Do you know your IQ?

[gwendolyn]

Yes, I know mine--my mother told me by accident, about ten years after I took my second test.

I was test twice in elementary school (2nd and 4th grade). My mother didn't believe that my first score was accurate, saying it was too high and I wasn't that smart, so obviously it was wrong. She wouldn't tell me what it was, just that it was clearly much higher than it should have been. The people from the testing board said that people scored below their actual IQ level all the time (if they felt sick, were distracted, bad test-takers, etc), but people didn't really score higher by accident. They tested me again two years later, and I scored slightly higher than I had the first time, and she still didn't believe it. My school had put me into the G&T program after the results of the first test, so they didn't really care so much about the second, but the testing board tried to tell my mom that it wasn't an accident that I was scoring well. But she wouldn't have it, and so refused to talk to me about it.

About ten years later, she was talking about how she thought IQ tests were stupid, and she let my score slip. I hadn't been made aware of it, so I was rather surprised. She wanted to know why I was surprised, and I told her that she'd never allowed me to know it before, which she'd not realized I guess, or had forgotten? She then assumed that the first thing I'd do would be to run around and tell everyone, but of course I didn't. I have only ever told one person the range it was in, and that was because they asked. I don't think it means much, and most people don't care anyway.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I do. I was tested several times. The last was part of the admission process for my high school. Does it change anything? No. Still kinda interesting to know.

 

[Cehrabehra]

I was tested in 8th grade, it was a very long test - took a month once a week or something, maybe it just felt like a month... There were 3 numbers and I'm not sure exactly how it worked out but one was 129 one was 139 and the composite, or overall score was 138 (I don't understand how it isn't 134) Anyway, my husband loves to tease me and calls me "sub genius". Close, but no cigar lol

ETA - okay so now I see no one else is putting theirs but oh well, I don't care who knows I'm sub genius! lol

 

[MissMina]

Mine was 138 in the seventh grade.
I never studied in school
Didn't even know how
I had a truly photographic memory
finding answers to test questions by "seeing" them
on the page.
Very poor with spatial relationships though.

Yep 140 is genius
Lets say we're "on the cusp"

 

[Nashville]

Interesting fact: Jayne Mansfield had an IQ of 149

 

[ang3199]

This is what I do for a living. Well, part of it anyway. I'm a school psychologist. Basically, IQ measures a persons cognitive aptitude, or what we can EXPECT them to achieve academically. Usually, I am testing to determine eligibility for special education services. Whether it be life skills support for mental retardation, a learning disability, or even gifted support services for children' with IQ's of 130 or above.

IQ never changes and remains constant over your lifetime. Different tests, the most common ones being the Standford Binet, Woodcock Johnson, and the Wechsler, all measure different aspects of both crystallized and fluid knowledge. It's quite impressive HOW constant these scores stay over time.

I love my job because I love digging deeper into the brain and how it fires and functions.

 

[ang3199]

I was tested in 8th grade, it was a very long test - took a month once a week or something, maybe it just felt like a month... There were 3 numbers and I'm not sure exactly how it worked out but one was 129 one was 139 and the composite, or overall score was 138 (I don't understand how it isn't 134) Anyway, my husband loves to tease me and calls me "sub genius". Close, but no cigar lol

ETA - okay so now I see no one else is putting theirs but oh well, I don't care who knows I'm sub genius! lol

Different assessment batteries measure different areas of intelligence. There are numerous!

You are gifted!! Individuals with 130 IQ and higher make up just 2% of our population. And on the opposite end of the curve, individuals with scores of 69 and below (mental retardation) make up 2% as well. 90-109 is average and makes up approximately 75% of our population.

 

[ang3199]

I don't know my IQ. I've never been curious about it. I don't care much about what these types of things have to say about me, or others.

I was in the gifted program in school, but they used other methods to determine our eligibility based on what we know to be true about gifted individuals--they have above-average intelligence, they have a commitment to task fulfillment, and they are extremely creative thinkers. I teach in a gifted program now, and we are constantly allowing children who only have IQ scores (and no teacher recommendations or such) to enter the program on a trial basis, and we are constantly telling their parents, after the trial, that their children are not gifted, just highly intelligent. People seem to think they are one and the same.

I agree Haven. I often have parents battle with me over their child not being admitted into the gifted support program. I like to explain it this way. Truly, TRULY gifted children are out of the box thinkers. They never want to solve a problem in the same manner. They may be your trouble makers in the early grades because they have grasped the concepts long ago that his or her peers are just now learning and they are bored out of their minds .

Usually, but not always, you'll see the valedictorian of your class turn out to be highly intelligent....not necessarily gifted. They determine what works for them academically and they stick to it.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Wow! I don't really know what my IQ is, and I don't think I've ever been tested. But I was in the Talented & Gifted program at school, and I scored well on the SAT. I found a web site that can tell you what your IQ is based on your SAT scores, and mine was surprisingly high! I'm thinking maybe they're overestimating me a bit?!?!

 

[partgypsy]

IQ testing is really part of the school system? I remember taking tests in school, and I think around junior high or so they would share the test results with us but I think they were more scales for verbal, math ability, etc. Same with SAT, GRE scores, but not a strict "IQ" test.
The funny story is when I was in second? grade they all tested us with some test. I was very shy, and though I would read ahead in the textbooks I tried to answer at the level I was supposed to know, so I would often answer "I don't know" even if I knew the answer. I guess I did that too well one time. Anyways years later after I was graduating high school and had gotten scholarships to the schools of my choice my mother confided in me that they tested me in elementary school and told her based on the results, that I had "zero memory" and I would be lucky if I completed high school. She knew that was not true, so she never shared that information with me, until then.

There is some part of me that feels uncomfortable with the whole testing aspect. My conflicted feelings were raised when my oldest daughter was "tested" in kindergarten, and scored at the 94-98% level for both verbal and abstract (analytical) aptitude, and now has one of those labels and is in a different track. Maybe because I hated additional attention being brought to me and was embarrassed to stick out, don't like the feeling my daughter is now under some kind of microscope. But I understand intellectually it is so they can help her learn at the level she is "supposed" to.

 

[partgypsy]

Haven, interesting what you wrote about "gifted". That's the term they used for my daughter. In the same way especially in high school or college if I had a dime every time someone told me that I was the "smartest" person they knew.... It never make me feel good about myself, because I didn't feel "smart". I always knew people who seemed smarter than me, and so many areas I felt limitations in understanding. If I was to describe myself it would be "creative", but people seem to confuse the two.

 

[Kaleigh]

No I don't, and know for sure I wouldn't be a candidate for Mensa, LOL!! I did very well in school and in College.

Here is what I don't love about all of this. My brother was extremely bright. But on the divergent side...IQ tests don't measure that. He was a creative genious, but didn't do well in school. He ended up dropping out at 16 and moved to NYC where he fufilled his dreams of being a performer. He put big deals together for movies, and broke Houdini's record for getting out of a straight jacket while being supended from a helicopter upside down.. He was the Chris Angel of his time.

 

[radiantquest]

I think this is an interesting topic. I remember being tested in school. I don't exactly remember taking the test, but I remember my mother getting the scores and my teachers having a meeting with her. I actually got into a little trouble because I scored well on the test, but not in my classes. They told me that I wasn't trying. Which I wasn't. As a matter of fact I never tried in school. I wish that I had now. They never did tell me my score.

The thing that I wonder about is that when I was younger I was more "deep" and thought a ton more than I do know. And I am sure that I knew more then. It really upsets me because sometimes I will remember that I used to know something that I no longer know. I have been told like mentioned before that it doesn't necessarily test how much you know. I wonder if I would take one now if I would score the same or if the lack of mental exercise from having computers and calculators and things do all the work for me if I am actually a bit more "dense" than I once was.

 

[partgypsy]

That's what I mean; a test can't capture everything about a person that may be of interest.

I have a twin sister. She was considered the more brilliant of us two, artistically, intellectually, etc. I went through college, graduate school, postdoc and now work in research. My sister got a scholarship to one college (possible major in physics), dropped out after 1 year, got a scholarship to another college (art), dropped out after 2 1/2 years. Because she has no college degree although she has worked some creative jobs, they pay so little she now works a series of menial jobs because they pay slightly better and those are the only jobs she's considered "qualified" for. She used to do a lot of art, but the sheer stress of trying to support herself has pretty much killed all her love for art at this point. It seems like a lot of her life she has been butting her head against the wall of conformity and losing.

 

[HollyS]

Besides, what's the point? - So you can feel inferior, average or superior?

I suspect that the point is, always, to feel superior.

Bingo!

And yes, I DO feel superior!

 

[JulieN]

The point of G&T ed is to feel good, and have positive feedback. That is how you create people who want to win at life.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

IQ testing is really part of the school system?

I went to a private school so it was part as the admission process as well as an entrance exam, recs, essay, and an interview. Applying to college was a breeze.

 

[ksinger]

Mine was 138 in the seventh grade.
I never studied in school
Didn't even know how
I had a truly photographic memory
finding answers to test questions by "seeing" them
on the page.
Very poor with spatial relationships though.

Yep 140 is genius
Lets say we're "on the cusp"

Seriously? 140 is considered "genius"?? That's terrifying. Please tell me that IQ tests have suffered from the same grade inflation as every other school/thing/measure in the US....

 

[partgypsy]

Ksinger remember you are talking about numbers while linear are describing a population bell curve (yes they are grading on a curve ). The number 130 to 140 describe a lot fewer people than the numbers from 120 to 130. Obviously the numbers 140-150 describe even fewer, until each set of 10 digit differences describe so fewer numbers it ceases to have meaningful significance.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

It's really late but I wanted to add that IQ scores do not always stay static. There is something called the Matthew Effect having to do with "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". The academically strong child who reads a lot and has a lot of verbal stimulation and enriched experiences may keep the verbal score the same or even improve it. Yet a child with a learning disability may read much less and increase their vocabulary less and score lower on an IQ test over time. That is why I always recommend to parents that once their child had been tested in order to receive services for a reading learning disability, they should never repeat the IQ test because it is quite possible the score would fall. There are reasons this is a bad idea, but I won't go into all of that.

In addition, you CAN increase the IQ scores of some children. Example...practicing the types of tasks on the IQ test. A deprived child who has never seen a puzzle probably won't do as well as a child who has had plenty of experience with puzzles. You can practice verbal tasks as well. In fact, there are books on that subject. Off the top of my head, one is "How to Increase Your Child's Verbal Intelligence" by McGuinness. But of course you can't train a low functioning child to make 140 on the test. But you can make smaller gains with practice.

I don't put much stock in an IQ test because there is SO much more that goes into making a whole person. Yet, as a special educator, the IQ subtests give me valuable insight into why a child has the learning problems he does.

 

[Cehrabehra]

DS is correct, IQ is not static. One of my two best friends is a super genius. She was identified as a young child and invited to be part of a study that periodically tested IQ at various ages with additional tests taken at major events etc. Her highest IQ was when she was in college and working two jobs and it was in the high 180's... her lowest IQ was when she was nursing a newborn 2nd child after a few years of being a stay at home mom and and it was in the low 160's. One day we were talking and she said, Sara, I can just feel my IQ points being drained out of my breast lol I know that those years around giving birth my mind skills were not as accute.

 

[geckodani]

Yes, I know mine from when I was a child. It's fun to know. I like to tease DH because I was scored a few points higher than he was as a kid.

 

[Trekkie]

Yes, I know mine. Would happily trade a few dozen points in exchange for being hard-working, instead.

I've found that being ridiculously smart has led to me being incredibly lazy. Because I have never needed to work hard at anything, I've never learnt how. Being smart also contributed to the only time I've ever been dumped. Apparently he felt I was being "intellectually intimidating". Pffft.

 

[partgypsy]

Sara, (me being pendantic) but I don't believe that a test score changes means that "IQ" itself changes. IQ tests are supposed to be measuring this construct, of intelligence or whatever you want to call it. Theoretically speaking people would say the underlying construct is relatively invariant, but that environment, other factors can either let people reach that potential intelligence or, not. This could be an academic point, or it can have implications. Obviously you would want kids to avoid the things that prevent them from reaching their potential during development. As far as scores dropping after college, almost any kind of cognitive test people peak at college and then it declines. Doesn't mean you can't keep your day job of being a physicist, because expertise becomes more important than raw power.

I would say from how I feel, I probably would have tested best in high school (plenty of sleep, plenty of time to reading interesting stuff, subscription to Games magazine, etc). My life today (in my 40's, mild sleep deprivation due to full time job plus 2 kids, also on medication that affects my energy level) I's be afraid to see my score.

 

[Cehrabehra]

The study that she has been involved in for over 40 years is designed to determine whether or not IQ is static and thus far her own personal opinion based on her own data is that it is not. Her youngest is almost 7 and she is working again and her IQ is back up again. It didn't just drift off due to age. She thinks it was influenced by hormones, perhaps lack of sleep. Regardless, if it changes it by definition isn't static.

 

[Porridge]

Yes, I know mine. Would happily trade a few dozen points in exchange for being hard-working, instead.

I've found that being ridiculously smart has led to me being incredibly lazy. Because I have never needed to work hard at anything, I've never learnt how. Being smart also contributed to the only time I've ever been dumped. Apparently he felt I was being "intellectually intimidating". Pffft.

Ditto. Hard workers do way better, in my experience. And gah to the intimidating remark, that happened to me once too.

 

[Fly Girl]

I know my IQ. I found out when we were tested in grade school and one of my classmates spotted the list and told me. It's pretty high. I have a brain. Throughout my life it has been a precious asset that I enjoy tremendously. In fact, it was annoying when I had to hire an interior decorator, because I figured I could learn just about anything I wanted to do. But she had a color sense that escaped me.

I married a very bright man and we have a couple of very bright children. The older one is smart and lazy, and the younger is smart and a hard worker. They apparently didn't read the books about birth order tendencies.

 

[elrohwen]

Yes, I know mine. Would happily trade a few dozen points in exchange for being hard-working, instead.

I've found that being ridiculously smart has led to me being incredibly lazy. Because I have never needed to work hard at anything, I've never learnt how. Being smart also contributed to the only time I've ever been dumped. Apparently he felt I was being "intellectually intimidating". Pffft.

Ditto. Hard workers do way better, in my experience. And gah to the intimidating remark, that happened to me once too.

I also had a guy tell me I was too smart and he didn't want to date a girl as smart as me

 

[HollyS]

Mine was 138 in the seventh grade.
I never studied in school
Didn't even know how
I had a truly photographic memory
finding answers to test questions by "seeing" them
on the page.
Very poor with spatial relationships though.

Yep 140 is genius
Lets say we're "on the cusp"

Seriously? 140 is considered "genius"?? That's terrifying. Please tell me that IQ tests have suffered from the same grade inflation as every other school/thing/measure in the US....

Agreed. 140 is not now, nor has it ever been, considered genius. Seems someone somewhere is attempting to make the 'runners up' in the IQ contest feel better about not being on the top rung. 140 is nothing to sneer at, and is quite a bit higher than average. No one should feel less than smart with a 140 IQ. But it is not a genius IQ.

 

[elrohwen]

It depends on the metric and it depends on the test. If you do a quick google search you'll see that 140 can be widely regarded as genius by some, though on other scales (or by other psychologists) it's not. I typed in "genius IQ range" and the first two links quoted 140 as the cut-off for "genius".

eta: After checking another few links, it seems that 140=genius is the scale for the Stanford-Binet test. The other tests have other scales which are close, but not quite the same.