Hey folks.
I’ve got a question which has been the cause of many a headache over the past few days.
I took an online IQ test ages ago and the result was 90 something! I was so upset as you may well imagine (it was a bad day, but still!). The only thing I’ve got going for me is my intelligence and apparently that was worth precisely squat.
I took another test a couple of months ago and the result was 113. Things were looking up, but 113 still didn’t feel right. I was sure I was smarter than that.
A couple of weeks ago I was bored and so took another IQ test. The result? 123. Not bad I thought.
I couldn’t help but notice the increase in my results. Last one I took was 127!
So my questions is this:
Is it possible to ‘get the hang’ of IQ tests and so improve your score the more tests you take? If this is so, how can it be a true indicator of intelligence?
Can you put in links to some of these tests?
I’d like to know how twenty some years of drug abuse have screwed with my IQ.
My answer is yes, but I have no cite. I think you can improve at anything with practice. I myself am an extremely good multiple choice test taker. I do pretty well even when I have no real clue about the actual information being tested.
Hmmm, never knew you could get good at multiple choice questions. There’s hope for me yet!
www.emode.com is where I went last. There’s a bunch of tests there. Most of them pointless and nonsensical but hey! If you’re bored and online…why not?
Can anyone else help me out with this whol IQ results thing?
Online test are very skewed. Some of them tell you you have a 180 IQ just so they can sell their intelligence profile to you. In your case I really can’t say. I can’t see a reason for a test to purposely give you a low score. Age and time have something to do with your overall IQ. I know that the emode test is designed for those above the age of 16. I’m not sure if it counts your time either.
WAG here:
I would almost bet money that ‘practicing’ IQ test (which is essentially what you did) will improve your score. Each time you take one you learn the style and form these tests tend to take. You also may learn new ways of approaching a given problem.
Theoretically you should have no clue what an IQ test looks like prior to taking it for best results. I think the whole idea is to see how well you tackle new problems and apply innate analytical skills.
Aside from the issue of “practicing” to take the test, I do have one thing to say that may be of some comfort to zia_nova. I have a son with special needs, and have done a bit of reading on related issues. They basically say that when someone has a variety of IQ scores, that you basically ignore the low scores, the reason being that it is possible to “test too low” (due to lack of sleep, emotional upset, etc.) but it is not possible to “test too high.” Thus the high score is considered more authentic than the low score.
Online tests are worthless especially the high scores. It is possible to test too high with the on line tests.
With a real IQ test done by a psychologist, the test is not supposed to be repeated for two years so as to avoid contamination. It’s pretty standard to accept the highest score out of all the tests done, as opposed to accepting the lowest or the median score as the truest score.
Online tests are worthless especially the high scores. It is possible to test too high with the on line tests.
With a real IQ test done by a psychologist, the test is not supposed to be repeated for two years so as to avoid contamination. It’s pretty standard to accept the highest score out of all the tests done, as opposed to accepting the lowest or the median score as the truest score.
I agree with the assessments so far, but I think it’s unlikely that you’re getting better at taking online IQ tests. At least, not by that large of a degree. Rather, I think it’s far more likely that the variation you experienced is due to the fact that onilne IQ tests are pointless and unreliable. If you keep taking them, I think you’ll expect your scores to go up slowly, but in general, you’ll get a whole lot of scatter. If someone asks you your IQ, the correct response for you is, “I don’t know.”
I agree that the online IQ tests are useless, but I believe there may be germ of truth to the posters assertion that it is possible to “get the hang” of these tests (online IQ tests, not real IQ tests). Most of the these multiple choice tests are based on problems that are slight varients of other problems. Simple exposure and repetition–especially when you can see which problems you answered incorrectly–will lead to better results. Although the actual problems may be different from test to test, the principles (or trick) of the problems stay the same. Consciously or subconsciously these similarities are recognized which leads to a greater chance of answering correctly on subsequent tests.
I can agree that online test are not an inducation of your “real” IQ, I scored 144 on iqtest.com and I’m pretty sure I’m not that clever 
It wasn’t even in my native language and I’m that should have lowered my score considerable (questions that involved dimes and other american concepts whizzed right over my head).
Also: When actual IQ tests are given, results should be reported something like this:
Obtained scaled score (what you got after your raw score was converted according to factors such as age)
Range (a statistically derived range around your obtained score into which your true score is likely to fall)
A statistical statement of the degree of probability that your true score falls into the range identified above.
Leaving aside the question of what these tests measure, when we validate them in relationship to other measures that seem also to capture “intelligence,” we find that the average/mean IQ is about 100 (I think it’s 103 on one of the newer tests) with a standard deviation of 10 or 15 (depending on the test). On the bell curve, with an SD of 15, this means that about 68% of people, if tested, would obtain a score between 85 and 115, which is therefore considered the range of “normal” (here meaning statistically “average”) intelligence.
There is definitely a test-retest effect when using the same test. Also, if the style of two tests is similar, we’d expect a practice effect (e.g., if one test has you pick out the next number in a sequence, you will be better prepared for a similar task on a different test).
Online “IQ tests” are not considered to be reliable or valid, and are not an accurate measure of IQ.
I score good always on IQ test. Me am very nologdeable en da finer tings.
Score am 180.