50 per cent of Americans have a IQ below 100

[Xamonas Chegwé]

What do you expect from a country where the average person has one testicle!

And the average person has a dick only 4.95 inches long.

That includes the women

The women are the reason it's so high!

[Warren Dew]

I believe there's also some evidence that the effect has reversed in recent decades, anyway.

Ah, here we are:

British teenagers have lower IQs than their counterparts did 30 years ago

Tests carried out in 1980 and again in 2008 show that the IQ score of an average 14-year-old dropped by more than two points over the period.

Among those in the upper half of the intelligence scale, a group that is typically dominated by children from middle class families, performance was even worse, with an average IQ score six points below what it was 28 years ago.

The trend marks an abrupt reversal of the so-called "Flynn effect" which has seen IQ scores rise year on year, among all age groups, in most industrialised countries throughout the past century.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... s-ago.html

[Seth]

A scary statistic but what is more scary is that this figure has remained static over several decades. What can be done to prevent things declining when half the workforce have IQ's below a hundred and a substantial number below 90?

Shift the bell curve?

[Seth]

My wife and I have sworn, with handshake and everything, that if Sarah Palin is ever elected President then we're moving either to the UK or Australia (we want an English-speaking country, and Canada is just too cold for us - sorry, forum Canucks). And we're both fairly bright people, above whatever the average is anyway. So if we are determined to leave under such circumstances, then there are probably others as well. There will be a "brain drain" like that experienced in other countries - which seems appropriate, given what will prompt it.

Why wait? I'll chip in for your bus ticket to London....

[irretating]

LOL

[mistermack]

This is a joke, I take it?
If 100 is the average, the chances are that 50% will be below, and 50% above, unless there was a huge number on exactly 100.
If it is a joke, I don't see the punchline. Maybe someone can spell it out for me?
.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

This is a joke, I take it?
If 100 is the average, the chances are that 50% will be below, and 50% above, unless there was a huge number on exactly 100.
If it is a joke, I don't see the punchline. Maybe someone can spell it out for me?
.

Some people can't read distributions.

And I have it from an unimpeachable source that the average IQ is now 111.

[mistermack]

This is a joke, I take it?
If 100 is the average, the chances are that 50% will be below, and 50% above, unless there was a huge number on exactly 100.
If it is a joke, I don't see the punchline. Maybe someone can spell it out for me?
.

Some people can't read distributions.

And I have it from an unimpeachable source that the average IQ is now 111.

I Q tests are bollocks anyway. I thought that the idea was that 100 was the average, and always would be.
And evolution would take a long time for the world population to become more intelligent. And it is actually likely to evolve less intelligence, as the dumber ones tend to have bigger families.
If the average has gone up to 111, there's obviously something wrong with the tests.
.

[Feck]

What does average mean (inadvertent pun) ? why if IQ tests are standardised do they adjust them for nationality ? why if you practice at IQ tests do you get better results ,has you IQ gone up ?

[mistermack]

What does average mean (inadvertent pun) ? why if IQ tests are standardised do they adjust them for nationality ? why if you practice at IQ tests do you get better results ,has you IQ gone up ?

They have to adjust for nationality, because different cultures put different stress on puzzles and maths, and the general knowledge is different for different countries.
And you're quite right about practice making a difference. That's why IQ tests ARE bollocks.
.

[Warren Dew]

And you're quite right about practice making a difference. That's why IQ tests ARE bollocks.

Because it's impossible that anyone could ever get smarter?

[Pappa]

why if you practice at IQ tests do you get better results ,has you IQ gone up ?

Yes. IQ is a measure of how good you are at doing IQ tests.

[mistermack]

And you're quite right about practice making a difference. That's why IQ tests ARE bollocks.

Because it's impossible that anyone could ever get smarter?

Is the smartness quotient the same as the intelligence quotient?

[irretating]

why if you practice at IQ tests do you get better results ,has you IQ gone up ?

Yes. IQ is a measure of how good you are at doing IQ tests.

IQ tests were developed to identify children who were going to struggle in school (and thus to identify those with special needs). For that purpose, they are entirely valid.

[Pappa]

why if you practice at IQ tests do you get better results ,has you IQ gone up ?

Yes. IQ is a measure of how good you are at doing IQ tests.

IQ tests were developed to identify children who were going to struggle in school (and thus to identify those with special needs). For that purpose, they are entirely valid.

For all it's faults, IQ is the only tool available to give an estimate of general intelligence that can easily be compared to others. It may be a little blunt, but it's rarely completely inaccurate. I know my comment was a bit flippant (if also true) but I don't see anything wrong with using IQ as a proxy for general intelligence.