Intelligence quotient

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IQ or intelligence quotient is a measurement of how smart someone is. If you have an IQ of 100 then you are average, 200 means you are twice as good as average, and 50 means that you are half as good as average. They say that 80-120 is normal, that less than 70 means you are disabled and more than 130 means that you are a genius.

In about 1970 people thought that an IQ was very important. In some parts of the world, like the USA and Australia, you had to have a good IQ to go to high school and university. In the movie "Forrest Gump", the main character had to have an IQ of 75 to be allowed to go to high school. This was changed in 1984 after a court said it was unfair to use IQ to let people in to school.

When Howard Gardener made a theory called Multiple Intelligences or EQ, people stopped using IQ tests. They decided that everyone was just as smart as everyone else, just that they were good at different things. Other theories like Edward de Bono's Hats also talked about different ways to tell how smart you are.

[edit] Very low IQs

People with very low IQ scores are said to be disabled. Very low scores are often because of an accident or disease that hurts the brain. It is very unusual to get a very low score if you have a healthy brain.

  • 50 to 70 is someone with mild mental retardation
  • 35 to 55 is someone with moderate retardation
  • 20 to 40 is someone with severe mental retardation
  • below 25 is profound mental retardation that is caused by an accident

[edit] Very high IQs

People with very high IQs are said to be geniuses. These are some of the highest IQ scores ever:

  • A woman called Marilyn vos Savant had an IQ of 228 (Guinness World Records, 1986)
  • A young boy called William James Sidis was said to have an IQ of between 250-300.
  • A man called Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had an IQ of 210.
  • A man called Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz had an IQ of 205.

However, Albert Einstein was said to have an IQ of only about 130, and lots of people say that Albert Einstein was the smartest person ever. Albert Einstein is also thought to have had Asperger's Syndrome.

[edit] Criticism

The IQ is calculated based on a test people do. The test is centered on finding patterns and telling which objects belong together, and which do not. Scientists however, cannot agree on what intelligence is. It is therefore unlikely that a test, like those done as IQ tests can tell something about intelligence.

Also, people who have problems taking tests will also have problems taking an IQ test. They might be rated with a low score, and feel like they are unintelligent.