Contrary to what is known today IQ tests are not tests made to measure IQ† The tests created and conducted by French psychologists in 1905 under the name “Binet-Simon” were used to identify children who needed individual help in addition to school. Like many things that change over time, the purpose of these tests started to change. The Binet-Simon test, rearranged by psychologists and creating new ones, has thus become a measure of people’s intelligence.

Do IQ tests really measure our intelligence?

Rider University psychologist Stefan C. Dombrowski in New Jersey said these tests didn’t have a very clear history; He specifically states that this has not been done with objective and valid measurements in the past. At the time of these tests, Dombrowski said ”breeding workconsidered to be ” eugenics movementwhat helps and? ensure that many people are sterilized he adds.

The Importance of Interpretation in IQ Tests

Dombrowski, who meticulously tries to understand the validity of IQ tests using statistical techniques, sees interpretation as the most important condition for validity of IQ tests. The psychologist stated that there are no guarantees in the field of psychology as in medicine, the psychologist said: that the existing codes of ethics cannot prevent the inappropriate interpretations that have been going on for centuries. He believes that the field needs to develop at this point.

Common mistake in IQ test interpretations

According to Dombrowski, when interpreting IQ tests one of the most common mistakes is to consider every result in the test rather than the overall result of the IQ test coming. IQ tests; Although it measures various skills such as working memory, fluent reasoning, verbal comprehension, Dombrowski explains that science indicates that IQ tests are not enough to measure each ability individually, and that if an IQ test is to be taken as a basis, these considered to measure a person’s general intelligence.

It is wrong to indulge in IQ tests, questioning is necessary.

Steven Piantadosi, a cognitive scientist at the University of California, He thinks it’s a mistake to indulge in IQ tests outright.† Piantadosi, who works on human cognition and language with the method of intercultural psychology, recently wrote in the tweet series he created on his Twitter account; He stated that he saw it as a responsibility to speak out against fabricated intelligence claims.

Piantadosi said the problem is that people’s IQ scores can change depending on the situation and circumstances: ”IQ tests are known to be sensitive to things like motivation and coaching. This means that if you try less, you won’t get a very high score, or if you don’t know the strategies people use during the test, you won’t get such a high score. I think it would be a mistake to judge people’s true ability by how much effort they are willing to put into a test.” say.

Culture has a big influence on IQ tests

Another problem with IQ tests is the cultural bias reflected in the nature of the test. Piantadosi and his team mostly Tsimane inhabitants of Bolivia working with The team noted that most Tsimane did not use shape tags. In such a case, the person applying the IQ test should not change the test measurements; It can affect your IQ score.

Piantadosi explains the dilemma created by the Tsimane Indians’ approach to shapes: ”People who don’t give names to shapes, when it comes to a task like naming shapes, they do this task differently than we do. Just like the natives of Tsimane. There are several leaf shapes they name. We do not know the names of these forms; but they know.†

Fighting Bias in IQ Tests

Stefan C. Dombrowski, that all tests are biased at some point† But he notes that IQ test publishers try to eliminate as much as possible biased individual test questions and questions where a particular ethnic group or race performs poorly in statistical terms.

IQ tests disadvantage minority groups

Educational psychologist Donna Y. Ford of Ohio State University disagrees with some scientists and thinks what’s being done isn’t good enough. Ford: ”IQ tests are highly biased culturally, linguistically and economically against minority students, especially black and Hispanic students.†” he says and adds: ”If they weren’t, we wouldn’t get test scores that vary by ethnicity and race; but we do. This shows that the tests are the problem, not us.†

Research by Ford, along with many other studies, shows that biased IQ tests exclude high-potential minority students from gifted education programs. Ford, who has been working on multicultural gifted education for more than 30 years, While there are some improvements for Hispanics, the same cannot be said for black students.underlined.

IQ tests should continue to exist

While improvements are imperative, both Dombrowski and Ford argue for the survival of IQ testing. The duo believe that IQ tests can be useful as part of people’s general skills. Only the person taking the test can determine whether the tests are correctly interpreted and used to the benefit of the person being tested. Dombrowski sums it up like this: ”IQ tests are a tool. This tool; it either promotes the person’s well-being or makes the person unhappy.†