CBC Says My IQ Is…

Your IQ = 130.

Here are my scores. 
Language 11/12
Memory 5/6
Logic 12/12
Visual Memory 5/6
Math 10/12
Perception 9/12

Some random thoughts (may contain spoilers so why not do the quiz then come back to finish reading if you haven't already?)…

CBC Television : Test the Nation


– I know it's just for fun but any IQ test that asks me my star sign automatically gets a rating of “mentally handicapped” in my books.

– they also ask you to guess your final score and I picked 115 as I tend to get between 110-120 whenever I do these things.  I don't know if I've gotten smarter in my old age or I just happened to be on top of these questions.  (Full disclosure I did see about three of the math questions on TV last night (but not the answers) while channel surfing so I had some pre-warning.  But I'm positive they were ones I would've gotten anyway.)

– it helped that
one memory question had my hometown of Indian Head, Saskatchewan (with
its correct postal code) as two of the things to memorize.  (The girl
pictured was fictional as far as I know. )



– I don't believe in ESP but I do think a lot of your success/lack of success comes down to familiarity with the format of these types of quizzes (did you do a lot of riddles and puzzles as a kid?) as well as a healthy dash of luck/intution.  “I bet
they're going to ask about the pictured girl's…”, “The thing in that
cheese vendors' photo with a zillion things to look at but which is
most likely to be asked since it's obvious but not too obvious is…”  



– I almost didn't pay attention to the video clip at first thinking it
would have a “Sample” question like the other sections did.  It didn't but
luckily I paid enough attention to get most questions, probably
hitting one or two guesses correctly.



– “When in doubt, pick C” is always a good rule of thumb.  (I have a
friend who did a Grade 12 Comprehensive examination which was
completely multiple choice by selecting “A-C-D-C, A-C-D-C” all the way
down.  I think he got a better mark than I did.)



Kathleen
pointed out that she hit a couple answers and immediately wanted to
take them back or hit the wrong answer by mistake intending to hit the
right one but crunched for time.  I probably did that once or twice as
well.  “Oh shit – did that say 'opposite' or 'similar to' immediately
after you click it and it goes away.”  In fact, how does having a timer help prove your intelligence in any way, shape or form?  It shows things like how quickly you can read, your reading comprehension but doesn't really show if you can solve the question which is theoretically what is being measured.



– my own personal bugaboo with *any* online quiz is the ones that don't
give you correct answers, either at the end or as you go.  Seriously, I hate
that!  For me, even though these quizzes are often semi-pointless, part of the reasons is to learn something.  So I'd like to be able to go back and
figure out things like what
was the next number in that sequence?  Oh…I see.



– I said earlier that I don't believe in ESP but I also don't really believe in IQ.  Or at least, I'm aware that it's a very contentious issue.  In high school, I thought I was pretty smart because I came up with an alternate idea – 9Q – to measure more than just “intelligence”.  Then I got to Psych100 and learned that there were all kinds of theories of multiple intelligences including one conveniently called “Theories of multiple intelligences” that was quite similar to what I came up with (which probably means I'd come across this in a book and somehow convinced myself I'd invented it!

Because I typed my 9Q idea into my personal journal when I was back in undergrad and that file is completely indexed (seriously, sometimes I am such a library nerd, it causes me physical pain), I can share it with you now:

Jason's 9Q Theory
Academic Intelligences
1. Common Sense
2. Scholarly
3. Worldly

Artistic Intelligences
4.Musical
5.Visual
6. Sensory

Athletic Intelligences
7. Mechanical
8. Physical
9. Charismatic

My big idea was that all of these blend and overlap to differing degrees in each person and that you could probably develop a test that showed you which areas were your strengths (although you probably already have a good idea about that.)

Looking at it now and looking at the Wikipedia page on Multiple Intelligence Theory, I see a lot of gaps in my idea – where does mathematical aptitude fit?  Interpersonal skills?  That page also says the theory (the real one, not mine) is controversial but I think it does have some merit, if only just to keep in mind that people all have different strengths and people who are “smart” aren't the be all and end all. 

For example, a common stereotype is that athletes and mechanics aren't smart.  But I think they're smart too – just in a different way than how we commonly think of intelligence.  Perhaps that's why the idea has such interest in the education field where giving all kids an equal chance is an important value?

And how wrong can it be?  Now, no less of
a tastemaker than Oprah promotes theories of multiple intelligence by
highlighting books on “Emotional Intelligence” and “Social
Intelligence” and god knows what else. 


I'm sure a few people who visit my site (or Michelle's or Kathleen's) will also do the quiz and it might be fun to have a central respository to post scores.  So if anybody's willing, feel free to post your score here. 

I'll sneek in one last fairly important note for anybody still reading.  I also officially got a job today!  I can't say anything else until some last minute details are taken care of but should be able to share a bit more about the position, why I chose it and so on in a couple weeks when I start.  Wish me luck!

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