Testing, Testing… In So Many Ways…

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. Today I’m once again joining in with Esther’s writing prompt. The word this week is “test”. I could, like I’ve done so many times, rant about the use and misuse of testing in education and care. I mean, everyone who’s followed my blog for some time knows about the nearly thirty-year-old, horribly flawed IQ score still in my care plan today. However, I recently saw the housing profile that will be used in finding me a more suitable place and it thankfully never mentions my IQ.

There are, of course, many other meanings to the word “test”. It could refer to something new you’re trying. For example, today I cooked a cabbage and mashed potato dish. It was the first time I cooked something with mashed potatoes (or boiled potatoes in general, for that matter). When I mashed the cabbage/potato mixture, it sounded horribly soggy, so I almost threw out the entire pot. Thankfully, a staff convinced me to let it sit and see if I and/or my fellow residents would like it regardless. Turns out that, though the texture was too smooth for my liking, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected.

On Monday, I also took out my AirPods to test if they still worked. My best friend had cleaned them several months ago and I was too impatient to let them properly dry. Turns out my right earbud was ruined, though the left one still works. I have been using headphones ever since, but don’t particularly like the feel of headphones on my ears. I do have earbuds, but cannot use those to make phone calls.

This got me thinking of finally buying new AirPods. Browsing the Apple Store online sent me down a rabbit hole of thinking I might want to buy a Macbook again. I had one for about six months in 2019, but struggled to get used to it. The thing is though, I bought that one without researching it properly first because my previous Windows laptop had been near-dead for several months and health insurance wouldn’t pay for me to get JAWS for Windows. JAWS at the time didn’t have a subscription plan, so I’d have to pay like €1000 for just a screen reader. That didn’t make sense to me, so I spent this money on a new Macbook. Six months later, insurance changed its mind and I couldn’t wait to buy a Windows laptop again. I sold my Macbook to my then mother-in-law. Now that my Windows laptop is still working and, besides, I do get annual JAWS upgrades, I have more time to actually orient myself before making a choice.

My best friend was a bit worried when I mentioned the idea of buying a Macbook, because well she doesn’t want me to get overly stressed about it like I was in 2019. That being said, Windows has near-weekly updates that change things around, so I’m more used to adjusting to changes in my tech than I was back then. We’ll see where this goes…

IQ Is Just a Number

Posted on by Astrid

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.

IQ Tests and Final Exams and Psychological Assessments, Oh My!

Posted on by Astrid

Hi all! Today, Esther’s weekly writing prompt is “tests”. Oh my! This made me think of so many things. IQ tests: I’ve had half a dozen or more during my life. Final exams: so glad they’re over with and it’s been twenty years since I graduated high school. Psychological assessments: I still have a love-hate relationship with those. And that goes for tests in general, I guess.

After all, as a child, I didn’t mind taking IQ tests. When I was twelve, I got the infamous Wechsler IQ test, well, the verbal part of it, since I’m blind and the performance part isn’t accessible. I got a score of 154, which, according to the psychologist, indicated giftedness. I’m pretty sure there were all sorts of things wrong with that assessment though.

When I was 30, I got another IQ test, Wechsler again but the adult version and now they removed the clear distinction between verbal and performance IQ so the report just said I got “parts” of the test. My overall IQ score had dropped to 119 I believe. That’s still above-average and I’m pretty sure that’s correct. However, I wish there were a performance IQ test for blind people, because I am pretty sure that’d show where my real limits are. Not that I’m proud of being disabled, but I am and if it could be proven on a test, that’d be much better than an ever-changing psychiatric diagnosis.

Final exams. Like I said, I’m glad it’s been twenty years since I graduated high school. My final exams were quite frustrating, as not only was I horribly nervous, but my computer crashed once in the middle of the test. I graduated from what in the UK is called grammar school and honestly I have no clue how I did it. I mean, well, I know, sort of: the same way I “passed” my IQ tests, ie. being a pretty above-average memorizer. Too bad that a good memory and decent academic skills don’t get me far in life. It takes more than test-taking abilities to be successful, after all.

Questionnaires and Personality Tests for Self-Improvement and Diagnosis #AtoZChallenge

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. For my letter Q post in the #AtoZChallenge, I’d like to talk about personality tests and questionnaires. How valid are self-report questionnaires for personal growth? Do they have any validity in diagnosis?

The short answer to these questions is that it depends. After all, many people especially those with some knowledge of the thing being tested, will answer in such a way that they’ll get the results they want or expect. Even people who don’t know how the test works, may distort their answers because they think the test works in a certain way or because they think others want them to answer in a certain way. Or sometimes even because they don’t understand the questions.

For example, when I was eleven, I was tested with this weird sentence completion test that included open-ended questions. An example I remember clearly was the psychologist asking me “When I can’t sleep, I…”. I replied “I’ll try to sleep”. I had absolutely no idea what to say, not because I thought the psychologist wanted a particular answer but because the question was far too open-ended. Similarly, my lack of emotional awareness at the time often made me choose the middle option on rating scales. This was judged to be manipulativeness, but it wasn’t.

Like I shared before, many personality tests include a “liar scale” or validity subtest. An example on the Big Five test I got in college is “I always feel equally good”. I honestly answered with “strongly disagree” and totally thought it’d make me score high on neuroticism. Instead, that particular question and others I answered honestly got me to score above-average on the validity scale. That isn’t to say I didn’t score high on neuroticism though.

I don’t personally think it matters that many self-report questionnaires can lead to a strong confirmation bias, especially if you’re using the test for personal development only. That is, if you want to hear that you’re great, you will always be able to find validation for that. Whether lying on self-report questionnaires will help you on your journey, is another thing, but if you aren’t consciously manipulating the test, chances are there’s some truth to the result anyway. I don’t recommend relying on a test alone to determine anything about yourself, but to also always do your own research. Similarly, in clinical settings, while self-report questionnaires are somewhat useful, professionals also need to rely on observations.