IQ testing

[Propianotuner]

I'm interesting in prompting a fairly open ended discussion about IQ testing, the history of it, different tests, how they are designed and scored, their accuracy, and how well they relate to intelligence. Also it would be great if others are also comfortable sharing their own results; that is, if they happen to have taken such a test.

Two years ago someone with the social security administration had concerns about my eligibility for disability benefits so I was asked to consent to an IQ test given by a proctor of their choosing. I took the test and my scores apparently contributed to them discontinuing my benefits, which turned out to be okay because I had been wanting to participate in the workforce for some time and I soon found employment.

Interestingly enough we were able to dispute their claim and clarify that people on the autism spectrum can have average or above average intelligence scores, can handle lots of basic functions you'd expect from a person, but still struggle to hold down jobs. After all that was the reason I was on disability in the first place, and I had tried and failed at several jobs during all of that time. So the administration accepted our appeal and agreed that it makes sense to assist a person with these kinds of difficulties if they find themselves jobless once again and seeking further employment, especially if they demonstrate their initiative to acquire more gainful employment.

I've attached my own results in a .zip file. (Edit: still working on how to attach the desired pages of the document without only uploading the first page)

 

[Mr Allen]

Meh, I had an official test from the local Autism Centre last year, and I still don't know my results, except I do know that contrary to the opinion of most of the Internet, I am NOT retarded.

 

[Progster]

I've never had an IQ test and have no idea what my IQ is and don't particularly care to know, but based on my academic background, I think it's problably slightly above average, perhaps around 115-120. That's just a guess. I certainly don't claim extremely high IQ or high intellect that many Aspies claim to have, I seem to have missed out on that one!

I don't think that IQ tests are an accurate measure of a person's true intelligence. I recently read a book by Donna Williams, in which she claims that her IQ tested at around 75. This is below average. If you look at this book, it's complexity and organisation, there's absolutely no way this person could be 'dull', as Mensa would describe it. The official IQ tests test your ability to perform those particular tasks on that particular day and may vary wildly according to how you slept, what you ate, were you distracted, etc.

I have taken these 'for fun' online IQ tests and have got anything between 100 and 140, depending on my functioning and concentration on that day. I work slowly but with a great deal of accuracy, and IQ tests require you to work both quickly and accurately, so I don't do too well in timed tests. I'm easily distracted and stressed by a clock ticking down, so I think that I would be at a disadvantage if I were to take such a test.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Wake me up when someone shows up with a four figure IQ.

 

[clg114]

I was diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome using the criteria in the old DSM-4. This criteria says that the difference between AS and classic autism is that in AS there are no delays in the linguistic and cognitive areas. The intelligence has to be at least average for a AS diagnosis and a IQ test is given to make that determination. I was given a IQ test as part of my diagnosis in 2008. I do know what the results were, however I do not feel comfortable reveling my test scores.

 

[WildCat]

Off topic, but...

1. Only the first page is in the .zip file in the attachment in .tiff format (is there more to it? can you use a different format like .png or .jpeg?) and...
2. your personal information is in there, like your full name (can you edit these parts out? how about just the results instead?)

I don't have any intent to do anything malicious with it, just simply reminding you of that.

On topic, I don't have any in-depth results from the last official test I took (which was in 2003). I tested in at least the normal range of intellectual functioning, and that's all I'm aware of. This and my childhood history is what lead to a diagnosis of "high-functioning autism".

 

[Propianotuner]

1. Only the first page is in the .zip file in the attachment in .tiff format (is there more to it? can you use a different format like .png or .jpeg?) and...

I tried different formats, used multiple different editors to make various saves and copies, and it's still only showing the first page? Ugh... I didn't want it to just be hearsay, though, I wanted to be trustworthy and demonstrate that I'm comfortable sharing.

2. your personal information is in there, like your full name (can you edit these parts out? how about just the results instead?)

Perhaps I should remove it? I can share the results for now but I'll need to figure out how to put up the two pages of that document I actually wanted to share.

I don't have any intent to do anything malicious with it, just simply reminding you of that.

Thanks, WC. Oh, and by the way, I really don't mind you guys knowing my name here on autism forums. Perhaps that's foolish and ignorant but I don't see what harm there is in knowing my name alone.

On topic, I don't have any in-depth results from the last official test I took (which was in 2003). I tested in at least the normal range of intellectual functioning, and that's all I'm aware of. This and my childhood history is what lead to a diagnosis of "high-functioning autism".

Are you interested in knowing more? It should be in your medical file and I'm quite confident they're legally required to let you access your own medical information.

My scores on WAIS IV are as follows:

Full scale IQ 111, 77th percentile
Verbal comprehension 103, 58th percentile
Perceptual reasoning 107, 68th percentile
Working memory 133, 99th percentile
Processing speed 84, 14th percentile

As for the subtests, an average score is 8-12 but it didn't explain how the whole scale worked, so I don't know what it means as well as I understand the scores above.

Verbal comprehension:

Similarities 8
Information 14
Comprehension 10

Perceptual reasoning:

Block design 11
Matrix reasoning 13
Visual puzzles 10

Working memory:

Digit span 18
Arithmetic 14

Processing speed:

Coding 7

 

[WildCat]

Perhaps I should remove it? I can share the results for now but I'll need to figure out how to put up the two pages of that document I actually wanted to share.

It may be a good idea to just remove it unless the sensitive information is edited.

Thanks, WC. Oh, and by the way, I really don't mind you guys knowing my name here on autism forums. Perhaps that's foolish and ignorant but I don't see what harm there is in knowing my name alone.

As you wish, but just so you know (excluding the private areas) the innards of this forum can and will show up on a Google search. Again, I don't intend to do anything malicious, but I can't speak for everyone else on the internet

Are you interested in knowing more? It should be in your medical file and I'm quite confident they're legally required to let you access your own medical information.

I am a tad bit interested to be honest only out of curiosity (knowing what I know now about IQ tests), but that would involve trying to find detailed results from whatever place I was diagnosed, and since this was years back I've forgotten most of the where and what.

I know that I scored in the "high average" range for both the verbal and perceptual parts overall and that my scores fluctuated a lot, but it didn't go into depth with percentiles and scaled scores.

 

[WittyAspie]

If I knew my IQ I would share it, but my mom refused to let me know my score when I took an official IQ test in sixth grade. She said something about it changing how hard I worked in school. I’m pretty sure at this point she has lost my results, so I may never know my IQ. I guess it’s not a big deal. It won’t change my life or anything. But I do wish my mom hadn’t been scared to share the truth with me.

 

[unreality]

I'm nearly 100% certain that IQ tests are generally close, but they can be significantly off. I've taken IQ tests a lot of times and it varies from 130 to nearly the max lol. It's rather easy to improve your IQ score. Mensa members do it.

The problem is that a written test can't gauge everyone in such a short period of time. Same goes for online mental disorder tests. They can be close, even accurate, but they can also be incorrect. There are people who initially appear to have low intelligence, but give them a week thinking on a task you'll find a genius, an Einstein, a deep thinker. It takes them awhile to get thinking juices flowing, like a locomotive.

Besides that, everyone thinks different. Even their perception of consciousness can be different. I've heard plenty of people say it feels like their consciousness is in their heart. Some say it feels like it's in their throat. Most say their head. Some people think more with imagery. Some think more with words. Some think almost entirely with emotions. A 2 hour test is fine if you're talking about the average American IQ, but I don't give much credit to individual IQ scores.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I've taken IQ tests a lot of times and it varies from 130 to nearly the max lol.

I scored the max,as you defined it 'lol'

I try to go for Max lol, happy with mini lol

 

[unreality]

Also your IQ score decreases every year because of the Flynn effect. Every year all IQ scores are adjusted because average IQ must be 100. Since the average IQ is increasing by a significant amount from generation to generation they have to adjust it. Poor Einstein used to have an incredibly high IQ. It's getting a bit low these days lol.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

• Also your IQ score decreases every year because of the Flynn effect. Every year all IQ scores are adjusted because average IQ must be 100. Since the average IQ is increasing by a significant amount from generation to generation they have to adjust it. Poor Einstein used to have an incredibly high IQ. It's getting a bit low these days lol.

They kept his brain,right?
Wonder if they kept his ego

 

[Shamar]

Read "The Mismeasure of Man" by Stephen Jay Gould. Then think about it for a bit.

 

[Propianotuner]

Read "The Mismeasure of Man" by Stephen Jay Gould. Then think about it for a bit.

Shucks, I was hoping you'd share some thoughts of your own... Care to tell us your conclusions on the book or were we supposed to arrive at the same conclusions? Or is this a guessing game?

 

[Propianotuner]

Also your IQ score decreases every year because of the Flynn effect. Every year all IQ scores are adjusted because average IQ must be 100. Since the average IQ is increasing by a significant amount from generation to generation they have to adjust it. Poor Einstein used to have an incredibly high IQ. It's getting a bit low these days lol.

What's a significant amount? British scores on Raven's Progressive Matrices went up an average of 14 points over almost 70 years. To me that looks like the difference between potential malnourishment and lack of adequate resources in the past and generally easier living in a 1st world country today.

Results are even beginning to come out which show a possible end to the Flynn effect. Also of note is that the Flynn effect is an observed change in the average. Scores on the higher end have not increased significantly, rather the bell curve has changed because the scores on the lower end evened out more.

Lastly it's worth considering that what IQ tests are designed in order to try and measure, the g-factor (i.e. general intelligence), may not have increased at all. IQ tests are still too narrow in their scope, and culture and education have been known to play heavily into average scores within a country. Countries without many of the modern living advantages don't do quite as well with the tests. At the least, I think that it would be reasonably more accurate if new tests were designed with several more subtests and careful consideration given to designing those tests in a way that isn't flawed due to cultural bias.

 

[unreality]

What's a significant amount? British scores on Raven's Progressive Matrices went up an average of 14 points over almost 70 years. To me that looks like the difference between potential malnourishment and lack of adequate resources in the past and generally easier living in a 1st world country today.

Results are even beginning to come out which show a possible end to the Flynn effect. Also of note is that the Flynn effect is an observed change in the average. Scores on the higher end have not increased significantly, rather the bell curve has changed because the scores on the lower end evened out more.

Lastly it's worth considering that what IQ tests are designed in order to try and measure, the g-factor (i.e. general intelligence), may not have increased at all. IQ tests are still too narrow in their scope, and culture and education have been known to play heavily into average scores within a country. Countries without many of the modern living advantages don't do quite as well with the tests. At the least, I think that it would be reasonably more accurate if new tests were designed with several more subtests and careful consideration given to designing those tests in a way that isn't flawed due to cultural bias.

So far the Flynn effect is going strong with no signs of ending. There's a lot of speculation why it's increasing, but I think it's obvious that people are using their brains more. Toddlers just a few years of age using tablets and smart phones. The internet gives people access to a lot more data and makes them think more.

 

[unreality]

In terms of physical changes to the brain, there's peer reviewed research that confirms the brain is changing by noticeable amounts from generation to generation. I don't have the links, but it's not difficult to find.

Also there's neuroplasticity, which is different than what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Academics are learning a lot about the brain that was once thought impossible.

Neuroplasticity - Wikipedia

 

[Tom]

I don't believe IQ scores mean anything actually, except perhaps you are good at this or that puzzle or math problems. I had a friend on another Aspie site who was intelligent, sharp and witty. An interesting person. She had a IQ around 80.

 

[AloneNotLonely]

All we really know about the Flynn Effect is that it's there. At the very least, leaded gasoline's phaseout can account for like 2-6 IQ points. There's such huge differences between life in 1900 and 2000+ that blaming it on the tests is a little premature. Gene expression is another newly discovered factor that could have an effect on this. There's so many factors that it isn't at all strange to think that adding them all together could fully account for the Flynn Effect.

The accuracy of IQ tests is pretty brutal. Violent crime, poverty, job performance are all strongly influenced by IQ. It even affects health and lifespan. No amount of politically correct chanting of "IQ tests are racist" can explain away the effect IQ has on these things.

As for the different tests, I think pure visual tests are the best. CFIT, SPM, CPM, etc. Only annoying thing about CFIT is that it uses 24 points per standard deviation. So without the specification that it's a CFIT test, CFIT IQ scores can be seriously misinterpreted. Psychologists can come up with all kinds of funny weird tests for IQ, but I think pure visual tests are tried and true so there's no real reason to add in additional clutter that can only increase the chances of an incorrect measurement of IQ.