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1. Editor's Note
A few days ago I received an email from my subscriber who wanted
to find out how to increase his intelligence. Also, he asked me
to tell him more about IQ tests. It seemed to me that it would
be a good topic for the eZine. So, I guess you have already
understood what we're going to discuss in the issue.
2. Quote of the Week
Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes
what will happen.
- John Ciardi
3. What constitutes a person's IQ?
by Marshall Brain
IQ stands for intelligence quotient, a term derived from a
scoring method developed by the German psychologist William
Stern and first used in the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.
This and other early intelligence tests assigned subjects a
"mental age" based on their test performance relative to the
rest of a population. A subject who scored at the same level as
an average 12-year-old, for example, was said to have a mental
age of 12. The subject's overall intelligence score equaled the
quotient of his mental age and his actual, chronological age,
multiplied by 100 -- (mental age/chronological age) X 100. So,
a 10-year-old who scored the same as an average 12-year-old
would have an intelligence quotient of 120 -- (12/10)X100 = 120.
An intelligence quotient of 100 was considered average, since it
was the score of someone whose mental age and chronological age
were equal.
This method is no longer in general use because it has some
significant flaws, chiefly that after childhood raw scores don't
proportionately increase with chronological age. Nowadays the
term IQ generally describes a score on a test that rates the
subject's cognitive ability as compared to the general
population, using a standardized scale with 100 as the median
score. On most tests, a score between 90 and 110, or the median
plus or minus 10, indicates average intelligence. A score above
130 indicates exceptional intelligence and a score below 70 may
indicate mental retardation. Like their predecessors, modern
tests do take in to account the age of a child when determining
an IQ score. Children are graded relative to the population at
their developmental level.
What is this cognitive ability being measured? Simply put, IQ
tests are designed to measure your general ability to solve
problems and understand concepts. This includes reasoning
ability, problem-solving ability, ability to perceive
relationships between things and ability to store and retrieve
information. IQ tests measure this general intellectual ability
in a number of different ways. They may test:
- spatial ability: the ability to visualize manipulation of shapes;
- mathematical ability: the ability to solve problems and use logic;
- language ability: This could include the ability to complete
sentences or recognize words when letters have been rearranged or removed;
- memory ability: the ability to recall things presented either visually or aurally.
Questions in each of these categories test for a specific
cognitive ability, but many psychologists hold that they also
indicate general intellectual ability. Most people perform
better on one type of question than on others, but experts have
determined that for the most part people who excel in one
category do similarly well in the other categories, and if
someone does poorly in any one category, he also does poorly in
the others. Based on this, these experts theorize there is one
general element of intellectual ability that determines other
specific cognitive abilities. Ideally, an IQ test measures this
general factor of intelligence, abbreviated as g. The best
tests, therefore, feature questions from many categories of
intellectual ability so that the test isn't weighted toward one
specific skill.
Because IQ tests measure your ability to understand ideas and
not the quantity of your knowledge, learning new information
does not automatically increase your IQ. Learning may exercise
your mind, however, which could help you to develop greater
cognitive skills, but scientists do not fully understand this
relationship. The connection between learning and mental ability
is still largely unknown, as are the workings of the brain and
the nature of intellectual ability. Intellectual ability does
seem to depend more on genetic factors than on environmental
factors, but most experts agree that environment plays some
significant role in its development.
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4. 5 ways to increase your intelligence
1. Belief
"Our beliefs are a very powerful force on our behavior. It is
common wisdom that if someone really believes he can do
something he will do it, and if he believes something is
impossible no amount of effort will convince him that it can be
accomplished.
...Our beliefs about ourselves and what is possible in the world
around us greatly impact our day-to-day effectiveness. All of us
have beliefs that serve as resources as well as beliefs that
limit us...
Our beliefs can shape, effect or even determine our degree of
intelligence, health, relationships, creativity, even our degree
of happiness and personal success." - Robert Dilts, Changing
Belief Systems with NLP
The first area to tackle, if you would increase your
intelligence, is the domain of your beliefs about yourself. If
you believe, like some psychologists might tell you, that your
intelligence is a fixed quantity you cannot change.
2. Imagination
An image in the mind can be materialized in the physical world.
At night we can imagine a result we want as already achieved.
The following morning we can wake up with some of the answers as
to what we have to do to achieve the result.
The world's greatest achievers may be the world's greatest
practical dreamers! A useful definition of an entrepreneur is a
dreamer who does.
3. Environment and education
Experts affirm that Genes account for 40% to 80% of an
individual Intelligence.
Environmental and educational factors are also key elements in
the development of intelligence. Change your environment and
surround yourself with smart, clever people. Educate yourself,
read books, solve problems etc. Or take IQ tests and learn the
strategies that enable you to solve the questions and problems.
These are specific skills and abilities such as deduction,
induction, intuition, creativity etc.
Fancy your life as a learning experiment. Part of the reason for
doing anything could be to learn from it - every action becomes
a learning experiment. In addition to thinking in terms of
success and failure, you can think in terms of learning from the
outcomes of each action.
4. Listen to Mozart
It is hard to believe, but listening to Mozart can significantly
increase your intelligence, researchers in America claim.
Unfortunately the effect is fleeting - lasting only about 15
seconds.
Dr Frances Rauscher and two colleagues from the University of
California at Irvine reported the findings in 'Nature'
(Oct '93). They asked 36 college students to undergo standard
psychological tests after listening to a tape of Mozart's sonata
for two pianos in D major, K488.
They found that the students did better after listening to the
music than they did after hearing a ten minute tape containing
instructions designed to make them relax, or ten minutes of
silence. Translated into IQ scores, the average post-Mozart
score was 119, against 111 for the relaxation tape and 110 for
silence.
5. Good nutrition
Studies show that food influences mental performance, which in
turn influences your intelligence. When your body and brain
chemistry are in balance, you are more efficient in solving
problems and projects.
Below are some nutrition tips:
- limit your consumption of highly refined carbohydrates - that
means, soda pop ('soft drinks'), cakes, cookies, confectionery
etc;
- use wholemeal and multi-grain breads to replace white bread;
- introduce as much fruit and vegetable into your diet as possible;
- use a good multivitamin/multimineral supplement.
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5. FREEware Educational Tools
3 IQ Tests
Do you want to know how smart you are? Use the links below to
find out it.
3 Games
Vanity Tags
Notice all the cryptic vanity tags on automobiles? Do you stop
to figure out what they mean? Studies indicate that solving new
puzzles may help to grow new brain cells. This puzzle can help
you develop your creative potential.
Interactive Maze
Move the game mouse using the arrow keys on your computer.
Develop your kinesthetic and problem solving skills. There's
more thought to this game than just getting to the cheese!
Sliders
Sliders is a new word game where you take a word or phrase and
slide one or more letters to create a new phrase.
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6. Questions and Answers
John asks:
Are there effective ways to increase my intelligence?
Please tell me more about IQ tests.
See this issue
Send your questions to
mailto:lipsky@hotmail.com
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