Intriguing IQ Test Question

[Trevortni]

Many, many years ago in sixth grade, I was administered an IQ test. It did turn up positive, but I remember a question on it that I have always been curious about. This question was:

Q: "Who was Charles Darwin?"

Now, up to that point, I had somehow only heard the name Charles Darwin mentioned on the radio. Christian radio. So I think my response was more or less understandable:

A: "Didn't he found some kind of cult or something?"

I have always wondered how that might have been scored, and what the response of the guy that administered the test might have been. Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

[sidek]

That was a question on an IQ test? That's a pretty pathetic question, actually. I don't think it's an accurate measure of IQ at all. The worst questions I've seen on IQ tests don't really assume much, but they do assume some things that might hurt the chances of someone not used to North American society.

When did you take this test? I'd wager that you took it quite a while ago.

[Ivor Zozz]

Sounds like something you might see on an online "IQ test" site, rather than on one of the official tests. The mainstream tests are pretty strict about trying to exclude stuff that could lead to cultural bias. Some, like Raven's Matrices, don't even use language at all.

[Solt]

I don't think it was an IQ test, it was probably to see if students should be placed in an accelerated learning class. I was given a test in like 2nd or 3rd grade where a random person asked me a bunch of random questions (don't remember any of them) just to see what you know.

[Izawwlgood]

A friend of mine was training to work with at risk youth in the judicial system, and was often tasked with administering aptitude tests. He said they were the most ass backwards assessments of a bodies abilities, as he often encountered incredibly bright kids who displayed all sorts of traits associated with being very intelligent, but who simply never learned what 'lumber' was.

[KestrelLowing]

I took an IQ test in Kindergarten (so my memories are very, very fuzzy - it was to see if I should be considered for an advanced program), but I don't think that there were any questions like that. I remember that I had to identify letters and colors and try to remember a sequence of blocks so I could recreate it. I think there was also a small part that was simply talking to the proctor, but it was a very long time ago, and I can't remember it much.

I however can understand those type of questions if it's for some sort of advance placement that takes place after someone has started school. It's like having to take a math test to prove you understand the material before you go onto the next section.

My guess is that question was scored: Has possibly heard of him, is uncertain of who Darwin is. Of course the scorer might be thinking you had some crazy parents, but I doubt that would factor into your score.

[Roberthree]

I took an IQ test as a kid. It was just a bunch of shapes that I had to find patterns in.

Asking questions about Charles Darwin seems like more of a knowledge thing, and less of an intellect thing.

[Adacore]

Yeah, all the actual IQ tests I've seen (and taken) have been largely focussed on pattern recognition and logical deduction, because (I assume) they try to remove anything that could be biased by knowledge, which is not what is being tested, so these sorts of pictorial questions are the only ones which are universally 'fair'. Questions about things like Darwin, or lumber, are definitely knowledge-testing questions and do not necessarily tell you anything about IQ.

Having said that, asking someone a question you know they don't know the answer to, but that they may be able to at least start to figure out can be a good way to (qualitatively) assess their intelligence and reasoning skills. You can assess how they approach the problem and the methods they use for attempting a solution. That's the sort of question they use at Oxbridge interview questions, for example, but I doubt that logic applies in this case.

[Foremorrow]

Many, many years ago in sixth grade, I was administered an IQ test. It did turn up positive, but I remember a question on it that I have always been curious about. This question was:

Q: "Who was Charles Darwin?"

Now, up to that point, I had somehow only heard the name Charles Darwin mentioned on the radio. Christian radio. So I think my response was more or less understandable:

A: "Didn't he found some kind of cult or something?"

I have always wondered how that might have been scored, and what the response of the guy that administered the test might have been. Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

That's a ridiculous way to judge one's intelligence. If that's an acceptable question on an I.Q. test then I'd have to disapprove of them. Intelligence is the capacity to learn from one's experience, which can be tested through pattern recognition; that question can only give a judgement of a person's knowledge.

[Jorpho]

I remember quite a bit of the IQ test I had in third grade. (Or was it second?) There was this vocabulary portion, and I tried to define "gambling" by verbally dancing about the rules of Blackjack. I don't think I got that one.

Then there were a whole bunch of more difficult words, and I only perked up when I heard "annihilate", because of course any kid who watched Transformers had heard that one before!

[sidek]

For reading/maths intelligence tests, I've always mopped the floor. In Kindergarten, I did a definition/context/etc reading and knowledge test (maybe that was what yours was) and I was reading like a seventh grader should be . Why? I used to spend all day reading books back then. I played some video games too; actually, I learned to read so I could finish a video game solo.

I don't read as much any more - maybe four or five books per month - I spend most of my time programming and doing math - and I couldn't tell you what my reading proficiency is, because I haven't done one of those tests for many years.
I had a pretty high IQ, though, according to the last IQ test I did. I forget what it was exactly ; top percent is all I remember. In that IQ test, I needed to remember long strings of characters , explain situations/give reasons for situations, find links between different symbols, arrange blocks, find the pattern and a few other things.

[ferrettt55]

I tried a self aministered IQ test not too long ago. I don't think it was official because it asked pop-culture questions from the decades.
I remember a few questions: Which of these songs was not sung by Elvis?
Who is Prince? When did The Beatles performm their first concert? Etc.

I was born in 199*, so I knew about one of those. Like I said, I don't think it was official. It did say "I.Q. TEST" on it.

[macroarray]

I've apparently taken an IQ test when I was younger (a legitimate, professionally administered one) but I can't seem to recall it happening.

I'd actually like to know what sorts of questions one would be asked on an IQ test. The mentioned Raven's Matrices might be a good test for younger individuals, and I like the idea of pattern-recognition tests, but Raven's Matrices don't look awfully difficult for anybody past grade school. If I took a test right now, at my age (I'm a freshman in college), what sort of pattern tests would I get?

[Wodashin]

Obviously, as others have said, a question of knowledgeability does not fit in an IQ test.

I've gotten a WIDE range of scores from tests, but the score doesn't matter. It's the percentile. The score is arbitrary.

[animeHrmIne]

I have another IQ test question, and I don't want to create a new thread.

The last time I took an IQ test was last year, the final test in getting in to a gifted summer program. In the test they asked me a bunch of morality/ethics questions, such as "If you caught someone cheating on a test, would you turn them in?" I really don't see the validity of questions like that. That has nothing to do with intelligence, and besides which it depends on the situation: if it was a test that was just participation, I probably wouldn't care; if they weren't cheating on me, I would leave it up to the teacher to patrol the situation, etc. Of course, they wouldn't take an answer like that, it had to be a yes/no response. I was completely baffled.

[maybeagnostic]

The mentioned Raven's Matrices might be a good test for younger individuals, and I like the idea of pattern-recognition tests, but Raven's Matrices don't look awfully difficult for anybody past grade school.

I don't know too much about Raven's matrices but they might not be as simple as you think.