I agree with opinions stated in a number of ways. For instance, I also believe that any generalised IQ test cannot reveal the future performance of an individual. Trull and Prinstein (2012) stress that these tests show present knowledge of a person. At the same time, it can be more important to identify future abilities of a person, especially when it comes to children as it can help young learners cope with potential problems. Of course, IQ tests scores should be estimated carefully and held several times to adequately measure children’s abilities.
However, it is quite doubtful that intelligence testing reflects cognitive ability of people properly. Researchers point out that such standardised tests are often used to estimate children’s learning ability and those who score less than average are seen as children with certain learning disability (Benson, 2003). It has been acknowledged that one standardised test is not enough as it is essential to measure at least three types of intelligence. For examples, components of IQ tests should include reasoning, short-term memory and verbal ability (Collins, 2012). Though, IQ test is claimed to have these components, they are not all effective.
Admittedly, general knowledge component is very effective as it measures a person’s knowledge on different topics, which shows that the person has acquired significant knowledge through reading books and attending classes. Therefore, this part is aimed at measuring existing scope of knowledge. However, learning ability is often measured through perceptual reasoning. Thus, people’s ability to place parts of figures is believed to reflect people’s reasoning and learning abilities. Nonetheless, this is quite inadequate as reasoning and learning ability cannot be confined to perceptual ability only (Collins, 2012). Memory and logic also play an important role in development of people’s mental abilities.
I agree that the ability to make words from letters given cannot reflect an individual’s verbal ability. It rather tests people’s vocabulary, their memory, and ability to unscramble letters. Clearly, the test should reveal people’s ability to express their opinion concisely, which the generalised IQ test is unable to do. It is a well-known fact that people’s ability to put words together reflects their reasoning as well as learning ability (Trull & Prinstein, 2012). In other words, the way people speak and write reflect the way they think. Besides, it also reflects people’s general knowledge and show how educated they are. Therefore, intelligence tests should be more comprehensive and include more detailed tasks on verbal ability.
I also agree that scoring is quite effective in IQ tests as it enables a person to see what his/her abilities are compared to other people’s capabilities. Trull and Prinstein (2012) state that it is impossible to measure intelligence with the help of any standards. This is true as people are different and many individuals use different creative and non-standard ways to complete the tasks. Hence, it is impossible to put the highest score and assume that it is the limit. Besides, comparing one’s score with the heist score is less effective as people are unlikely to understand what it means to have the highest score, what kind of person can get this score. However, it is easy to estimate one’s own results when compared to the average as it is easier to measure one’s abilities when one understands that the majority of people get lower or higher scores.
References
Benson, E. (2003). Intelligent intelligence testing. Monitor Staff, 34(2), 48-51.
Collins, N. (2012). IQ tests do not reflect intelligence. The Telegraph. Web.
Trull, T.J., & Prinstein, M. (2012). Clinical psychology. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.