Educators, employers and mental health professionals have used various forms of the IQ test since 1905 to gauge a person's ability to learn. Professionals may use the results to make suggestions about career goals for students or to evaluate the potential success of a job applicant. The value of IQ testing, however, continues to be an area of controversy for many researchers, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
History
Teachers and other professionals once used appearance to determine a student's learning potential. According to the University of Michigan, they believed children with physical abnormalities probably had defects that reduced mental function. When that theory failed as an accurate measure of human intelligence, French psychologist Alfred Binet developed a 30-question test he believed would better gauge a child's thinking ability. By comparing one child's scores to others her age, Binet felt the test could analyze a child's level of intelligence. With a few adaptations, this test became the foundation of the modern intelligence quotient or IQ test.
Characteristics
One widely used IQ test, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, categorizes individuals as having average intelligence when they score from 90 to 110. Scores below 70 might indicate mental retardation. Scores above 130 suggest giftedness. Very gifted individuals typically score from 145 to 160 and geniuses score above 165. This test includes questions and subsets designed to analyze fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory. Other tests designed to test intelligence may have different scoring parameters. Essentially, however, intelligence testing calculates your ability to reason, rather than what you know.
Benefits
Educational specialists can use IQ scores to help place a child with a learning disability in the appropriate programs at school. Employers use IQ scores to identify skills that equip individuals to succeed in certain jobs, such as engineering. Children not achieving their maximum potential might also benefit from IQ testing, according to Healthy Children website. Those experts note that many gifted children have learning disabilities and IQ testing can help identify areas of weakness or strengths.
Drawbacks
IQ scores fail to predict potential through effort and can prevent a child from going after an occupation in which she might excel. Low scores can decrease a student's self-esteem. Parents might also expect less than a child is capable of if they rely heavily on IQ scoring. The tests allow no room for creativity, artistic flare or novel solutions to problems. IQ tests also fail to identify cultural or ethnic differences that might play a role in answering the questions.
Misconceptions
Parents might believe children with gifted or genius-level IQ scores are innately equipped to succeed in society. Experts warn that gifted students actually face many of the same stresses as teens with learning deficits. They, in fact, experience more anxiety and depression than all other social groups of youngsters, according to Healthy Children. Parents can help by ensuring gifted children receive an education that balances academics with sports and other activities that promote a child's emotional growth and social interests.
