'Too simple and meaningless' IQ tests

After making the biggest study ever so far about intelligence, researchers discovered that the IQ tests are really "meaningless".

To test the value of IQ, scientists have asked more than 100,000 participants to complete 12 tests, which require them to plan, reason, remember and pay attention. Participants also filled out a survey of their background.

Finally, scientists discover that intelligence is often influenced by three different factors: short-term memory, reasoning ability and language ability. However, a good person in one of these factors does not mean they will be good in the other two.

Scientists from Western University in Ontario in Canada also scanned the brains of some participants while they performed tests. They also discovered that different parts of the brain were activated when participants were taking tests on each of the three factors.

According to the study, traditional IQ tests are "too simple".

Scientists say that IQ tests are too simple and cannot be used to measure a person's intelligence.They say their findings are "shaken" by universities, companies and organizations that are using these tests.

IQ, which stands for "Intelligence Quotient" , is an attempt to measure how smart a person is. The average IQ is 100. Mensa, the club for the world's highest IQ, only accepts individuals who reach more than 148 IQ, and those in the top 2% of the population "leading smart world" number.

Mensa used IQ Cattell III B test, consisting of 6 parts with multiple choice questions, to test mental agility, each part must be completed in 8-18 minutes.

The new study, published in the journal Neuron, suggests that intelligence is too complex, and cannot be "measured" by such a simple number.

Leading the study, Dr. Adrian Owen, a British neurologist at Western University in Canada, said: "We expect a few hundred responses, but thousands and thousands of people have participated. They are of all ages, cultures and beliefs from all over the world. " He added: "When there are 100,000 people participating and testing their brain functions, we can't find any evidence of a single indicator of intelligence."

"The best thing we can grasp is to create three factors that contribute to intelligence. But these are three completely different, unrelated factors, and you can be very good at one. This element is extremely poor in the other factor. "

"And so, IQ tests are extremely meaningless - if you don't do well on these tests, you simply don't do well on IQ tests. It doesn't say anything about intelligence. Your cleverness ".

Most IQ tests were developed in the 50s and 60s, at which time we thought and interacted with the world differently than now, Dr. Owen said and said: "our findings are true. tremor ".

Roger Highfield, co-author of the study, said: "This is an unexpected discovery. These tests are really meaningless. We need to stop simplifying the brain into a number like this. The brain is a very complex organ ".

"We need to think about intelligence like the Olympics. Is the gold medal winner in the marathon more than the gold medal winner in the 100-meter sprint contest?"

Organizations like Mensa need to review their membership conditions

The following questions are taken from the Mensa club IQ test, and they are similar to many other questions in other IQ tests:

Find the same 3-letter word to be able to pre-order the following words to form a new word?

SIGN, DONE, DUCT, FOUND, FIRM, TRACT, DENSE

If you count from 1 to 100, how many digits will you count 7?

10, 11, 19, 20, 21

There is an elephant of 1,200 elephants. Some have pink and green stripes, some are completely pink and some are completely blue. 1/3 of them are all pink. So is it true that there are 400 elephants with completely blue feathers?

Right or wrong

Enter the sequence number 2 3 5 7 11 13?

14,15, 16, 17, 18

If a circle is a shape, then how many are an octagon?

2, 4, 6, 8, 12

Do you agree with the Canadian scientists' arguments about IQ? And can you join the Mensa club by answering the correct questions?

Note that, Mensa has more than 1,000 members under the age of 18. In it, at least two 3-year-old girls recorded IQ in turn 162 (in the UK) and 160 (in the US).

Celebrities such as US President Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and Bill Clinton only reached 128, 160 and 137 respectively. Famous French King Napoleon Bonaparte 145 points and Austrian psychologist Freud are 156 points.