Why can't I buy an official IQ test if I am not a psychologist or something equivalent.?

Question

I am a part-time tutor, and one of my students believes she is dumb because she scored low on an official IQ test. I wanted to prove to her that wasn't the case, that those IQ test are just like any test; if you study well your score will rise.

To prove it I was going to buy one of the Cattell-Culture Fair Tests from a psychological testing company, but found out they can only be sold to psychologists and educators. I mean I can understand if I was buying a gun or a hypodermic needle, and would need special qualifications to buy it, but an IQ test?!!

Well, I am looking into other ways to help her with her self value, but I still wonder why it is one would need special licensing to buy an IQ test to help a child prepare for her next official one. Can anybody shed light on this?

Are you saying problem-solving cannot be learned, but only fixed? If that is the case what is the point of me being a tutor, or school for that matter, if not to teach problem solving skills? And I have no interest in testing her, I simply wanted to prove to her that she is not that fixed number.

Answer 1

The whole point of intelligence tests is that you SHOULDN'T study for them. If you do, then the score is invalid.

These are tests of authentic problem solving and reasoning. If you've practiced the specific problems on the test, then your responses aren't authentic but merely parroted back. The whole point of the "culture fair" tests, and any intelligence test that aims to be valid, is to present problems that don't rely on learned information. So by presenting tasks that ask the subject to complete a series, classify objects and fill in incomplete designs, the subject is just expected to use their own reasoning powers on the spot to solve the problem.

Meanwhile, the makers of the test would be undercutting the value of their product if they let unlicensed people get hold of them, because by letting people practice with them, it would invalidate the test results. Not to mention the fact that you'd be practicing a profession without a license. That's the whole point of licensing.

Let your student know that talent comes in a wide range of abilities besides what can be measured on IQ tests (i.e., Howard Gardner's theories of "Multiple Intelligences"). The best thing for her to do is to find an activity that she enjoys doing and get involved in it. By working in her strength area, her so-called "weaker" abilities will be enhanced. This is one of the values of arts and music education. For example, music and dance training are excellent for reinforcing pattern recognition - which is the kind of thing that appears on those IQ tests. But even volunteering and developing one's leadership abilities can serve to enhance other learning. It's general enrichment that plays a role in how well one does on so-called intelligence tests, not specific studying.

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"Additional Details" follow-up:
You appear to be having a hard time accepting the validity of intelligence tests (that they measure what they are designed to measure), which is a whole question unto itself that would require another lengthy answer. But, essentially, you seem to hold to the premise that children enter life as blank slates, with equal potentials as all other children and that only "nurture" is the key. Intelligence tests, on the other hand, presume a certain amount of innate ability.

Therefore, when I qualified the term "problem solving and reasoning" with the word "authentic," I was explicitly referring to problem solving abilities that are UNLEARNED as opposed to those that can be learned. In no way does this imply that problem solving cannot ALSO be learned, only that some people enter life with a head start and a greater potential for grasping the concepts.

That said, NOTHING about intelligence tests says anything about a person's self value! IQ mostly correlates with success in school, but not success in life. Also, many kids with high IQ's still fall through the cracks and wind up doing poorly in school for a laundry list of reasons....(too much to say on this subject).

A person's self value should not be based on some number that says where they start out, relative to their peers, but on how far they go. That's where you come in, as well as your student's motivation for learning.

Answer 2

To add one thing on to some good points already mentioned, the development of a valid IQ is extremely expensive. It's not as simple as just sitting down and coming up with questions. The norming process and psychometric validation of these tests can take many years.

The tests are not like the SAT, which change every year. They are revised and updated, but on a frequency of every 5 to 15 years. If you could easily get the answers and look them up, the test becomes completely invalid for you.

IQ tests are often used (and MISused) for purposes that many people out there would love to find the tests and cheat by looking up the answers.

anyway, my point is that IQ tests do serve some important purposes, and we would have to pretty much instantly throw them away if they were made public. Everyone would look up the answers, and that would make the tests worthless.



That being said, you can learn a lot about these tests from many psychology textbooks. You can learn what types of questions are asked, what kind of tasks are performed, etc. so if you're just interested in learning in general about the format of the tests, that's not hard to find. But the specific questions/stimuli are carefully protected (rightfully so).

Answer 3

145 or higher Genius 130 - 144 Gifted 125 - 129 Superior 115 - 124 High Average 100 – 114 Average/Normal 85 – 99 Dull Normal 70 – 84 Borderline 55 – 69 Moron 40 – 54 Imbecile 25 – 39 Severely Challenged 1 – 24 Idiot

Answer 4

You have to be trained and skilled at administration, scoring, and interpretation. You can't just spit out an IQ and say..."It's 125, you are really smart". Differences in verbal and performance IQ's indicate cognitive problems, etc. You have to know what it all means, not just the number.

IQ tests don't measure how smart a person is, they measure a person's capacity to learn. There are tests of social judgement (putting comic strip pictures in order), tests of visual perception (putting blocks together to form a pattern on a card), etc. All of these things...social judgement, visual perception, language expression, receptive language, etc...are aspects of learning. When you put them all together, you get a score that is reflective of the person's strengths in these areas, thus, their ability to learn.

A kid can get really poor grades, but they can have good ability to learn (IQ). We all know those people. There may be something in their environment that is causing them not to reach their potential.

So, unless you are expert in the above issues, and issues related to differences in subsection scores, etc., then you would not be serving this girl justly.

Answer 5

Intelligence Quotient aren't really tests you can study for, they only measure simple tasks and the speed you can do them in generally. It's not like, Abe Lincoln was born in what year and state and town? It's like what is 2 x 4 + 5?

Answer 6

funny how you mentioned buying a gun, in some countries you don't need any special qualifications