Intelligence tests in psychology: purpose and testing features

We have all come across the expression “IQ” more than once. This term can be heard especially often when it comes to the mental and intellectual development of a person. Actually, “IQ” means intelligence quotient. And today we will talk in detail about what it is and with what, so to speak, it is “eaten.”

The term “intelligence quotient” comes from the English phrase “intelligence quotient” and is a quantitative assessment of the level of intelligence of a person, i.e. his level of intelligence compared to the level of intelligence of the average person of the same age. Specialized tests are used to determine IQ. But we'll talk about tests a little later, but for now let's delve a little deeper into history.

Brief historical background

The term “intelligence quotient” was first coined in 1912 by the German psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Stern. It was he who put forward the proposal to use the results of dividing a person’s mental age by chronological age as the main indicator of intellectual development. Four years later, in 1916, IQ was used for the first time in the Stanford-Benet intelligence scale.

Over time, people's interest in IQ tests became stronger, which led to the emergence of a huge number of various scales, among which there are often unsubstantiated ones. Based on this, today it is quite problematic to compare the results of different tests. But, despite the fact that the IQ indicator itself has begun to lose its value, a huge number of people around the world continue to take all kinds of tests to determine the level of their intellectual development.

Connection with thinking

Thinking and intelligence are terms that are close in content to each other. These concepts are the hallmarks of a person.

In everyday speech, the concept of intelligence will correspond to the phrase “mental abilities.” The definition of intelligence is the totality of a person’s mental abilities that ensure the success of mental activity.

Thinking is a higher psychological process that is associated with speech, with constant learning of new things, everyday discoveries, and creative activity.

From this we can conclude that thinking is included in the concept of intelligence, that intelligence is a broader concept, with a complex, branched structure.

IQ tests

IQ tests are designed so that their results are described by a probability distribution where the average IQ is 100 and the range of scores is arranged so that 50% of all people have an IQ between 90 and 110, and the remaining 50% are equally distributed below 90 and above 110. If the IQ is below 70, this is evidence of mental retardation.

All IQ tests contain many different tasks with increasing difficulty. The tests include tasks on spatial and logical thinking and some others. The test results determine the IQ, and there is one feature: the more tests a person takes, the better his results become.

In addition, tests can be designed for different age groups, showing the development of a person’s intelligence, which corresponds to his age. For example, a twelve-year-old child and a graduate student may have the same IQ because Each person’s development will correspond to a specific age category.

It should also be said that most of the tests that can be found today, for example, on the Internet, do not give reliable results, because not developed by professionals. To check your IQ, you should only use professional tests such as the Kettler test, Amthauer test, Raven test, Wechsler test and Eysenck test. There is no single standard IQ test today.

Now it’s worth talking about what factors affect people’s IQ, because this indicator is individual for each person.

How is IQ measured?

A large number of tests have been developed to measure IQ. Almost all of them are publicly available on the Internet, thanks to which anyone can find out their IQ , spending 30 minutes on it (the average duration of the test). After passing several tests, you can get different results, but the differences are usually insignificant and are explained by the peculiarities of a particular technique.

Please note that there are two options for the IQ test:

• for children aged 10-12 years;
• for adults and children over 12 years old.

The number of questions in different tests varies from 30 to 100 (most often about 40). Moreover, to get a decent result (more than 100 points), it is usually enough to solve half the problems correctly.

Keep in mind that the tests presented on the Internet consist of two components:

1. Directly the methodology
   . It is usually developed by a reputable psychologist and published in the relevant literature. Includes question options and rating scale.
2. Software implementation
   . It is a specific program or application on the site, based on the selected methodology. The design and logic of work depend on the author of the program.

For example, you can find many varieties of the Eysenck test. The question options and scoring methods are the same everywhere, but the design and ease of completion on different sites differ significantly.

Tip: when taking an IQ test, try to answer all the simple questions at once, skipping the difficult ones. On most sites, you can return to missed tasks again to think about them longer.

The most popular are the Eysenck, Wechsler, Raven and Amathauer tests. Keep in mind that the authors do not adhere to uniform standards in evaluation, so the values ​​obtained may differ by 10-20 points.

What affects IQ?

In fact, several factors influence a person's IQ - heredity and environment. In addition, different indicators of this coefficient may vary among people of different social groups. Let's look at these questions in more detail.

Factor one - heredity

Various studies in this area have shown that the difference in IQ is directly related to genetic factors. Moreover, the development of intelligence is influenced not by any one gene or group of genes, but by the genetic fund, in general, which is approximately 17 thousand genes.

Currently, this issue has not yet been sufficiently studied, but scientists around the world are conducting all kinds of research to understand what the genetic differences are between people with different levels of intelligence. If genetically determined causes affecting intelligence are found, it will be possible to create means designed to increase IQ.

Factor two – environment

The environment, and to be more precise, the family, has a huge impact on the development of a person’s intelligence, in particular a child’s. Scientists have been able to identify the dependence of the development of intelligence on factors such as methods of upbringing, microclimate in the family, financial situation, standard of living and even the size of the house in which the family lives. However, as the child grows up, this dependence disappears, and by the time he reaches adulthood, it may disappear completely. It is also important that due to genetic characteristics, different children, even in the same family, can react to the same factors differently.

Summarizing these two points, it can be noted that the IQ of adults is largely determined by genetic factors and not by the environment, as is observed in children.

Main influencing factors

The human mind is quite difficult to define and measure. Intelligence is a combination of knowledge, skills and abilities that accumulate throughout a person's life. Our intelligence is based on several important factors that influence its coefficient:

• genetics;
• feeding habits of a child in the first years of life;
• education and mental stimulation of the child’s mental activity by parents;
• order of birth of children in the family;
• environment.

All this, to one degree or another, affects the mental development of the child.

Genetics

Scientists have long begun to explore the question of how much the level of intelligence IQ depends on genes. For more than a century, studies have been conducted on the influence of genes on mental abilities, which have shown that the percentage of dependence is in the range of 40-80%.

The level of intelligence in a person depends on the structure of the brain and its functionality. These two factors are key. Differences in the parietal-frontal parts of the brain of different people indicate different levels of their IQ. The higher the level of functionality of the frontal areas of the brain, the better it can work: perceive and remember information, solve various problems.

Genetic factors represent the potential that is passed on from parents to the child. They are little studied, but have an important function for the development of mental abilities.

Chromosomal abnormalities that are inherited also affect the level of intelligence. For example, Down's disease, which is characterized by poor mental development of the child. Quite often it occurs in children whose parents belong to the older age group.

Illnesses during pregnancy also affect the baby's mind. For example, rubella, which an expectant mother suffers from, can lead to negative consequences for the baby: loss of hearing, vision, low level of intelligence.

Influence of nutrition

The level of intelligence depends on what exactly we eat in the first years of life, and what the expectant mother ate during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Proper and nutritious nutrition has a positive effect on brain development. The more nutrients, vitamins and microelements the child consumes through the mother and the next few years after birth, the larger the size of the cerebral velum will be. It is responsible for learning and memory.

Consumption of large amounts of fatty acids has a positive effect. Scientists have conducted studies that have proven that if a woman consumes a lot of fatty acids during pregnancy, then children will be significantly ahead of others in their development.

Upbringing

Education is one of the key factors in the development of mental abilities. Even if a person is by nature genetically predisposed to a high IQ level, due to the lack of proper upbringing and quality education, the coefficient will not be higher than average.

Education includes many factors:

• family lifestyle;
• home conditions;
• the level of education;
• parents' attitude.

To study the influence of upbringing, academics separated twins and placed them in different environments. After all, if intelligence is a biological concept, then in theory it should be the same in twins, regardless of living conditions. This is wrong. Studies have shown that children who live in orphanages have lower intelligence levels. Also, the indicator depends on how the parents treat the child: whether they take him to additional clubs, force him to study music, drawing, or instill a love for logic games.

Family birth order

This issue has been studied for a long time, but scientists have not been able to come to a common conclusion regarding the influence of the order of birth of a child and the number of children in the family on their mental abilities. Many studies have shown that first-born children are more mentally developed than other children. In history, most astronauts, presidents, scientists and famous political figures were firstborn.

Many people are interested in the question of why this happens. Birth order is not a judgment. The biggest impact is that a family with one child can devote more time, attention and resources to learning. Testing has shown that first-born children are only 3 points ahead of other children.

Environment

Whether we can use all the capabilities of our brain depends only on us: on our lifestyle, the presence of bad habits. Various diets and toxins affect the development of intelligence throughout life.

If the expectant mother smokes, drinks, or uses drugs, the child is unlikely to be healthy. A person’s mental performance may deteriorate if he drinks or poisons his own body.

Scientists have found that the level of intelligence of people from different countries differs significantly. Some tests have shown the dependence of average IQ on the country's GDP, crime, birth rate, and religion.

Some interesting facts about IQ:

• the higher the coefficient, the more sociable the person;
• breastfeeding increases the score by 3-8 points;
• during the summer holidays the indicator decreases;
• a score above 115 guarantees that a person can cope with any job;
• people with scores below 90 are more likely to become antisocial, end up in prison, or live in poverty;
• the lower the IQ, the more difficult it is for a person to cope with stress;
• The higher the score, the more confident the person is.

Group differences in IQ

Group differences in IQ include a person's gender, race, and country of residence.

Floor

The overwhelming number of scientists are of the opinion that the IQ of men and women is approximately the same. But, along with this, among men there are a larger number of people with either very high or very low IQ scores. Also, men and women express different aspects of intelligence to varying degrees. For example, starting from the age of five, girls begin to actively develop verbal abilities, while boys surpass girls in manipulation and spatial thinking.

Country of Residence

Among other differences, the researchers were able to find differences in IQ between people living in different countries. Moreover, some studies have shown that the average IQ of a country depends on the indicators of its gross domestic product, birth rate, crime, democracy and religiosity. Certain environmental factors, illnesses and poor nutrition also have a negative impact on IQ.

Meaning of the results

As we have already found out, the IQ indicator allows you to compare the level of intelligence with the average value. Therefore, the Stanford–Binet scale is designed in such a way that the number 100 means the average person.

The scale can be represented as four segments:

1. From 70 to 85 points.
2. From 85 to 100.
3. From 100 to 115.
4. From 115 to 130.

It is estimated that about 95% of the planet's population lies in these gaps. Thus, scores between 70 and 130 points are normal.

A score above 130 points is traditionally considered high and classified as genius. A number below 70 indicates mental deficiency.

Interesting! The highest IQ level was found in Australian mathematician Terence Tao. His intelligence score is 230 points.

There are sources that give a finer gradation, describing an IQ of up to 180 points and above, as well as in the range of 1–24. The following scale is considered more generally accepted:

• 140 and above – owners of outstanding creative abilities, inventors, scientists;
• 131–140 points is a high indicator, characteristic of only three percent of the population;
• 111–130 points – above average;
• 91–110 points – considered a good or average level of intelligence, allowing one to achieve certain heights;
• 81–90 points – below average;
• 20–70 points indicate varying degrees of problems in mental development.

The levels of IQ values ​​and their decoding are described in more detail in another article on our blog.

Summary

To summarize the article, I would like to add that, despite the fact that IQ is largely determined by factors that do not depend on a person (genetics, environment, gender, race, etc.), the intellectual abilities of almost every person can be trained, in other words, they can be developed.

Currently, many different developmental programs have been developed that can increase a person’s intelligence, for example, intellectual games, puzzles, tests, and various trainings. In addition, there are many ways in which you can increase your IQ without resorting to special programs. This includes banal reading of books, solving crosswords and scanword puzzles, watching educational TV shows, and even communicating with smart and developed people and eating right.

Every person has the power to increase their level of intelligence. The main thing is to constantly learn and not stand still. And for additional motivation, you should always remember that people with a high IQ are much less susceptible to various diseases and live longer.

We also recommend reading:

• Storytelling
• Types of tests and their features
• Factors in a child’s intellectual development
• Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences
• Guilford's model of the structure of intelligence
• How to become smarter: 4 types of intelligence according to Stephen Covey
• What You May Not Know About Intelligence
• General Intelligence Factor
• Wechsler test
• Japanese system of intelligence development
• Amthauer Structure of Intelligence Test

Key words:1Cognitive science

Development methods

It is possible to develop intelligence, but for this you need to regularly try, not stop at the results achieved, and engage in self-improvement. There are different methods for developing intelligence in children and adults.

In children

The following will help in developing intellectual abilities:

1. Daily walks in the fresh air.
2. Formation of a clear daily routine, in which there will be enough time for sleep, rest, learning, and active games.
3. Shared reading, best done before bed.
4. Lack of a rigid mentality, development of a system of praise for achievements.
5. Setting daily tasks and distributing them according to importance.

The development of a child’s intellectual abilities depends on the upbringing of parents and teachers at school. When using teaching methods, you need to reduce them to play. This makes it easier to interest the child and make the learning process simple and fun. Otherwise, he may develop hatred for the educational process, which will lead to problems in the future.

In adults

To develop intelligence you need:

1. Play chess, checkers, solve crosswords, logic problems.
2. Read every day. It is not necessary to choose scientific literature. It is better that these are works of art that evoke pleasant feelings when read.
3. Sleep at least 8 hours per day. Eat properly. To refuse from bad habits.
4. Develop knowledge in areas of interest.
5. Train your memory every day. It is necessary to remember the first and last names of friends and their mobile numbers. You can memorize one verse every week.
6. Spend time thinking about complex issues and life situations. Try to come up with different ways to solve the problem.
7. Do math regularly.
8. Set aside free time to learn to play a musical instrument.
9. Learn to think outside the box. In different life situations there is no need to look at others. It is recommended to develop your own approaches.
10. Start studying foreign languages. This will help develop mental abilities and will be useful in your career.
11. Make up different stories. It's better to write them down on a piece of paper.

We must not forget about a healthy lifestyle. It is recommended to go in for sports, and if this is not possible, do daily exercises and walk outside in the evenings.

Intelligence is the ability to use one’s own potential for adaptation, survival, and development in the conditions of the surrounding world. Various factors influence the level of mental abilities. If it remains at a low level, it can be developed to a normal level and even higher. It is important to choose appropriate methods and not stop in self-development.

Who, when and why began to measure the mind

The first to evaluate and divide people into “mentally gifted and deprived” was Francis Galton . His ideas were innovative and radical - Galton denied natural equality between people. He believed that intelligence and talent are hereditary and not acquired characteristics of a person.

Back in the 19th century, the researcher created the first “intellectual questionnaire” and soon founded his own doctrine - eugenics. It involved improving the gene pool through control by the authorities. Galton described a model of a utopian state where the population was examined - their physical and mental qualities were assessed. Those who did not “pass” were considered unfit for reproduction. If such people adhered to the ban, they were supported by the state, but if they violated it, forced emigration awaited them.

But the questionnaire presented by Galton bore little resemblance to modern IQ tests. The psychologist studied the mind and body with equal interest, looking for the connection between them. He believed that the foundation of mental data is developed sensory abilities: fine hearing, acute vision, color perception. Galton measured them. In addition, he recorded height, weight, head circumference, and also tested muscle strength, associative abilities and the ability to form judgments.

Galton measured the “mental potential” of 9 thousand people and came to the conclusion: the test results of the “intellectual elite” (scientists, judges, writers) were little superior to the data of ordinary people who were not outstanding in any way.

This is how human abilities began to be assessed more than 150 years ago.

Levels of intellectual activity

There is such a thing in psychology as levels of intellectual activity.

Researchers identify three such levels

:

• Stimulus-productive – when mental activity is caused only by the influence of external factors.
• Heuristic is a spontaneous cognitive activity that leads to the discovery of a number of patterns.
• Creative is the highest level of mental activity, at which there is a full penetration into the essence of the things being studied, solving existing problems and setting new tasks.

At the first level, intellectual activity is limited to a given or initially found path. A person can study various phenomena and solve various problems, but only as private ones, without connection with each other. At this level, however, the intellectual can put forward quite bold hypotheses.

At the second level, the researcher can compare disparate phenomena and problems and find something in common in them, identify new patterns. In this case, knowledge occurs empirically.

At the third level, comparing different phenomena and finding what they have in common becomes not just a separate technique, but is itself a problem that requires deep insight into the essence of things. In this case, the researcher uses the theoretical path of knowledge.

Intellectual actions of an individual are divided into levels in another way.

In this case, there are two levels

:

• Personal actions at the level of a social individual, while human activity is determined by the task and desired results.
• Actions of a creative person; in this case, the result turns out to be broader than the stated goal and gives rise to new tasks.

The activity of the individual gradually ceases to be a response to the initially set task and takes on a creative character.

The division of the work of the intellect into levels also reflects the history of the development of mental activity in humans. That is, the first people passively solved the problems facing them, formed by nature itself, and strived for biological survival; knowledge was more of an adaptive nature. Subsequently, primitive “scientific” activity appeared, when, through searches, trial and error (empirically), people found new patterns in the structure of the surrounding world and tried to use them in their practice. Finally, at the very latest time, a theoretical science was formed that had a developed methodological apparatus and deep criteria for knowing the truth.

For clarity, you can also use Maslow’s famous pyramid, which reflects the hierarchy of human needs. It shows that the need for creativity and spiritual development is the highest, and to achieve it you need to go through lower levels. In accordance with this, the intellect works: at first it is aimed at achieving pressing goals and solving specific problems (finding food, housing, achieving material well-being), then opportunities arise for learning something new, and at the highest level the opportunity arises for creative activities.