17 Bit Software 2: Collection B/17Bit_Collection_B.iso/files/1438.dms/in.adf/IQ_TEST/apback

Text File | 1978-02-11 | 6.3 KB | 229 lines

    BACKGROUND

Intelligence tests and IQ scores were
not as popular as they once were but
most of us at one time or another
have done some form of aptitude or
intelligence test at some stage in
our lives. You may have done them at
school or may have sat for one when
applying for a job.

I.Q. stands for Intelligence Quotient.
It is calculated by dividing a
person's theoretical mental age by
their actual chronological age,
which is rounded off to the nearest
month.

If a person's level of achievement is
equal to the average of a particular
age group then their IQ score is 100.
Hence if an 7 year old performs equal
to the average of a 14 year old then
their mental age is considered to be
twice their chronological age.
In other words they would have an IQ
of 200.

A person scoring average for their age
is considered to have an IQ of 100.
e.g. A 10 year old scoring equal to
the average 15 year old would be
considered to have an IQ of 150.

A ten year old scoring equal to the
average 8 year old would have an IQ
of 80.

Past the age of about 15 and a half,
chronological age becomes irrelevant
and the score is not modified by age.

Scores loosely follow the so-called
normal distribution which forms a
graph approximately shaped like an
inverted U. When all the results of
a group of individuals are taken
into account, most will have scores
around the mean while there will be
fewer and fewer people scoring at
the lower and upper bounds.

Last century, there was a school of
thought which held that a person's
`intelligence' could be measured by
the size of a persons brain.
Ironically, one of the chief fans
of phrenology turned out to have quite
a small brain when his skull was
examined after death.

Around the turn of the century a
Frenchman by the name of Binet
developed tests which were aimed at
identifying schoolchildren who would
likely to have trouble with academic
type thinking and may need remedial
assistance.

These tests were altered and made
considerably more competitive, by
pupporting to quantify
`intelligence' and place all
individuals on a scale, with the
highest scoring being the most
intelligent and the lowest scoring
the least. The modified forms of the
original tests became known as the
Stanford-Binet (After Stanford
University in California).

This test became the standard and
even today, tests are standardized
(modified to match with) with the
Stanford-Binet.

The way these particular tests are
scored is based on comparing the
scores of a number of individuals
with their scores on an official
IQ test and also by estimating the
relative difficulty of the questions
and the time allowed for them with
tests in a few books on popular
psychology.

I cannot guarantee  a 100%
correlation with the Standford-Binet
or statisticly viable tests unless
I have the results of thousands of
people from all walks of life.

With a bit of luck, initial scores
at least, should not be too
different from what you would score
on a standard test (but no
guarantee!).

The first instances of mass testing
occurred during the recruitment of
U.S. soldiers in the first world
war. What tasks a soldier was given
to perform, and which soldiers were
to be trained as officers, were
determined by results in these
tests.

Mass testing spread to schools etc.
In Britain the Eleven-plus tests
were devised, which were used to
determine whether children entered
grammar school, high school or
technical shool. In Australia
similar `streaming' has been
widely used.

It was hoped by some, that an IQ
score would be a good indication of
a person's current or potential
social standing. Though there is
some correlation with the type of
occupation, it is amusing to note
that in one study, derelicts and
tramps, who were expected to rank
at the bottom, averaged better than
policemen, firemen and salesgirls.
In some instances, people who had
been placed in institutions, scored
better than the average university
student. Ironically, a system which
some people expected to rank
people according to their social
status and breeding, turned out to
be an equalizer in this instance.

For a large part of this century, it
Several decades ago there were some
half baked theories being thrown
around that performance on these
of tests was relatively fixed and
did not change significantly during
a lifetime. This was supposed to be
because they tested some kind of
"innate intelligence" which was
fixed by your genes.

Middle class people with
enriched intellecual environments
tend to do better on these kinds of
tests. For example, a correlation
between IQ scores and the number of
books in a household has been found.

Because of this,there have been some
attempts at using so called `culture
fair' tests, in which verbal items
were tended to be replaced with
non-verbal ones.

I believe that tests of any sort are
a test of an acquired skill and that
different thinking skills can be
acquired the same as anything else.

It is presumed that you have basic
numeracy and literacy. If you don't
this may be a handicap in the
quizzes.

I have tried to only use commonly
used (high frequency) words in the
tests, particuarly in the verbal
tests wich can easily become a
straight vocabuarly test. Ideally,
these should test how clearly you
can think, not how much you know.

Other basic skills, which would have
been acquired by most people with
even an only elementary standard of
education are presumed.

Assets such as a wide vocabuarly and
a good general knowledge are NOT
necessary to obtain good scores in
these tests. More important are
speed, accuracy, concentration and
imagination.

Remember you are trying to maximize
your score. Try and give the answer
that is expected rather than try
to find obscure alternative answers.
No doubt on some questions there may
be the possibility that an unusual
alternative answer exists, but this
is hardly your objective.

Here is your chance to have a fling
at some puzzles resembling these
tests for your own enjoyment.
Hopefully, you will find that
practice will greatly improve your
scores and the idea of an aptitude
score being fixed can be debunked.

Questions are randomly picked, and
in some cases randomly created so
the tests are different each time
and can be done again and again.

In this version of the program there
are over 300 questions are in the
complete version(recieved after you
have paid your shareware
contribution) there are over 600.

Have fun and good luck!