| Subject: Re: Assignment #3 |
Author:
Joshua Gardner
|
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Date Posted: 13:03:10 06/19/10 Sat
In reply to:
Dr. M-J
's message, "Assignment #3" on 12:17:50 06/19/10 Sat
>Assignment 3 (Intelligence):
>
>Prior to going to the following websites, write down
>your opinion of IQ testing and you believe your IQ to
>be. Take the designmated tests for
>1) Classical IQ test:
>
><a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/classical_iq_r2_access">http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/classical_iq_r2_access</a>
>.html
>2) Culture-fair IQ test:
>
><a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idR">http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idR</a>
>egTest=1112
>2) Emotional intelligence:
>
><a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/emotional_iq_r2_access">http://www.queendom.com/tests/iq/emotional_iq_r2_access</a>
>.html
>
>Post to the discussion board your opinion of IQ tests,
>both prior to and after taking the above tests. Did
>it change during the course of taking the tests? How
>accurate did you find the tests? How were the results
>useful to you? What parts of the tests were most
>challenging for you? (The posting of your scores on
>these tests is not required.)
Prior to Website Tests:
I believe that IQ testing can be used as a partial test of a person’s intelligence, but all of a person’s intellectual ability should not be based off of an IQ test. IQ tests are culture specific; what I mean by that is tests designed in the United States are based on certain values, norms, and ideas that are unique to the people of the United States. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test is one of the most commonly used IQ test in the United States, but some of the questions on it might sound quite strange and unfathomable to someone of a different culture.
Suppose an immigrant recently moved to the United States to take a new office job, and he is still learning the ways of our culture. His employing company has its entire staff take an IQ test because the company wants to be able to boast that it has the brightest employees of any branch in the United States. He feels very confident about the test because in his native country he scored a 130 on their IQ test. While taking the test, our immigrant is confused by certain questions because he has never heard terms like the metro (public transportation) or a silo (agricultural storage shed). His IQ score comes back as a 70, which by United States standards would make him borderline mentally disabled. Does this 60 point difference in IQ scores mean the United States is smarter than his native country? Is the United States’ test harder than his native country’s test? The answer is no; he was just not prepared for the culture differences shown by the test.
IQ tests are also skill specific; the tests only test a person for a limited amount of knowledge and procedures. I have never seen an IQ test that asked me about assembling the engine of a car, which is good because I would be in trouble and likely fail the test. Someone else, however, may know everything there is to know about car engines, but since car engines are not asked about on IQ tests, the individual does not get credit for what he/she knows. The individual may not be able to tell you what the 152nd shape in a pattern will be, but he/she could certainly tell you why your engine keeps stalling out.
I am a firm believer in Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. The common IQ tests simply do not test for all 8 different intelligences. The tests need to have more diverse types of questions and skill opportunities on them.
After Tests:
On the “Classical IQ Test” I noticed several of the scenarios I described above, where there were words that people may not readily identify with in the questions. People who do not eat fruits and vegetables may not know what an asparagus is. Not everyone drinks alcohol or may know that gin and whiskey are types of liquor. Not everyone is going to know what a haiku or and entomologist are, but does that truly mean they are less intelligent, or are they just unknowledgeable in those areas? I don’t think they are any less capable of understanding what those words mean; it’s just simply that they may not have heard them.
On the “Culture-fair IQ Test,” the only questions administered were spatial and logical reasoning. A person may be weaker in those areas, but quite strong in verbal/linguistics. According to that test, however, they would not be considered very intelligent.
My opinion of IQ tests did not change following my taking of these tests. I still think that IQ tests need to cover a larger base of items and skills. I do like the fact that the classical IQ test used questions of verbal/linguistic reasoning, mathematical ability, spatial reasoning, and logics. I found the results of the tests pretty accurate with the results of the tests I have taken in the past. I knew that I typically scored above average in vocabulary and shape/pattern recognition. The most challenging part for me was answering all of the questions for the culture-fair test; the repetitive nature of solving all the shapes and patterns was starting to give me a headache, and I didn’t concentrate on each one like I should have.
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