Iq Testing Essay, Research Paper

Edu psy 115 Individual differences

There have been many studies of IQ measurement. Some believe in testing and then looking at biology or heritage of the child. These people also like to use statistics to try to put some sort of explanation on IQ levels. Then there are other groups that use cultural ecology. They study IQ by what effect the environment has on a child, and feel testing it is unfair to the child. The problem is that these two groups rarely come together to help each other. So there are big questions as to what IQ really is and how it should be measured.

“ At the very least, intelligence can be defined as the ability for complex thinking and reasoning.” Pg 47,Ceci, Ph.D. One thing shows in studies that intelligence can depend on the situation. A person can be a great thinker at the horse race and make a lot of money. But the same person would not begin to understand how Wall Street works. The major points of the article began with asking the reader to glance at a couple of diagrams on the page .The higher your IQ is the faster you can recognize the hidden character in the diagram. The second was IQ is affected by school attendance. The author felt that having a high IQ would influence a person’s decision to continue their education. But staying in school itself will elevate a persons IQ. Whenever a person decides not to stimulate themselves intellectually their IQ will fall. Even the few months over summer break students IQs go down. The third point was that IQ is not influenced by birth order. There was a notion for a number of years that the first-born was more intelligent, than the later siblings. This is not true, the fact is that people with higher IQs tend to have less children. This is because of the number of years spent in furthering their education; during the time they would be having children. So a family’s size does influence the IQ of the individual. The fourth point is IQ related to breast-feeding. Studies have shown that breast-feeding increases a child IQ points by 3-8 points by the age of three. It is felt that breast-feeding increases the immune system, and allows more energy to be put into the nervous system. This may make learning at an early age more likely. Studies have also shown that IQ points have risen by around 20 points a generation. If a child of today were given an IQ test from fifty years ago they would score at a genius level. While the IQ test of today would make the child of fifty years ago look “ borderline mentally retarded.” Pg 50, Ceci Ph.D. This is not a genetic effect as much as an environmental effect. A child born today has better nutrition, more schooling, and a better education system. That includes state of the art computers, and the ability to find information in seconds.

Doctor Stephan Ceci, Ph. D. is a very intelligent man and has many good points in this article. I really enjoyed reading about his take on the measurement of IQ. What I really liked was the way he considered many different sources, and never disregarded a theory because he disagreed. What I take away from this article is that everyone has the potential for greatness. It is only up to the individual how far they want to achieve.

Bibliography

Ceci, Stephen Ph.D. Intelligence July/August, 2001 Psychology Today.