Understanding Human Intelligence: "Exploring the Link Between IQ and Intelligence: Does IQ Truly Measure Human Intelligence?

Intelligence is a way of acting. If you act smart, you're a smart person regardless of your IQ. – American writer Brian Tracy. 

What exactly is IQ? 

 Meaning of IQ test means the determination of intelligence or intellect. This intelligence is the ratio of mental age to actual age. The mental age is divided by the actual age and multiplied by 100 to get the IQ. 

 The formula for determining IQ is: 

 Intelligence Quotient (I.Q) = (Mental Age / Actual Age) * 100 

 Here multiplication by 100 is done to avoid fractions and 100 is treated as a constant. But to find out the mental age questionnaires are prepared with certain age specific questions. If a person can answer all the questions correctly, then his mental age will be equal to that particular age. For example, if a 10-year-old child can correctly answer questions designed for 10-year-olds, his mental age will be 10, which is the same as his actual age. Again if he can answer the questions correctly for the age of 13, then his mental age will be 13.

Test takers can be classified in many ways according to the values ​​derived from this formula. Generally, if the value is below 70, it is considered to be dull, between 70-90, low intelligence, between 90 and 120, normal intelligence, between 121 and 140, highly intelligent, and above 140, he can be considered a genius. 

History of IQ:

 In 1882, British statistician Francis Galton was the first to scientifically develop some simple tests to determine a person's intelligence. At the turn of the 20th century, a school in France called on psychologists Alfred Beane and Theodore Simon to fix which students needed special care. In 1905, Alfred Beane and Theodore Simon developed a series of tests to assess some of the manifestations of brain development, such as verbal reasoning, working memory, and visual-spatial skills, and invented a method of scoring the obtained results.

IQ test pioneer Alfred Beane

Specific questionnaires are developed for children of each age group to see if the child is more, equal or less intelligent than other children of his age. The method they invented became known worldwide as the Binney-Simon test. Then Stanford University professor L. M. Terman modified and expanded the Beane-Simon test in 1916, which became known as the Stanford- Beane Intelligence Scale. This test gained wide popularity in the United States and gained unique status as a method of measuring intelligence. Earlier in 1912, the German psychologist William Stern coined the word IQ from the words Intelligence and Quotient, which spread as a popular word worldwide. 

The dark side of IQ testing 

 Although the IQ test was first developed for school students in France, it gradually became popular and became the only means of judging people's intelligence. IQ also evolves by gradually dividing people into different categories. During World War I, the United States used this test as an intelligence test during its military recruitment. At that time many scientists and politicians believed in the doctrine of eugenics. According to eugenics, the creation of a pure race within the human race by restricting reproduction to those who are more beautiful, intelligent (ie themselves) in the eyes of the West.

This doctrine encourages genocide and ethnic cleansing all over the world. Proponents of eugenics used IQ tests as a measure of intelligence. Naturally, they did well on IQ tests because they were ahead of traditional education at the time, and at some point they began to present that as proof of their superiority. In 1924, the state of Virginia even started the process of making people with low IQs unable to adopt children, which later went to court and the court declared that decision correct. 

In Virginia, from 1924 to 1979, about 7,000 people were variously disabled from reproduction on the grounds of low IQ. It gradually declined, and in 2001 Virginia declared it racist. In Nazi Germany, the killing of children with low IQ was even allowed. After World War II, the influence of the human rights movement reduced the classification of people based on IQ. At the beginning of the 21st century, the average IQ of people as a whole has increased. But the reason for this is not the development of intelligence, but the improvement of the quality of life and the development of the overall environment, the researchers have suggested. This phenomenon is called the Flynn effect. Does IQ really indicate human intelligence?

IQ tests are not the only method of testing intelligence

IQ tests are designed to judge people's problem-solving skills, general knowledge, mathematical reasoning, memory, visual analysis ability, etc. But intelligence is not limited only to these few things. For example, emotional or social intelligence cannot be judged by IQ. Again creative ability, awareness, individuality, spiritual sense etc. are not judged by IQ. According to Stanovich, a professor of human development and applied psychology at the University of Toronto in Canada, IQ tests are not to be singled out. According to him, IQ tests are very good at measuring certain psychological traits; Like- brain capacity including reasoning, abstract reasoning, learning ability and working-memory capacity etc. 

But, he expressed doubts about how effective it is in making the right decisions in various areas of real life. He added that IQ tests measure an important part of brain function and can roughly predict academic and career success. But that forecast is imperfect and may not be as reliable. It is not enough to judge healthy human thinking and full brain capacity by IQ. Therefore, he commented that IQ test is not everything in determining intelligence. 

What is the alternative to IQ?
In 1990, Peter Salovey and John de Meyer introduced the concept of emotional intelligence alongside general intelligence. This idea later led to the discovery of methods to test the functioning of the brain's emotions with general intellectual characteristics. It is called Emotional Quotient. This method is now very popular. Besides, an intellectual measure called Cultural Quotient is quite popular. In 2002, Christopher Earley and Ang Soon developed the approach as a holistic test that adds cultural orientation and cultural behavior to general intelligence and emotional attributes. It is said to be the most comprehensive intelligence test to date.

Cracking the mysteries of the human brain is not a single test task

 Man is not a machine. So there is no room to judge a person by numbers alone. Although these tests can predict a person's intelligence somewhat, according to scientists, we must be frugal and cautious in giving importance to these tests.

 If you want to check your IQ, you will find many reliable websites on the Internet, but remember, the result of this test is not the last word!