In Arthur Miller’s celebrated play Death of a Salesman (1949) Willy Loman, the main character expresses what would become a popularly accepted measure of success: The man [Willy’s brother Ben] knew what he wanted and went out and got it! Walked into a jungle and comes out, the age of 21, and he’s rich! … …
Does EQ (Emotional Intelligence) Trump IQ in the Workplace? Read More »
When this question appeared this week on our Quora site, https://www.intelligence-and-iq.com/the-many-faces-of-intelligence/, it generated a lot of discussion, revealing some different perceptions of IQ. Who do you think would win such a contest had it been possible? The reason why this “thought experiment” has value, is that your answer reflects your perception of the meaning of …
If Einstein had spent as many hours on chess, would he be able to beat Bobby Fischer? Read More »
From the early 1930s and beyond, IQ tests were periodically restandardized. This meant that the researchers had to administer the IQ tests to a large number of people and set the average performance at 100. However, it was discovered that people were achieving scores substantially higher than 100 on the same IQ tests as those …
To answer this question, I must clarify what I mean by “giftedness,” because the concept of giftedness is currently under challenge. The California Department of Education, in their draft of the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools, K-12, asserts: We reject ideas of natural gifts and talents…an important goal of this framework is to replace …
Do you over-estimate or under-estimate your intelligence? As you passed through puberty and moved progressively toward adulthood, you observed your burgeoning physical and intellectual power. Suddenly, you were towering above some of the adults whom you had looked up to all your life, and your understanding of the world around you was growing in leaps …
In 1946, J.B.S. Haldane, an English scientist stated: We cannot in general say that A has a greater innate ability than B. A might do better in environment X, and B in environment Y. Had I been born in a Glasgow slum I should very probably have become a chronic drunkard, and if so, I …
Subscribing to the belief that special programs for the mathematically gifted are elitist and/or racist, the California Department of Education, has drafted the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools, K-12 document. The first chapter of that document, throws down the gauntlet asserting: We reject ideas of natural gifts and talents…an important goal of this …
This is a fascinating question on which people will have a wide range of opinions, though no one really knows the answer. The best we can do is to speculate, based on our observation of particular cases. Studies of identical twins raised apart have shown that there is a genetic component to intelligence, yet our …
Yes, IQ is actually a quotient. For adults (those above 18 years of age) there is a common test, the most popular of which is the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale). The WAIS is age-normed across age-groups up to and including 70–74 years. The WAIS manual enables a psychometrician to convert an absolute score on …
The following post is a response to a request that I address Taleb’s assertions. In his criticism of research related to IQ, Nassim Taleb addresses some of the misconceptions about IQ and makes some valid observations about the interpretation of IQ at its high end. However, some of his assertions fly in the face of …
