# Havge you ever had an IQ Test? Administered by whom? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225 "2005-11-29T17:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/21 "2005-11-29T20:36:07Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > Me too. Also took some administered by my mom, a school psychologist. FWIW, many tests that you think are IQ are not, in fact, IQ - there are lots of psychoeducational tests administered to young’uns and lots of ways to score them. > > Also I feel it necessary to point out that IQ is, in many educated opinions, about as useful a measure or predictor of intelligence as head shape. Hey. The phrenology angle. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/22 "2005-11-29T20:55:13Z")
I have taken three real IQ tests. The first one was when I was in fourth grade. People had noticed for a while that I was a little _different_ from the other kids ina good kid of way. My uncle is a child psychiatrist and he had a partner that was a child psychologist. He gave it to me. Later that year, the state of Louisiana rolled out a gifted and talented program by Parish. I took an IQ test to qualify for that and made it. The funny thing was that I was the onjly student in the whole Parish that qualified for over a year but state law mandated a teacher a resources and a teacher for it. I had my own teacher and TWO computers (Apple IIE’s) all to myself until other students qualified much later. The last time I took one was in college in a Psychometrics class. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/23 "2005-11-29T21:15:13Z")
A friend of mine who was working on a Masters degree in Psychology needed a guinea pig to do an IQ test on so I volunteered. I don’t remember much about it except that it took up most of the afternoon and there was a lot more oral testing and probing for how I arrived at answers than I expected. My head hurt. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/24 "2005-11-29T21:51:21Z")
I went to a summer camp when I was a young teen. it was 95% enrichment for us, 5% “let’s do research on the human guinea pigs!” for the people running it. One or two afternoons we were all in guinea pig lab, and during one such session they administered an IQ test. It was a standardized written test, administered on a college campus by psychologists. My son underwent one this summer, administered by a doctoral student, for admission to a school. His wasn’t so much written as task-oriented (presumably due to his age). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/25 "2005-11-29T22:11:04Z")
: > [@astro](#): > > She’s riiiggghttt about here Mrs. X-Mas… Is there a Mr. X-Mas? Nope. Why, are you interested? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/26 "2005-11-29T22:15:25Z")
> [@mack](#): > > there was a lot more oral testing and probing… If there was more of the oral testing and probing I’d be a lot more inclined to take IQ tests. And I think I might score even higher on those. Where do I sign up for your version? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/27 "2005-11-29T22:43:57Z")
I had an IQ test before kindergarten, administered by the private school I ended up going to. Then I had one in the eighth grade. I seem to remember it went along with the ITBS test. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/28 "2005-11-29T22:46:39Z")
I took one in Grade 3. It was administered by the local Board of Education. I’m not sure who specifically gave the test. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/29 "2005-11-30T00:33:32Z")
The public school system routinely gave tons of standardized tests to all students, including IQ tests every couple of years. This was in New Jersey in the 60s - 70s. ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/30 "2005-11-30T15:17:09Z")
I took an IQ test administrated by someone from Mensa, at the local community college. (If my ACT score had been one point higher, I would have been able to submit that instead of taking an IQ test.) In the weeks leading up to the test, I got a couple of books of sample IQ tests. I took the tests, studied the answers, and read the hints on how to take tests like these. I’d definitely say that going through this helped to increase my score on the actual test. A friend of mine who is a school psychologist said that he doesn’t consider the test I took to be a real IQ test. When he does IQ testing there is an oral portion and other non-pencil-and-paper activities. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/31 "2005-11-30T15:26:41Z")
By my father, when I was about 8 maybe. I think he’d applied, out of idle curiosity, for a free test-yourself kit from MENSA. So the whole family got tested. It was kind of fun for the first 10 mins, then quickly got dull for what seemed like forever. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/32 "2005-11-30T15:41:34Z")
I had lots of them while I was at school. Most people only did 2 but a bunch of us were tested every year. The story was that we had improved so much between test 1 and test 2 that they had to check it out or that our IQs were so high that ithad to be confirmed. Personally I am sure that it had something to do with our blue eyes and our blonde page-boy cut hair and all the mysterious deaths. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/33 "2005-11-30T16:05:27Z")
I was given an IQ test at the age of 4, by my school’s headmaster. It indicated that my IQ was quite good indeed. It also demonostrated that IQ tests aren’t necessarily a very good indicator of how bright one is – the headmaster happened to also be a Jesuit priest, and FOR YEARS after I thought that the IQ test was a uniquely Catholic exercise, like a sacrament. You know how sometimes one hears speculation about the IQ of a celebrity? Whenever I heard things like that on TV or whatever, I would think “wow, I didn’t know Mel Brooks was Catholic!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/34 "2005-11-30T16:55:39Z")
I was given one as a preschooler (4 years) by a psychologist who suggested I be put into the second grade. My parents and the school principal decided that for my mental well-being, I shouldn’t skip grades. I took another in third grade (7 or 8 years) to qualify for admittance into a gifted and talented program. Missed the cut-off by 1 point. Took it again in the fourth grade. Got in. My parents didn’t let me see my score until I was 18. I thank them for that. My friends (all gifted) would brag about their scores, and mine was 20 points higher than the next, my best friend. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/35 "2005-11-30T17:04:59Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > If there was more of the oral testing and probing I’d be a lot more inclined to take IQ tests. And I think I might score even higher on those. Where do I sign up for your version? No signing up - this beautiful woman offered me dinner if I would let her do this to me. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/36 "2005-11-30T23:18:09Z")
The first time I wen to NYC, I was around Times Square/42nd street late on a friday night looking for a comedy club and (found one…) happened upon the Church of Scientology. They handed me a flier with an offer for a free IQ test. If you can’t trust that, what can you trust? (no, ftr, i did not take it =) ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/37 "2005-11-30T23:19:34Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > My parents didn’t let me see my score until I was 18. They did the _same_ thing to me (i took it in 8th grade) but i’ve still not been told. I think everyone forgot. Must not have been that great 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225/38 "2005-12-01T00:59:51Z")
I’ve never taken one so far as I know. I went to school in the '60s and '70s and we took _lots_ of standardized tests, but if one of those was an IQ test I didn’t know it, my folks didn’t know it, and they never told us the score. To tell the truth, I’ve always been leery of taking one… I don’t really want to know my IQ. I suspect it would reveal that I’m not as smart as I think I am. And I’m quite sure it would reveal that I’m not as smart as most of my family and friends think I am. When you read a lot you don’t have to _be_ very smart in order to _seem_ pretty smart. Neither of my kids (now 18 and 19) has ever taken one either, so far as I know. My daughter is disabled (not cognitively; she has Cerebral Palsy) and was in Special Ed until she started High School and she’s taken many, many tests of varying types, but never an IQ test – not unless she was given one without them telling me what it was (or how she scored). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/havge-you-ever-had-an-iq-test-administered-by-whom/333225.md?page=1)