Most people know that IQ is a measure of how clever a person is, but what is it exactly, and how is it calculated?
It all started with a french psychologist named Alfred Binet in 1905. He was working with retarded children and devised a test with his associate Theodore Simon to measure the mental age of children, as opposed to their chronological age. Then in 1912, the german psychologist William Stern devised a ratio of mental age to chronological age. He found that this ratio remained constant as children grew into adults.
This ratio was called the "Intelligence Quotient" or IQ and is equal to:
100 x (mental age/Chronological Age).
So if you are 40 years old, but have the intelligence of an average 34 year old, your IQ is :
100 x 34/40 = 85. This is a low IQ. An IQ of 100 is normal or average for the whole population, and higher IQs mean that the person is advanced for their age mentally.
The tests that are done to determine your IQ are specially designed to test all areas of your brain: calculations, pattern recognition, series progression, logic, verbal skils, common sense, etc. The results are then compared to the population norm, and an IQ figure is determined. There are a number of different tests in use, some timed and some untimed.
IQ's can be as high as 200 in adults, with some children scoring up to 250. But most people fall into the IQ range of 90 to 110. In fact, around 80% of the population fall into the 80 - 120 range.
Some high IQ individuals were: Thomas Jefferson: about 155 Albert Einstein 170 and Isaac Newton 200
There are many societies for people with high IQs. Mensa requires an IQ of 132 or more, TOPS (Top ne Percent Society) requires an IQ of 137 or more, 150 gets you into the triple nine society and into OATH (One in a thousand) and if you are above 163 you can join the Prometheus Society. There are also a few people that have managed to join the Mega and Pi Societies, with an IQ of higher than 176.
IQ test results have been found to give a remarkably good indication of an individuals abilities and future prospects, and has been useful in predicting how a person will perform in a complex job. Most professors have an IQ of 130, which puts them in the top 3% of the population, for mental ability.
Although IQ test results are not infallible, they are a useful indicator of one's abilities, and the ratio normally stays constant throughout one's life.
