according to this type of indicators It is established by convention at 100 points. This means that most people in the world get values ​​close to (slightly above or slightly below) 100, which represents the world average of humanity, defined by statistical convention.

IQ table

IQ tests

Some online tests to know our IQ are the following:

• Test at 123Test.
• Test in International-iq-test.
• Psychoactive Test.

Continue with: Cognitive skills

References

• “IQ” on Wikipedia.
• “How do you measure IQ and how to know your own?” in Clarín.
• “IQ can vary throughout life” in VERY Interesting.