IQ and the Challenge of Measuring Intelligence
Who's the tallest person in your family? Who's the fastest runner? These probably aren't difficult questions to answer.
But who's the most intelligent? That's another story — everyone might have their own claim to make.
If you want to find the answer, the best known scale for measuring intelligence is IQ — or intelligence quotient.
IQ tests have their roots in the work of a French psychologist named Alfred Binet. In the early 20th century, he was asked to develop a standardized test to assess French schoolchildren.
Today, IQ tests are still used in some schools and businesses to identify children who might need extra help and employees who might have certain exceptional skills. Modern IQ tests focus on things like math, memory, language and ability to analyze objects in space.
However, as a measure of intelligence, these tests have also received plenty of criticism.
Binet himself thought his test was limited because it didn't measure creativity or emotional intelligence. He also thought that intelligence changes over time, and that his test couldn't measure a person's single, permanent level of intelligence.
Some say there are too many different types of intelligence — such as affinities for music or moving the body — for any test to provide a definitive answer about how intelligent someone is.
IQ tests are now dismissed by some education professionals, like author and researcher Angela Duckworth, who feels that it's not a high IQ that helps us succeed, but things like hard work and determination.
Others, including Stuart Ritchie from the University of Edinburgh, argue that while determination is important, IQ scores are still a pretty good indicator of who will be successful.
But according to David Perkins from Harvard University, having a high IQ still doesn't mean you'll make good decisions.
"A high IQ is like height in a basketball player," Perkins told New Scientist: it's important, but it's not everything.
