New Study Says "IQ" Is a Myth

Intelligence can't be measured with a single number

The idea that intelligence can be measured by a single number — your IQ — is wrong, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of Western Ontario.

The study, published in the journal Neuron on Wednesday, involved 100,000 participants around the world taking 12 cognitive tests, with a smaller sample of the group undergoing simultaneous brain-scan testing.

"When we looked at the data, the bottom line is the whole concept of IQ — or of you having a higher IQ than me — is a myth," said Dr. Adrian Owen, the study's senior investigator and the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging at the university's Brain and Mind Institute. "There is no such thing as a single measure of IQ or a measure of general intelligence."

Comments

[Australian]

Liberals don't like the concept of IQ because it doesn't chime in with their desire for a perfect, egalitarian, communitarian state. They will never admit the obvious and acknowledge that some people are measurably better than others at dealing with real-life problems.

[Sevo]

"There is no such thing as a single measure of IQ or a measure of general intelligence."
Rather, the study determined three factors ? reasoning, short-term memory and verbal ability ? that combined to create human intelligence or "cognitive profile."

So summing three numbers is OK but a "single number" is wrong?
I think there's a bit of a problem with the IQs of the people making that claim.

[dunlap]

yeah, it sounds like they're basically reinventing IQ. "We just discovered IQ is bogus!!! The way you really measure intelligence is through something we call a QI, quotient of intelligence. Here take this test"