One should know his/her IQ score and use it to evaluate one’s self, but indiscriminately, objectivity should be maintained. For some people, knowing their IQ helps boost their self confidence and morale, and eggs them on to attempt new things, fight challenges or to tax their mental resources and stretch the arch to scale greater heights. For others, it may have adverse effects. Learning that one’s IQ is below average, can be a shattering experience. They may withdraw into themselves and tag themselves complete losers who would never taste any fruit of success. However, it should be remembered that having a high IQ does not ensure success.

Why should one know his or her IQ score? Why is it important to take IQ tests? What weightage do these scores wield on your career?

Millions of people across the globe take IQ and personality tests in schools, colleges and of course as a part of the selection procedure when applying for jobs. IQ and related test scores hold gravity for Central, State and Banking service examinations and for entry to engineering medical and other professional (Management, Administrative) courses. Legislatures, schools and universities, employers, industries, companies, service and other organizations are all using these tests in a multitude of ways to sieve the best from the rest. By best I imply, people best fitted to the requirements or a particular competency model.

Some other contexts where IQ scores are used are as follows:

• They are predictors of educational achievement for a group or controlled batch of students or trainees.
• They are use to identify people with special needs (gifted, disabled, etc.). For instance, a score of above 130 indicates exceptional intelligence and a score below 70 may indicate mental retardation. Testing and analyzing their individual faculties that comprise the total IQ can lead the doctor or analyst to where learning disability lies.

A low IQ score may signal that a child needs different methods of instruction. A learning disabled child, who does not receive early remedial assistance, is very likely to show test scores going downhill. The child may be quite intelligent, but because of poor language and math skills, the child may learn and test like a slow learner. These children with unique needs now have access to different kinds of instruction and instructional media.

• They are examined by social scientists who study the distribution of IQ scores in populations and the relationships between IQ score and other variables, and as predictors of job performance and income.

Sure, scientists have contested the mighty importance and accuracy of IQ as a standard of intelligence as well as the nature of intelligence itself, but there is a general agreement that IQ is a pretty good predictor of success in the educational world. Goes without saying that, a high IQ boosts up the confidence to a great extent.

Controversy

There is a contention amongst parents and educationists over the misuse of IQ tests. Any long term decision about educational needs or placement in a special education setting should consider a series of IQ scores, with a host of other behaviors that are not identified through such tests. Placing children in set ups above their levels can be highly stressful for them. Even the reverse situation can be quite denigrating, as a child might lose interest altogether.

IQ test vs. Achievement test

Do not confuse IQ testing with regular achievement tests which are taken frequently during school and high school life. Achievement tests are given by a teacher for the purposes of reporting to the parents, district, and state what is being learned by each child, class, group in each grade level. Most students have 4 or 5 achievement tests in a year. Teachers also analyze this data in order to determine how effectively they are teaching a subject or subjects so that they can refine their teaching to fit the needs of the students.

What are IQ tests made of? How do they help represent the profile of a person?

Intelligence is made up of the skills of logical reasoning, problem solving, critical thinking, and adaptation.

IQ tests in general consist of Verbal and Performance sections. In each subtest of the Verbal scale, specific areas such as, verbal fluency, vocabulary, expressive language and memory skills are put to test, while in the Performance scale, visual-spatial abilities, numerical abilities, fine motor coordination, perceptual skills, inductive reasoning, rational logic and in some also speed, are essential for scoring.

To be of any practical value, Intelligence tests are always accompanied by a battery of other tests, which can broadly be classified as

1. Psychological Tests
2. Sociological Tests

The former are focused on the individual (intellectual capacity, motive patterns,self concept, perception of the environment, role behaviors, values, level of anxiety or depression, coping patterns and general personality integration) while the latter on the individual’s life situations. The success and precision levels of an Intelligence Test depends to a large extent on the sociological and psychological make-up of the individual in addition to his intelligence. The best example of combined Psychological and sociological assessment is an interview.

The reason why interviews are such a basic part of individual’s assessment is the fact that it involves a face to face conversation between two persons, conducted in such a fashion that the person who is interviewing can get information about the life situation, behavior and personality makeup of the person being interviewed.

Inspite of their mass appeal, interviews too have their limitations. They cannot take into consideration the state of the candidate ( too excited or a bundle of entangled nerves), whether in that stipulated period candidate is posing his best, which might not be his true nature, bringing regret to everybody later on. There is also a likeliness for the candidate to please the ears of the interviewer by telling him what he wishes to hear than what he actually thinks or feels. To eliminate these errors, interviews are carefully structured in terms of goals, contents to be explored and the type of relationship the interviewer intends to establish with the person being interviewed.

What an IQ Test Measures

Here is a common myth which says that IQ tests measure intelligence. What an IQ test actually measures is not actual intelligence, but a person's capacity for intelligence. In other words, it does not test on learned information, but instead, it tests a person's ability to learn information.

Basically, an IQ test measures a person's performance on several indicators, relative to that of his or her peers. It test and analyses the performance of the test taker on a series of analytical, mathematical, and spatial activities, and the success with those endeavors will be represented as an IQ score. The test is meant to measure a person's intelligence; however, the debate over the true meaning of intelligence has been going on for over a hundred years and remains unsettled.

What an IQ Test Does Not Measure

The short answer to this second question is that an IQ does not measure many, many things! An IQ test does not measure creativity, musical affinity, intrinsic motivation, or spiritual gifts, non-academic talents, musical, manual dexterity, interpersonal skills etc.. Because an IQ test can only measure the responses to the questions given, a person who is gifted in areas such as art or music may find that his or her abilities are ignored.

So you see that IQ tests go a long way in helping one analyse one’s learning abilities, identify the soft spots and fortes; it gives one a fair estimation as to where his inteligernce levels lies in comparison to his peers. This in turn greatly assists in selecting your subjects choosing a profession, making a career, so on and so forth. So what are you guys waiting for? Just go ahead and take an IQ test. I bet it will be worth your time.