OpenStax Psychology 2e
Chapter 7 - Thinking and Intelligence
General vs. Multiple Intelligences
The Multiple intelligence theory
Actually, no one uses just one type of intelligence; we all use several in our daily lives. Some are stronger than others for each person. Thus it's helpful to determine your top intelligences and tailor your methods to best meet your particular combination of strengths.
Howard Gardner disparages IQ tests as having limited relevance to real life, and argued that there may be as many as eight different kinds of intelligence that apply in diverse areas of human functioning.
Gardner’s claims are very similar to those made about “emotional intelligence” being a special kind of intelligence distinct from IQ that may even be more important for success in life than traditional “academic” intelligence. Although Gardner’s claims have become popular with educators, very little research has been done to establish the validity of his theory.
Find Your Strengths!
This form can help you determine which intelligences are strongest for you. If you're a teacher or tutor, you can also use it to find out which intelligences your learner uses most often. Many thanks to Dr. Terry Armstrong for graciously allowing us to use his questionnaire.
Instructions: Read each statement carefully. Choose one of the five buttons for each statement indicating how well that statement describes you.
- Statement does not describe you at all
- Statement describes you very little
- Statement describes you somewhat
- Statement describes you pretty well
- Statement describes you exactly
Heredity and Environment
The genetic basis of intelligence
Today, researchers generally agree that heredity and environment have an interactive influence on intelligence. Many researchers believe that there is a reaction range to IQ, which refers to the limits placed on IQ by heredity.
Heredity places an upper and lower limit on the IQ that can be attained by a given person.
Intelligence: The Influence of Heredity and Environment | SparkNotes
How does the IQ test work?
Intelligenzquotient
The abbreviation ‘IQ’ was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German Term Intelligenzquotient, his term for a scoring method of Intelligence Tests at University of Breslau. Historically, IQ is the score obtained by dividing a person’s mental age score, obtained by administering an Intelligence Test, by the person’s chronological age, both expressed in terms of years and months. Resulting fraction is multiplied by 100 to obtain the IQ score. Scores from intelligence tests are estimates of intelligence. Unlike for example distance and mass, a concrete measure of intelligence cannot be achieved given the abstract nature of the concept of Intelligence.
The IQ test (intelligence quotient) consists of a number of tasks measuring various measures of intelligence including short-term memory, analytical thinking, mathematical ability and spatial recognition. Like all IQ tests it does not attempt to measure the amount of information you have learned but rather your capacity to learn. Once you've provided your answers we compare your results to people of your age and then we provide a normalized score.
Normalized scoring can be difficult to understand for those without a background in statistics. It's best to think of your score as a number which represents your IQ compared to others, not as a measure of intelligence. Normalizing means the average IQ score is 100. How far you fall either side of this number determines roughly how unusual your IQ is. Only 2% of the population have an IQ greater than 128. Half of the population have an IQ score between 85 and 115.
The reality is, your IQ is fixed. Now I’d like mention here that we are assuming that the brain is fully developed and the human being is more than 7 years old. They say, up to 5 or 6 years of age, the brain is still developing and hence we can’t comment much on IQ before the age of 7.
Online I.Q. Test
I.Q. tests require a significant time allowance. These online tests are abbreviated versions for instructional purposes.
Additional available Psychological Tests:
- I.Q. test from "The Ultimate IQ Test Book" (1e) [Carter, 2007]
- Aptitude test from "Aptitude Test Workbook" [Barrett, 2008]
Mensa International
Welcome to Mensa, the High IQ Society
Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.
Roland Berrill, an Australian barrister, and Dr. Lancelot Ware, a British scientist and lawyer, founded Mensa at Lincoln College, in Oxford, England, in 1946. They had the idea of forming a society for very intelligent people, the only qualification for membership being a high IQ. It was ostensibly to be non-political and free from all other social distinctions (racial, religious, etc.).
However, Berrill and Ware were both disappointed with the resulting society. Berrill had intended Mensa as "an aristocracy of the intellect" and was unhappy that a majority of Mensans came from humble homes, while Ware said: "I do get disappointed that so many members spend so much time solving puzzles."
American Mensa was the second major branch of Mensa. Its success has been linked to the efforts of early and longstanding organizer Margot Seitelman.
Mensa Luxembourg Online I.Q. Test
This test will not calculate an IQ, it will indicate if you could possibly pass the real Mensa test. You should finish this test within 20 minutes. Click onto the "FINISHED" button to calculate your result and is provided for instructional purposes.
This online sample test gives you the opportunity to see what kind of questions might await you in a real IQ test. However, it doesn't say anything about your IQ, as it is not calibrated. It is not sufficient to qualify you for a Mensa membership. It is merely intended as a game to give you an assessment of whether you could be up to an IQ test. However, unlike the official Mensa IQ test, this online sample test is free