Because someone with an IQ under ... say ... 40 couldn't take the test, and thus the bell curve is thrown off. They would be too stupid to take the test, so their scores could never be known and you would never get an accurate average of the population.
2007-02-26 08:27:51 · 3 answers · asked by John Doe IV 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Standards & Testing
I dunno about totally invalid, but they have pretty limited uses.
A regular IQ test is supposed to tell you how smart you are in relation to your average age. Well, that's all nice and good, but humans don't get smarter as they get older. You eventually start learning and you actually go down at a certain point.
They're notoriously inaccurate and how well a person does has a lot to do with what types of questions are on the test. That's why there are so many types of IQ tests out there. No one has really made a good test for everyone.
They're kind of like the SATs, however, they have even less usefulness because many more people take the SAT.
2007-02-26 08:37:44 · answer #1 · answered by Linkin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The validity of IQ tests has always been in question. As far as I've seen, they aren't used for many practical purposes but they can give you a rough idea of your brain power if you're into that sort of thing.
2007-02-26 08:31:48 · answer #2 · answered by scruffy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there's other ways to measure it than a "test" as you are thinking of it. for example, you could say if someone can tie their shoes and bathe, they are at a certain IQ level, or if they can match shaped blocks or colors to show which one is the same. it doesn't have to be a written test. it is just a relative standard, it's not like the SAT, where there is just one test format.
2007-02-26 09:48:51 · answer #3 · answered by JudgmentProof 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋