There may well be valid online IQ tests, but tread carefully if you’re using them. The ones I used were strewn with ads, and I can’t imagine something intended to sell products would risk calling customers stupid (not until they have their money, at least). This cursory investigation suggests that many online IQ tests aren’t what they claim to be, but are just gimmicks to obtain web traffic and people’s custom. If a plumber told you “I destroyed your boiler as soon as I touched it”, paying him a bonus would not be the first thing that came to mind. I can’t think of any other scenario where that would happen. So I got barely 30% of the questions right, but because I did it quickly I have a huge IQ score? This (advanced) test suggests that a sign of intelligence is doing something wrong but fast, and rewards you for this. Photograph: Dean Burnett Photograph: Dean Burnett They’re easy enough to do you just need an internet connection and maybe a Facebook or Twitter account to “log in” with. In the spirit of scientific investigation, I tried a few. But are they a valid, legitimate way of assessing your IQ?
There are countless free IQ tests online, and odds are someone bragging about their IQ got their score from one of these. The obvious place to look is online, and sure enough if you type “IQ Test” into Google you get a lot of hits. Most non-science types outside the field of intelligence research won’t have access to these official tests though, so will have to look elsewhere. They can also cost a fair bit, as they are actually scientific tools, like microscopes and the like.
They are regularly revised and updated, and typically have to be administered by a trained professional in specific conditions. These are typically thorough tests designed to assess various different abilities via different types of tasks. There are numerous IQ tests used by psychologists, such as the Stanford-Binet test, the Weschler Adult intelligence scale and so on. Because it’s not unusual to encounter someone who will mention having a high IQ without specifying why they think this is and what it actually means. Intelligence is a tricky subject, so the more public discussion there is about it the better, in terms of keeping people informed. One of the more interesting fall-outs from Boris Johnson’s recent speech is that he’s got people talking about intelligence and IQ a lot.