Brendan Kelly Ph.D.

Brendan Kelly is Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. He is author of over 50 books including the recent "Intelligence, IQ & Perception", and "Intelligence: Where we Were, Where we Are & Where we’re Going." He holds two doctorate degrees: a Ph.D. in Mathematics (Number Theory) from U. of T. and an Ed.D. in Computer Applications from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and he curates his site on Quora titled, “IQ & Intelligence.”

If we breed mice for hundreds of generations and select them for intelligence performance could we end up getting animals approaching human intelligence?

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The kinds of skills that mice would acquire would probably depend upon how their intelligence was measured during each culling. If you had mice running through mazes, then selective breeding, based on their success would eventually generate mice with a high capability for navigating through mazes. However, they would not develop a brain with all …

If we breed mice for hundreds of generations and select them for intelligence performance could we end up getting animals approaching human intelligence? Read More »

If the distribution of IQ follows a normal curve with a mean at 100, and it’s recorded that IQ exceeds 200, does it imply that there may exist a person with negative IQ?

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No, IQ is defined as mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100, so it is a quotient of two positive numbers and must therefore be non-negative. The normal curve that gives the distribution of IQ shows the IQ scores from 0 to an unlimited upper bound. The area under the normal curve …

If the distribution of IQ follows a normal curve with a mean at 100, and it’s recorded that IQ exceeds 200, does it imply that there may exist a person with negative IQ? Read More »

Is it true that all people with higher IQs are good in math?

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Mathematics at the elementary school level consists of some fundamental concepts like place value for writing numerals, and the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) with whole numbers fractions, and decimals. These skills can be mastered by anyone of average IQ though some people of limited IQ will have to work harder than someone …

Is it true that all people with higher IQs are good in math? Read More »

In a few answers here on Quora, I noticed the initials SD in reference to intelligence. What does that mean?

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SD stands for “standard deviation.” It is a measure of how much the data deviates from the mean. For example, in most standard IQ tests, the mean IQ is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. Performance on IQ tests is closely approximated by a bell-shaped curve such that about 2/3 of the population have …

In a few answers here on Quora, I noticed the initials SD in reference to intelligence. What does that mean? Read More »

I’ve a Mensa-level IQ score and graduated top of my year in law school. Nonetheless, I struggle with work that doesn’t entail deep understanding and abstraction. It’s a challenge to maintain focus on process-driven tasks. How might I overcome this?

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For those of us who enjoy deep abstract challenges, routine tasks like filling out forms, completing documents and other process-driven tasks are excruciatingly tedious. Becoming deeply involved in solving a mathematics problem or reading a deep analysis of a historical event is so engaging that mundane tasks, by contrast, become repugnant. During my years of …

I’ve a Mensa-level IQ score and graduated top of my year in law school. Nonetheless, I struggle with work that doesn’t entail deep understanding and abstraction. It’s a challenge to maintain focus on process-driven tasks. How might I overcome this? Read More »

Does the 10,000 hour rule apply for high IQ individuals?

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Yes, according to Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers 10,000 hours is the approximate time that a person must dedicate to practising a skill or learning a subject to reach the highest echelon of proficiency or expertise. The idea was originally expressed by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson who studied violinists. His research revealed that the …

Does the 10,000 hour rule apply for high IQ individuals? Read More »

If a 12-year-old child takes an IQ test and gets a score that indicates that he has an IQ below the average, does it mean that the probability of her having a normal IQ is almost zero?

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Definitely not! Many 12-year-olds are not tuned into test-taking and make little effort toward scoring well, because they see the test as unimportant. Have her take the test in subsequent years to determine whether this was an exceptional instance and encourage her to do her best. Her performance in school and her subsequent IQ scores …

If a 12-year-old child takes an IQ test and gets a score that indicates that he has an IQ below the average, does it mean that the probability of her having a normal IQ is almost zero? Read More »

The more I learn about IQ, the more down-cast I become at this knowledge. Do you have any wisdom for those with lower IQs or learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia) that wish to be successful in life?

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In a meta-analysis of the relationship between intelligence and socioeconomic success, psychologist Tarmo Strenze surveyed a wide range of research papers dealing with the relationship between these two variables. His study yielded estimates of the correlation between IQ and income that ranged between 0.15 and 0.27. ( Strenze, Tarmo. 2007. “Intelligence and Socioeconomic Success: A …

The more I learn about IQ, the more down-cast I become at this knowledge. Do you have any wisdom for those with lower IQs or learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia) that wish to be successful in life? Read More »

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