Thanks 1010011010. Yeah, that IQ conversion thing is bogus. First of all, your SAT scores can’t really be relevant after a few years, can it? Whether it translates to IQ at the time, well, I don’t know. Seems silly to me, but maybe. After 5 or 6 years? Crazy talk. The SAT score I got 2001, I’m certain, wouldn’t have any bearing on how I’d do on a real IQ test if I took one now.
I don’t see how it could, unless of course you keep the skills you used to take the test current. I certainly didn’t. I went to college and took what little math and science requirements I needed and forgot the rest. I write a lot, so I’d probbly get roughly the same or maybe better on the verbal score, but no way could I match the math score I had right after coming out of AP Calc and Honors Physics in high school. I’d have to look up basic trig equations if I needed them. I smell something fishy in that conversion tool.
Oh, and just so I don’t get accused of saying “Lookit meeee I’s SMRT ZOMG!” I mention those classes to emphasize the vast difference in my math knowledge and skills at the time I took the test and now. I’d probably be back to square one if I took those classes again.
Meh, it’s a fair calculator. The only two numbers I have to go on are 138 on the Stanford-Binet and 1280 on the SAT. 1280 on SAT returns a 135 SB and 138 SB returns a 1308 SAT so that is fairly close I guess. An interesting plaything although I fail to see the practicality, cool post though, thank you very much Sata… I mean 66… I mean 1010011010*
*Cool binary username by the way.
Well, I don’t know how all they’re doing the calculations, and I don’t feel the need to brag, but what is really interesting is how close my calculated GRE was to the real thing (based on my SAT), and vice versa. Not perfect, but, given the number of years between (almost a decade), there would appear to be something to the conversion algorithms.
It may not be suitable as a relevant measure of any particular skill after some period of disuse, but as a rough indication of test taking ability (with the idea that this translates into the idea of IQ we’re talking about), it would probably hold with time.
If I were going to criticize the f(SAT) = IQ thing, I’d focus more on the uncontrolled amounts of preparation for the SAT. A kid that gets a 1400 taking the test cold probably has a higher IQ than a similar kid who gets 1400 but used a bunch of study materials to familiarize herself with the test beforehand. There’s no way to control that factor if all you have is the combined score equivalent.
And then there’s that whole issue of SAT score normalization within test cycle groups… what if everyone in your cycle was just particularly dumb, so you get a higher score. Then what?
Etc.
The point of this thread was to see whether other people got sets of results that pretty much agreed or just seemed crazily random. Seems like the conversions work, for the most part.
The funniest part of this masturbatory excercise is that IIRC*, if the average SDMB Stanford-Binet IQ is, let’s say 120, then for this population (SDMB only) that normalizes to 100. If the mean is significantly different (due to a limited sampling) then the standard deviation goes up and the overall range goes down.
So, if one’s score is 158 for example and the mean and average are the same then their SDMB IQ is 138 but if the mean and average vary it could be significantly lower.
This makes it harder to be a genius around here, but even the dumbasses (like me) are still smarter than the average bear.
*(I could be wrong, it’s been a couple of years since I did the math, but I know this has come up before)
Honestly, I just took the test to get into college. I took it in 2001 and got 770 on the verbal and 630 on the math. Now 630 isn’t amazing, but if I were to take it again, I’d probably slip to around the 50th percentile. I didn’t study for the test, but I always got good grades, cause I’m a nerd and take tests well. I majored in something that did not have impressive math/science requirements (Algebra and Calc for Business, Stats I, and two science classes). I’ve lost all my calculus skills. I don’t remember how to factor equations. I remember basic algebra and arithmetic, of course, and I could figure out more complicated problems if I had a reference. I just don’t care, though. I did not keep my math skills up to the level they were when I graduated from high school.
However, my job requires quite a bit of written communication, I’m a bookworm, and I like word games. I think my verbal skill would be about the same, if not better. I didn’t mean “current” the way it would apply to a constantly changing job. That wasn’t really clear, I realize.
1010011010 just for you, here’s my scores. (According to the link you provided, my pre-1995 SAT I scores are 705 verbal and 630 math, so 1335.)
IQ Stanford-Binet: 141
IQ Cattell: 162
IQ Wechsler: 138
Standard deviation: 2.5625
GRE(V+Q): 1344
SAT(<95): 1335
Percentile: 99.48
Rarity (1/X): 192
What exactly does “percentile” refer to? I just really doubt I’m in the 99th percentile of the population. Maybe the population who bothers with tests like these but what does that tell you? The tests are oriented to people who take them.
I realize I’m probably coming across as a bit combative about this, and I really don’t intend to. Sorry about that. I don’t really have enough knowledge about IQ tests to have an informed opinion on this conversion table. I just have a lifetime of doing well on standardized tests and a constant suspicion that they really didn’t matter. I’ve somehow managed to find intelligent friends without sorting them by test scores. shrug
Some people are good with cars, some people are good with sports, some people are good with electronics or wood or metal or other people, some people are good with standardized testing. That’s my take on it, anyway.
That wasn’t really clear, I realize.