top of page
Writer's picture360digitalstarters

IQ tests: The truth about intelligence



Every day our content writers create engaging quizzes, articles, and tests that explore anything from pop-culture and general knowledge to challenging riddles and visual puzzles. But there is one product that has always stood at the top of our performance pile – the IQ test. Of our 18 million users, almost 25% come to our sites with the specific goal of discovering their IQ score. And that number only seems to be growing.


What is IQ?


Simply put Intelligence Quotients measure a person’s ability to reason and solve problems. These tests can be verbal, meaning written, or non-verbal, focusing instead on areas such as abstract logic, math, and memory.



Testing times


In the early 1900s, psychologist Alfred Binet set about creating the first intelligence test that offered a measurement of a person’s cognitive and reasoning ability. It was developed with the intent to identify children who needed additional academic support but has since become the basis for modern IQ testing.



Ironically, Binet himself did not believe it to be accurate, citing that intelligence could not be captured by a single quantifiable amount as its complexity required the inclusion of broader factors, such as the person's age, background and experiences.


Nonetheless, Binet’s intelligence test was revised and later found its way into schools, businesses and institutions such as the military and police. Notably it was employed by the US army during World War I, as a means of screening prospective recruits and their suited roles.


IQ and Mensa


Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world and requires a score, from a standardized IQ test, that places the candidate in the top 2% of the population to qualify for membership. The minimum accepted score on the Stanford–Binet test is 132.


If you’re lucky and smart enough to join the elite, then you can look forward to intellectual exchange among its 140,000 members in 100 countries throughout the world. While the majority of Mensans are between 20 and 60 years old, the full range stretches from 2 to more than 100 – so there’s plenty of time to try and get your name on the list.


Countries with most Mensa members:

  • US (57,000 members)

  • UK (21,000 members)

  • Germany (13,000 members)



Our fast, free and accurate online IQ tests


Our team of writers work hard to develop accurate intelligence assessments, but as the demand from our users for IQ tests continues to grow, we will be dedicating more resources in 2020 toward developing the experience and finessing the details of the product.


If all this talk of IQ has got you wondering where you fall on the intelligence scale, then you can find a number of tests and trainers across our sites or you can start off with our recommended feature IQ test.



Comments


bottom of page