IQ Is Just a Number

Hi everyone. Today, Sadje asks in her Sunday Poser whether we’ve ever taken an online IQ test. I have, exactly once. I was about eighteen at the time and randomly looking at tests online. I can’t remember the source of the IQ test and I didn’t pay to get the so-called full report, but the thing said I had an IQ of 118.

Like I’ve said a few times, I also got IQ tests as part of various psychological evaluations many times throughout my childhood. The one that is most prominent in my life right now, is the only one in which I was actually given a literal score: 154. The educational psychologist even called me gifted based on it.

I have mentioned many times how this score is probably way above my actual IQ. For starters, I’d had the exact same test a year prior and had memorized most of the questions. Additionally, contrary to common belief and contrary to my care plan I believe, it wasn’t a total IQ score. When testing the IQ of blind people, usually only the verbal part of the IQ scale is administered. There is a non-verbal intelligence test for visually impaired children that the psychologist prior to the one saying I have an IQ of 154 did administer. Unfortunately, she didn’t give any concrete scores and in fact stopped the test midway through because I got so frustrated. As a result, I have no way of proving that my performance IQ is a lot lower than my verbal IQ. But I’m pretty sure it is.

Sadje at one point points out that intelligence isn’t just knowledge, but also the ability to use one’s knowledge sensibly. Particularly with respect to verbal IQ vs. performance IQ, this makes sense. Verbal IQ is mostly related to academic ability and general knowledge. Performance IQ, on the other hand, requires actual insight and practical skill.

Of course, as someone with a (probably) much higher verbal than performance IQ, I can only relate to how this burdens me. I am horribly overestimated because of my eloquent speech. I imagine the opposite might be true for people with a split in IQ scores the other way around.

Lastly, I want to point out that even within a verbal IQ test (and I assume within the performance one too), people can have spiky profiles. My strength is and always has been in arithmetic. Other relatively strong areas at least at one point used to include Number sequences (a test of memory) and Similarities. My biggest weakness is the part called Comprehension, in which you need to answer questions about social or practical situations. I also often scored below-average on the vocabulary subtest.

The IQ test that pointed to my verbal IQ being 154, was administered in 1999. I had my last IQ test in 2017 and it showed my IQ to be roughly 119. With that version of the test, the strict verbal/performance distinction had been abandoned, but it is safe to say this was my verbal IQ. Even though I’m pretty sure I did decline cognitively between 1999 and 2017, I’m adamant that 154 score is utter nonsense.

With respect to Sadje’s point that intelligence isn’t just knowledge, I’m proof that she’s right. I am still said to have an above-average IQ, but I can’t do the most basic self-care tasks without supervision.