Intelligence quotient (IQ) is an age-related measure of intelligence and is defined as 100 times the mental age. The word ‘quotient’ means the result of dividing one quantity by another, and intelligence can be defined as mental ability or quickness of mind.
An intelligence test (IQ test) is, by definition, any test that purports to measure intelligence. Generally such tests consist of a graded series of tasks, each of which has been standardized using a large, representative population of individuals. This procedure establishes the average IQ as 100. It is generally believed that a person’s IQ rating is hereditary and that the rate of development of a person’s mental age remains constant until about the age of 13 years, after which it slows up. Beyond the age of 18 little or no improvement is found.
Tests that measure the IQs of children are standardized and an average score is recorded for each age group. Thus a child of 10 years of age who scores the results expected of a child of 12 would have an IQ of 120, calculated as follows: (mental age/chronological age) 100 = (12/10) 100 = 120 However, because little or no improvement in IQ rating is found in adults, they have to be judged on an IQ test whose average score is 100 and their results graded above and below this norm according to known scores.
During the past 25–30 years IQ testing has been brought into widespread use by employers because of their need to ensure that they place the right people in the right job from the outset. One of the main reasons for this in today’s world of tight purse strings, cost cutting and low budgets is the high cost of errors in employing the wrong person for a job, including the cost of readvertising and interviewing new applicants and of reinvestment in training.
As IQ is hereditary, it is not possible to increase your IQ. It is, nevertheless, possible to improve your performance on IQ tests by practising the many different types of question and by learning to recognize the recurring themes. The questions in this book are typical of the type and style of question that you are likely to encounter in actual tests and are designed to provide valuable practice for anyone who may have to take this type of test in the future. It is our belief that by practising different types of IQ tests, and by attuning your mind to the different types of questions you may encounter, it is possible to improve by a few vital percentage points. It is these few percentage points that may prove crucial in increasing your job prospects and may mean the difference between success or failure when attending one of the many job interviews that include an IQ test.
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