My Thoughts About About Intelligence Testing I Have Passed

As I was given this assignment to take an IQ test, it got me thinking about the score I was given after completing the test. I didn’t disagree with my overall score; scoring a 94 which is, “Average” according to the books. In which, I came to believe that environmental settings do influence individuals IQ scores. For instance, parent communication, schooling, neighbors, culture, amount of family members, prenatal care, economic status may influence IQ scores. How do I define Intelligence? Intelligence is not only about being “book smart” but a combination of having the solutions to solving everyday problems or “street smart” having to learn from positive and negative experiences and finding the solution with experiences from the past. Ultimately, the IQ test seemed to have both fluid and crystalized intelligence questions, therefore many personal factors could have impacted my IQ score.

Intelligence is defined in glossary by A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development 7th Edition book as, the ability to solve problems and to adapt to and learn from experiences (Santrock, 2012, pp. G-5). I found items on the IQ test relevant to the definition of intelligence from the textbook. To be able to answer the questions correctly on the IQ test, it required the ability to solve problems with “fluid intelligence” and as well to have life experience in order to answer “crystallized intelligence” problems.

As I was taking the IQ test I noticed there was more than one question that related more with fluid intelligence than with crystalized intelligence. The fluid intelligence questions were asked in a way that you had to reason abstractly. I was able to pin point Fluid intelligence questions; by having to come up with problem solving strategies. For example, one of the questions asked by the IQ test labs was, “Which number would come next after a series of numbers.” The crystallized intelligence questions asked on the IQ test required knowledge from past experiences. For example, a question asked in the IQ test was; “Rearrange the following letters to make a single word and then choose the category in which it belongs. R A S P I” (‘IQ Test Labs’, 2017). The letter spelled out Paris and the category it fell into was “city”. I was able to obtain correct most of the crystallized intelligence questions. It acquired past knowledge that was obtained from social science classes, past experiences and places that I have traveled too.

As we discussed cultural biases on IQ tests in class, is it possible for an IQ test to be “cultural-free” test? In my opinion, I believe that there is not a “cultural-free” test even if they try to incorporate what’s important to all the cultures; it’s figuratively impossible. We must also take into consideration the individuals’ location, environment, economic status, language and past experiences. According to Robert Sternberg (2012b) concludes that there are no culture-fair tests, but only culture-reduced tests (Santrock, 2012, pp. 271). One of the questions in the IQ test that seemed to be cultural bias was “Aztecs is to Mexico as Incas is to” the correct answer was Peru (‘IQ Test Labs’, 2017). I obviously got the question incorrect even though, I was raised with parents who tried to teach my siblings and I about Mexican and South American cultures. This problem being crystalized intelligence, since it requires more acquired knowledge from education, or past ancestry history.

In my opinion, the generated score is not an accurate representation of my intellectual abilities, because there were many factors that may have affected my score. According to Arun Oommen, even though the genetic susceptibility plays a crucial role on the IQ of the individual, various modifiable environmental factors like education, premature birth, nutrition, pollution, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, and diseases can have an influence on an individual’s IQ (Oommen, 2014). Both of my parents did not complete high school, they dropped out of school at a very young age. My parents both came from low social economic families, whom worked as migrant workers growing up, and did not have medical insurance. My father was born in Mexico and my mother in the United States but there first language was Spanish. As a result, my siblings and I were taught Spanish as are first language. My mother didn’t consume prenatal vitamins throughout her pregnancy with me, as she was not informed about the benefits of consuming prenatal vitamins and care throughout the pregnancy.

My parents also where teenage parents when they had their first child of six and were being classified as a low-income family. According to Richard Nisbett and his colleagues, supported the importance of environmental influences on intelligence: A 12- to 18-point increase in IQ was found when children are adopted from low-income families into middle- and upper-income families (Santrock, 2012, pp. 269). I attended public school from pre-k till my senior year in High School and first generation to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in my family. I suffer from test anxiety it’s a horrible feeling, it feels as if I want to run away from the situation no matter if the test is timed or not timed; just the word “test” makes me very anxious. I am an individual who never seems to be focused, I work twice as hard to retain information. There are many outcomes before and after conception that may have affected my generated IQ score.

In my opinion, the IQ test seemed to be more difficult than expected to be. Some questions seemed very difficult to respond while others were easier to solve in an efficient manner. Out of a total of 30 questions asked in the IQ test I got 17 questions correct. What made me think that the IQ test was more difficult than expected is not knowing what type of problems to expect, since I did not get the opportunity to study or prepare for it.

Overall, this assignment made me realize that an IQ test should never define an individual’s knowledge. I may not have scored what I wanted in the IQ test, but I do consider myself a very smart individual who has pushed herself to strive. Didn’t not let my economic and educational circumstance as growing up, test anxiety and being unable to fully focus to define me. I have never stopped to strive in my educational career, in contrary I motivate myself. Ultimately, with this assignment I did not only learn about cultural bias and environmental influences, but I learned about myself and how I can relate my intelligence with crystallized intelligence.

Works Cited

IQ Test Labs. (2017). Retrieved July 23, 2018, from http://www.intelligencetest.com/
Oommen, A. (2014). Factors Influencing Intelligence Quotient. Journal of Neurology & Stroke, 1(4). doi:10.15406/jnsk.2014.01.00023
Santrock, J. W. (2012). A TOPICAL APPROACH TO LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.