- An Intelligence Quotient Test, or IQ Test, determines a test taker's general problem-solving ability and concept comprehension. The test taker must complete the IQ test to his best ability. IQ tests consist of memory recall, spatial, math, logic and language abilities, which are measured and compared to a median score.
- When an IQ test is scored, attention is paid to how the test taker's score compares to the standard deviation or average scores of all test takers. In children, the test is compared with like-aged peers. In adults, age is not as focused upon as adulthood itself. It was said that a person's IQ is fixed for life at approximately the age of five; however, a 2006 study of teenagers indicates adolescent brains are a "work in progress" with at least a few more years of developing left (ABC.net). It is beneficial that some IQ tests account for a person's age since brains can continue to develop late into the teen years.
- The bell or Gaussian curve is also referred to as the "normal distribution of data" (IQtest.com, 2008). This means most charted and graphed test scores are clustered near the population's average of 100, leaving few IQ scores falling extremely high or significantly low. Less than 3 percent of the total population has an IQ score of 130 or above. The average IQ score of a college graduate is 115, and a person with an IQ score of 75 is borderline mentally challenged, with a 50 percent chance of making it to his or her freshman year in high school (Assessment Psychology, 2008; Audioblox, 2008).
- Where a person's score falls on the standardized scale provides a basis for determining her intellectual capacity and possible career accomplishments. Intellectual ability may depend more on genetic factors than on environmental factors, though both play a role. Although IQ tests are not the only source for determining intelligence, people with high IQs tend to obtain higher educational credentials, which prepares them for successful careers and larger incomes (braingle.com, 2008).
- A professor may score in the 140 range, while a truck driver may score a 100 on an IQ test. A brilliant painter may score low on a written IQ test because it is not tailored to artists. Quality IQ tests are composed of questions from various categories to measure intellectual ability effectively. In order for an IQ test to determine how smart a person is, the test must be weighted toward more than one skill, consider age and the possibility of further brain development.
