Intelligence Tests

An intelligence test is a structured situation designed to elicit information about the cognitive abilities of an individual. The test may be administered individually or in a group. Scores are usually reported on a scale in which 100 indicates average intelligence. Scores are scaled so that about the top 16% of the population will receive scores of 115 or above, the top 2.5% will receive scores of 130 or above, the bottom 16% will receive scores of 85 or below, and the bottom 2.5% will receive scores of 70 or below.

The typical intelligence test will have a variety of items designed to tap different aspects of the person's cognitive abilities. Some of the items may ask for specific pieces of information, such as how many years there are in a decade or how much change you would receive if you bought an article costing $18.67 and you gave the clerk a $20 bill. Other questions might ask about objects missing or out of place in a picture; still others would be tests for memory, such as repeating a list of 5 digits that have been read, or tests of reasoning such as finding the right pattern piece to complete a design. In an individually administered test, the examiner asks each question, records the answer, and makes a judgment as to the answer's correctness or quality. Testing stops when the examinee has failed to answer a specified number of questions correctly. When the test is administered to a group, the questions are often in multiple-choice format, and responses are usually recorded by filling in bubbles on the answer sheet. Answers are compared to a key, so judgment as to correctness is avoided.