A forum for discussion ideas
Although some psychologists argue that giftedness is a myth and that extraordinary performance is merely a consequence of deliberate practice, there is substantial evidence that some people are born with extraordinary cognitive skills that we refer to as “giftedness.” Ellen Winner, psychologist at Boston College, drawing upon research from MRI scans, Winner states: Indirect evidence …
The concept of IQ emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, but formal IQ tests such as WAIS (the Weschler test) did not emerge until the 1950’s. (Visit this site for a brief history of their development: Why were IQ tests developed originally?) Consequently, Einstein’s IQ was never measured. However, based on his achievements …
Do you know the IQs of Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and Terence Tao? Read More »
Many people who have scored an IQ below 120 feel they are barred from the high paying professions by the limitations prescribed by their IQ score. They fail to recognize that IQ is merely a rough estimate of one’s intelligence that does not include measures of creativity, inventiveness, passion or tenacity–all qualities that play a …
What is the point of having career and educational goals if it’s all predicted by IQ? Read More »
A study, titled One Personality Trait Distinguishes Gifted People, and reported in Psychology Today on November 14, 2021, looked at correlations between giftedness and the Big 5 traits (Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Neuroticism and Agreeableness). They found the following:* • Giftedness seems like a blessing but may be a burden. • Gifted individuals have learning differences, including …
There is a great deal of variation in how individuals, whether highly intelligent or not, react to someone making a false or inaccurate statement. Those who have limited people skills are likely to point out the error with an air of certainty and self-righteousness. This is perceived by the recipient of the correction as a …
No one knows exactly what we mean by intelligence, but as Justice Potter Stewart of the US Supreme Court said in 1964, “Intelligence is like porn, difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.” When we observe members of our species we see some who learn quickly, can solve problems easily, and …
What Scientific Evidence validates IQ tests as a measure of intelligence? Read More »
The graph below shows the distribution of IQ across the human population. The shaded region shows that 84% of humans have an IQ less than 115, while 2.4% of people are above 130 and separated in IQ from half the population by more than two standard deviations. This very significant difference in IQ means that …
How Does a High iQ affect a person’s social skills? Read More »
The post below was written in response to a question from Leslie. Leslie, a person of average student can raise their performance in school or college by immersing themselves in their studies and developing a deep interest in the content. When you are excited by the content of a subject, you can invest long hours …
High intelligence is probably a prerequisite for genius, especially the kind of genius that is expressed in abstract fields like mathematics, physics and the other sciences, because measures of intelligence are highly correlated with performance in these fields. In the arts, high intelligence may be less important than a special creativity, skill or knowledge. Shakespeare’s …
What is the difference between High intelligence and genius? Read More »
The graph below from Intelligence, IQ and Perception, shows the various cognitive skills that are tested on the WAIS III IQ subtests. You can see that vocabulary is a component of the verbal comprehension index, so a large vocabulary would certainly enhance an IQ score. However, there are many other important cognitive skills under the …
