IQ testing is quite flawed. There are many factors that influence a person's ability to answer "correctly". If you are unfamiliar with the test question formats, you could easily be thrown by the way the questions are posed. Tests, whether for IQ or general knowledge, require some preparation. As one who suffers rom ADD and test anxiety, I will easily miss words like "usually", "seldom", etc. if I am rushing under a time limit. As one who can categorize a series in many different ways, I can over-interpret a question and get stuck weighing the options. Then, if the vocabulary used is unclear, it's a potential failure again. Taking tests like these will produce false results (usually against the test taker) if the test taker is presented with an unfamiliar format.
I developed a simple test strategy for myself to combat my ADD interfering with my ability to answer questions. I don't remember the name of the test, but it was a test of general knowledge, vocabulary, math, and analogies. I bought the test book, and on my first practice I didn't finish on time and approximately half of my answers were incorrect. I had a lot to work on - timing, vocabulary, question interpretation, and ultimately choosing the correct answer. My analytical skills were in good order, but my ADD was difficult to harness. As the test involved selecting an answer from A, B, C, or D, I realized that I would read each possible answer before selecting it. That is where I got into trouble. I wasted time in my debate between all the choices. Once I had clogged my head with all the possibilities, I would get lost in the mire and lose all ability to focus. My strategy was to select the answer in my head before looking at the options. Based on the questions, the answer could be an emotion, a type of animal, a drawing with a missing part, a number, or some obscure word related to an idea (being mindful of an adjective, noun, or verb form). I was keenly aware that by looking at all 4 possibilities before answering would confuse me, I selected a probable answer before looking at the choices. Here, I was able to combat this aspect of my own learning disability so that I wouldn't make what teachers used to call a "careless error". I hate that term.
IQ tests throw a lot of unfamiliar test formats at people, and I believe that our inability to easily follow something new or different at a moment's notice gives us a serious disadvantage on tests of all kinds. Cultural biases can be harmful to all people. In our common language, there are terms that some people don't use. Consider foyer, entryway, front hall, or vestibule. Many of us need mental visuals to help us understand a situation. Unfamiliar words, or regionally preferred vocabulary, make that impossible for some.
Let logic and experience tell you what real intelligence is. The IQ rating system has its place, but it is by no means a guarantee or superiority or inferiority in learning or function. I tested near genius on an IQ test as an adolescent, but I have yet to see it played out in my life. I'm good at the paper folds and finding a clock in a drawing of a room, but I don't feel exceptionally bright. There are brilliant people who lock themselves out of their own houses, more than once.
It's difficult to produce a single number that represents a person's IQ. We all have strengths and weaknesses in the ways our minds operate. Standardized tests can't accommodate all the variables.
