Concept of IQ

The human mind is an interesting aspect to study; the complex behaviour and working capacity of the human mind have been an interesting topic for researchers for many years. The concept of IQ is one of those interesting aspects that makes the human mind extremely high functioning and unique to study. IQ, also called the intelligence quotient, is what makes a difference in people’s brains.

We often see a student learning things in class but incapable of remembering that during the exam this is because of the influence of their IQ. High and low IQ plays an important part in the functioning of our brain. Sometimes schools conduct IQ tests to understand the functioning of their students’ brains. Students scoring a lower mark on this test reveal a weakness in certain parts of their learning, and they are given special care for that.

What Is The Concept Behind IQ?

In simple words, if we describe the significance or the concept that works behind IQ, we can say that it is an evaluation process of knowing how an individual’s brain functioning is. A specific benchmark has been established, and scoring beyond it means the person is very intelligent and below it means they are lacking the skills. 

An IQ score of 130 or above indicates that the person is a genius or extremely intelligent. However, this does not always indicate that the person will be doing extremely revolutionary things in their life. It is just a calculation of the brain’s capacity to work.

The History Behind The Concept Of IQ

The concept of IQ is given by William Stern (1871-1938), a German psychologist. The testing procedure given by Stern included an established formula for mental age, which could be calculated by a test, just like Binet’s model.

Even though William Stern gives the concept of IQ, Frenchman Alfred Binet was actually the first person who introduced a test in the concept of IQ that resembles a lot of the modern-day IQ test. He did it to find out learning disabilities in children so that they can be given proper care.

Lewis Madison Terman, a psychology professor at Stanford University, later modified the IQ test developed by Binet. David Wechsler, another American psychologist, later on further developed the idea of evaluating adult intelligence by utilising various written tests.

The modern-day concept of the IQ test has been highly modified and has taken up various scientific developments over many years. Now they evaluate the IQ based on various cognitive procedures like vocabulary knowledge, immediate and long-term memory, arithmetic knowledge, reasoning and spatial processing etc.

Significance Of Measuring IQ

The concept of IQ was developed to understand a serious issue and not just to understand who is intelligent and who is not. IQ tests can help identify students studying in a school or college who possess learning disabilities and require special help. They are often used by companies and governments while hiring individuals to work for them as well.

The government of the United States of America used IQ testing to hire individuals in their military.

Sometimes doctors prescribe IQ tests to children to understand if they have dyslexia or possess any learning disabilities. This test helps a lot of people with actual disabilities in learning excel in their academics and work better in their field as well.

Measurement Of IQ

IQ tests were first developed in France to help students with learning disabilities in school. However, the consequences and the concept of IQ tests are never the same for everyone. These tend to work better for people with a similar cultural and social upbringing. In The United States of America, if a person is unaware of who George Washington is, it is considered that their IQ is below average. However, if you are not aware of who Washington is in Japan, it makes no difference in your IQ.

The measurement of IQ depends on a lot of knowledgeable questions, and these questions give the scientists a piece of knowledge about crystallised intelligence. However, not all categories of IQ tests deal with knowledge; some also measure memory. Moreover, few questions measure something called fluid intelligence, which is a person’s capability to utilise logic and reasons to solve an issue.

Influence Of The Brain In The Measurement Of IQ

The brain plays quite a quintessential role in the person’s capability of solving these questions. In research conducted on 71 adults, the brain activity was studied in fluid intelligence and mapped out the areas of the brain working maximum while the people were solving the problems. The brain scan was done with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. 

When brain cells gather together glucose and leave out the leftovers, magnetic resonance spectroscopy helps researchers look after those leftovers; it indicates the particular areas of the person’s brain that were working and degrading more glucose.

Individuals with a higher IQ result had more glucose leftovers in specific parts of their brain. These areas are more on the left side and front side. These areas are responsible for planning movements associated with spatial examinations and reasoning.

Conclusion

IQ is a detailed concept and plays a big role in helping many people with major learning disabilities. The concept of IQ is extremely interesting when the involvement of the brain in the whole aspect is studied. Non-experts often state that IQ defines if a person is meant for doing great things in life or not. However,  according to psychologists, it does not play a major role in a person’s accomplishments. Many other aspects govern whether a person will do great things in life or not.