Scientists: IQ tests are misleading
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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In 1904, the English psychologist Charles Spearman, the progenitor of IQ tests, discovered that the results of solving a whole range of problems of different types can measure a person's mental abilities. So it was believed and until now, while researchers Adam Hampshiriz, Adrian Owen and Roger Highfield did not put the accuracy of determining the human intelligence using IQ tests into doubt.
Canadian scientists have questioned how much IQ tests reflect the level of intelligence in reality and whether their results can be used for various kinds of research.
According to scientists from Western University, Canada, IQ tests are useless for determining the level of a person's intellectual abilities and that's why.
More than one hundred thousand people from all over the world took part in the experiment of scientists. In November 2010, a website called "12 Pillars of Wisdom" began functioning, where anyone could pass 12 tests that are aimed at assessing the various cognitive abilities of a person. An evaluation was made of short-term human memory, the ability to build logical chains, the level of attentiveness, and so on. In addition to on-line research, experts tested 16 volunteers in the laboratory, using computer-based resonance imaging, which recorded the activity of various areas of the brain during the passage of volunteers intellectual tests.
As a result, experts came to the conclusion that human intellect depends on at least three components - the ability to think logically, short-term memory and the verbal component.
According to one of the authors of the study, Dr. Adrian Owen, the team of specialists was able to identify the various schemes of brain activity responsible for the solution of a particular task, because it is impossible to explain everything with just one indicator.
For solving various types of tasks, at least two independent chains of neurons answer. Therefore, based on the results obtained, experts say that there is a whole set of human thinking abilities and one can not determine the level of a person's intellectual abilities unilaterally.
"We did not expect that such an amount of people would take part in our experiment," the researchers say. "Thanks to computer-resonance tomography, and the participation of so many people, we came to the conclusion that intelligence is manifested through the capabilities of various cognitive systems, each of which has its own properties and capabilities."
Experts say that using IQ tests in psychological studies will not yield reliable results, and attempts to measure intelligence with their help will show incorrect data.
"Interesting is the fact that people who play computer games are better able to cope with tasks for logical thinking and short-term memory, but smokers are not able to solve short-term memory problems, the same can be said about restless and nervous people," - commented the researchers.
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