How do we assess intelligence?

This thread is one in which my life went a whole weird direction because my IQ is real high compared to what others test at. I don't think IQ tests tell us much other than what they test for. Some do well, and some don't in that test. I can think of many tests that will give very different results. So IMO it is a very narrow test of intelligence. That said...
In 6th grade I was placed voluntarily ( or because my Mother and teacher were encouraging me to do it ) placed in an extended learning class ( ELC ). There were about 25 of us from various elementary schools in the Bay Area. We transferred to a Junior High with 7th and 8th graders. We didn't get A's and B's, we got effort evaluations, and had many experimental learning classes. It was OK, but the social stigma was tough. The school kids taunted us a lot, and all my friends at home became much more distant acting towards me. I felt like a freak.
I don't know who it was for. Might have been some military intelligence program. :) It didn't help me. I hated school from then on. I barely made it through high school because I didn't go much.
I think these kind of tests are unnecessary and intrusive. Education is so much more than curriculum based planning.
 

I have always been interested in intelligence, but as several of you commented here, there are different types of intelligence. I agree. Not all of us were given opportunities to use that intelligence. My parents spoke only Greek to me all my life, so any English I learned was through school. I loved to read, and when I was 8 years old, I was told by a teacher that I had the reading ability of a 12-year old. I won the Spelling Bee in fourth grade. I'm not saying I am intelligent, but I do believe there is a lot to be gained by reading literature.

Now I teach English at the university level. A hallmark of intelligence, in my opinion, is when a person perceives patterns and is able to decipher or discern reality, plans ahead (animals cannot do that), has hindsight, and continues to learn and grow from their experiences and mistakes. I also believe in persistence, because that is a marker of success, but that's another topic.
 
Many people tend to make first impression assessments of meeting others in many ways beyond just intelligence. When such people later prove to not match those quick assessments, it may bother them to the extant of having working biases and grudges against them. The wiser person allows assessment of others to considerately flexibly gradually develop.

The term IQ has been abused and confused by common use in society with learned knowledge and skills. Our human brain skills and abilities beyond genetics due to neural plasticity, greatly depend on what we fill it with during our lifetimes. IQ tests also have a long debated list of controversial flaws. One of its most serious flaws are, most IQ tests, especially those given during K12 years, often have strict limits on the time to obtain answers while some exceptionally smart logical thinking people tend to take longer to process complex problems correctly.

Einstein as an example, had a smaller than average brain size and did somewhat poorly at times in subjects he did not have interest in. But how he educated his mind growing up and how he developed logical creative thinking processes, resulted in his extraordinary adult mental abilities.

Following article provides a good summary of what science today considers intelligence.

What Is Intelligence In Psychology

What Is Intelligence In Psychology

Some researchers argue that intelligence is a general ability, whereas others make the assertion that intelligence comprises specific skills and talents. Psychologists contend that intelligence is genetic, or inherited, and others claim that it is largely influenced by the surrounding environment. As a result, psychologists have developed several contrasting theories of intelligence as well as individual tests that attempt to measure this very concept.
 
I'm sure lots of us have war stories about the social handicap of high intelligence. I learned long ago though that nobody is interested in them. Success is about more than that and intelligence can backfire, leading to hardships or even the opposite outcome.
 
Intelect is most often misjudged
Using ornate words is most times lacking in conveyance of thought

Anyway, I like being around people of knowledge

Wrote something about it awhile back;


There’s knowledge…then…..there’s knowledge

Been in many a conversation with folks of knowledge
Not talkin’ barroom confabs
Those usually lead to yelling matches and/or the introduction of mr knuckle to mr nose

No, serious discussions

Closed door conference room exec brainstorming, fix it meetings
Sometimes planned
Sometimes starting in hallways
Sometimes starting in washrooms
Sometimes after quarterly reports

Or

A fireside chat
One on one
Sipping an acceptable single malt
Maybe accompanied by a fine cigar
Those are nice

anyway

What I’ve noticed is, there’s at least two forms of knowledge

Experience
Academic

I can appreciate the academic in his quest to display what he’s been taught
But
That’s pretty much where it ends with me
No dis on him, no, it’s just that the academic usually has no way, no tool, to break down what he’s trying to convey into laymen’s terminology
It’s gotta be very frustrating for him
Then again, maybe even he doesn’t have that great of a grasp if he can’t…..

Had the pleasure of working alongside an older gentleman by the name of Moshofski
Heavily degreed
And had the savvy to back it up
With a pencil, a sketch, a few words of logic
accompanied with sweeping gestures of his pencil/wand, depicting thrust, while sketching something as simple as a tiny radius molded into the inside of a 90° corner of our design
a very simple kindly gentleman
with the ability to break down his genius for the common man

He saved our little company a quarter million dollars in fifteen minutes of his time

These types have no need to belittle, to talk down, to put the subject under a microscope
No, they just kindly, gently show what they know
Then smile
Looking up at yer face, hoping to read understanding in the furrows of yer brow

Life is enjoyable around these folks

Quite the learning experience
 
Paco Dennis said:
This thread is one in which my life went a whole weird direction because my IQ is real high compared to what others test at. I don't think IQ tests tell us much other than what they test for. Some do well, and some don't in that test. I can think of many tests that will give very different results. So IMO it is a very narrow test of intelligence. That said...
In 6th grade I was placed voluntarily ( or because my Mother and teacher were encouraging me to do it ) placed in an extended learning class ( ELC ). There were about 25 of us from various elementary schools in the Bay Area. We transferred to a Junior High with 7th and 8th graders. We didn't get A's and B's, we got effort evaluations, and had many experimental learning classes. It was OK, but the social stigma was tough. The school kids taunted us a lot, and all my friends at home became much more distant acting towards me. I felt like a freak.
I don't know who it was for. Might have been some military intelligence program. :) It didn't help me. I hated school from then on. I barely made it through high school because I didn't go much.
I think these kind of tests are unnecessary and intrusive. Education is so much more than curriculum based planning.
Click to expand...

IQ testing is just a test. What happened to you awful and you must have suffered so much. Many types of intelligence are perhaps not measurable or fit into criteria which after all is decided by those in authority.
On a slight tangent, why is it that children taunt other children who they perceive as not being intelligent? On the other hand those who seem clever can be inordinately respected or bullied for being a 'brainbox'!
Seems we can't win by doing anything other than fitting in and being invisible. I was bullied at school because I was always reading when others were playing. I hated sports and didn't have many friends because I was shy. But kids would sometimes come and knock my book out of my hands just for a laugh. I worked hard but learned that getting good marks in schoolwork sometimes made me a target for those who were lazy. Schooldays are not a happy memory for me.
 
dilettante said:
I'm sure lots of us have war stories about the social handicap of high intelligence. I learned long ago though that nobody is interested in them. Success is about more than that and intelligence can backfire, leading to hardships or even the opposite outcome.
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I worked with a guy who wore his “Mensa Member” polo shirt every casual Friday. I asked him once what his IQ was and, of course, he told me. I just smiled and said, “Wow.” (Mine is higher.)
 
dilettante said:
I'm sure lots of us have war stories about the social handicap of high intelligence. I learned long ago though that nobody is interested in them. Success is about more than that and intelligence can backfire, leading to hardships or even the opposite outcome.
Click to expand...
Brilliant kids I knew in High School & College, so many were burdened by their great intelligence. Ignorance is Bliss.
 
Rose65 said:
IQ testing is just a test. What happened to you awful and you must have suffered so much. Many types of intelligence are perhaps not measurable or fit into criteria which after all is decided by those in authority.
On a slight tangent, why is it that children taunt other children who they perceive as not being intelligent? On the other hand those who seem clever can be inordinately respected or bullied for being a 'brainbox'!
Seems we can't win by doing anything other than fitting in and being invisible. I was bullied at school because I was always reading when others were playing. I hated sports and didn't have many friends because I was shy. But kids would sometimes come and knock my book out of my hands just for a laugh. I worked hard but learned that getting good marks in schoolwork sometimes made me a target for those who were lazy. Schooldays are not a happy memory for me.
Click to expand...
You must be my twin.....I'd just as soon cancel about all of my childhood.
 
You can get bored too. My entire 8th grade I'd stop into the library and check out a novel every morning. By the end of the school day I was finished and ready to drop it off and get another the next day.

Annoyed my teachers, but when called on I gave an appropriate response. 4.0 average that year. I was just ahead enough and teachers have to devote more energy to those at the other end of the spectrum.

Some tried to help, but they had limited resources. In the 6th grade I spent a lot of time sitting in the hallway working on 7th grade spelling and math books. I suppose zipping through the regular stuff then staring at the ceiling was too disruptive.

That sort of thing only carries you just so far through life though.
 
dilettante said:
You can get bored too. My entire 8th grade I'd stop into the library and check out a novel every morning. By the end of the school day I was finished and ready to drop it off and get another the next day.

Annoyed my teachers, but when called on I gave an appropriate response. 4.0 average that year. I was just ahead enough and teachers have to devote more energy to those at the other end of the spectrum.

Some tried to help, but they had limited resources. In the 6th grade I spent a lot of time sitting in the hallway working on 7th grade spelling and math books. I suppose zipping through the regular stuff then staring at the ceiling was too disruptive.

That sort of thing only carries you just so far through life though.
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I hear ya. I was into the high school library by 3rd grade, and never stopped.
 
I was at a social gathering in another country and lots of drinking was taking place. Everyone was a professor. The subject of IQ’s came up. Then the silly game of I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours. I held out to the end, almost. One fellow, who holds an endowed chair at a renowned university, kept badgering me. So I gave in just to shut him up. He replied back with his score, a couple points higher. I could tell he was lying. He just had to beat me. I was surprised, but not. Typical academia.

I agree with what others have said. IQ is just one measure. Standardized tests in general are just one measure. I remember a classmate from high school who received a very pedestrian SAT score. But, he graduated near the top of our class. Finished college. Had a stellar career with a non-profit which enabled the poor to get and own housing. How does one measure drive and persistence? Observe people like him!
 
dilettante said:
You raise some valid points. However a lot of the sizing up might not be completely conscious at our ages either. Maybe a sort of communication "muscle memory" from experience gets applied... perhaps whether we like it or not.

Considering the medium at hand I'm setting aside body language analysis. A sizable portion of accent and speech patterns are lost for the same reason.

If I'm talking to a woman and she crosses her ankles, pulls her feet under, and leans forward slightly that speaks volumes to me. It doesn't say much about her intelligence, but it sure demonstrates her good taste! :ROFLMAO:
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she could be just getting comfortable and leaning in cuz she's interested in the conversation. :ROFLMAO:
 
intelligence is the realization as humans we live and breath in a controlled environment inside a laboratory.
 

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