Probably you are familiar with term IQ test. You find them everywhere, in particular in ladies magazines. You can find them online too, just by Googling ‘IQ test’. A number of more or less difficult questions will pop up and you have to figure out the appropriate answer. Press ‘Submit’ and seconds later you will have the judgement of your mental capacity. Neat and simple.

But to start from the beginning, what is an IQ test really? And what does the score mean? IQ is the ‘Intelligence Quotient’, a measure of how smart you are compared to the whole population. It may be used to see if you are likely to do well in some proffessions or in academic studies.

The IQ test measures your intelligence to solve problems written on paper. It assesses the ability of your brain to figure out solutions to issues presented to you in written form. The raw test scores are then compared to other persons. It’s one of the standard methods to estimate human intelligence.

Taken over the whole population the average IQ score is 100. Any score over 100 means you are more intelligent than average. Any score less than 100 indicates your intelligence level doesn’t match up to the average John Doe.

Positive sides of the IQ test

• Employment E.g. you like to hire someone for a position. One way to get a better understanding of the candidate’s capabilities would be to let them take an IQ test. The test could be on logical, linguistic and spatial intelligence. These may be more related to the type of work involved. A high score would indicate the candidate is well suited for the position. You could weed out those who don’t make the cut.
• Academic admission On top of the SAT and other tests IQ tests to judge their intelligence. This would be useful if there are too few places on the course to accommodate everyone who wants to study. That way there is a better chance to pick the top performers and weed out students with less potential.

Disadvantages of the IQ Test

• IQ tests don’t tell the full story Plenty of folks who have taken an IQ test as part of the interview process didn’t do so well at work. Quite a large share of high IQ persons are simply not as successful as you would expect from their IQ score.
• Not the most important success factor College students who initially showed promising scores on their IQ test ended up not being so hot when they sat their term papers. Studies have found out that a student’s self-discipline is a better gauge of how well they’ll do at college or high school. Relying only on smartness is not enough you must put whatever IQ you have to work to do really well. Many high IQ scorers have been overtaken by so-called ‘weaker’ minds with much lower IQ.

• IQ does not measure everythingLeadership is one area which is not measured by IQ tests Another area not covered is your emotional intelligence, also called EQ, how good you are at handling other people and relationships. There is also the theory of multiple intelligences, that defines 8 different aspects of intelligence that you may have to varying degrees. Intelligence is so much more than a single score.