Mensa has an online "workout" quiz that will sort of determine whether you're likely to qualify for membership. I thought it was interesting, so I took it, and I made 20/30 with 28 questions answered in the timeframe given. According to the test, this means I have "a good chance," which probably means I'd score a couple of questions below the minimum and be laughed at. I took an IQ test in high school and wouldn't have qualified then.
You can take the test here (http://www.mensa.org/workout.php). The time limit is 30 minutes, but it isn't imposed unless you want it to be.
For those not familiar with Mensa, it is an organization whose only membership requirements are that you score above 98% of the general population in a qualified IQ or Mensa test.
Considering close to that percentage of people have never seen an IQ test, I try not to feel all that good about getting a good score. It's mostly about practice.
Have you taken an IQ test?
There are a lot of things that are challenging to your mind and not memory. For example, I was given a verbal test and was required to recite large numbers in reverse, spell large words in reverse, find patterns, etc. It's not stuff you can study and even to practice you'd need to have a bit of brainpower anyway.
It should be irrelevant that most people haven't seen an IQ test, because it's based on statistics that allow for it. You've seen national polls that are estimated with an input of only a few thousand.. they can be very accurate when done properly.
I also try not to feel too good about myself, because I believe that everyone is of the same intelligence distributed to different areas.. around me most people distribute it to Nascar and Country music trivia, unfortunately.
Yeah. The last time I did an IQ test was when I was five. I still got 25 out of 30.</brag>
I was lazy and avoided as much math as possible.
I answered 17 questions.
I got 16 right.
Doesn't mean anything.
As Esseb and Kingsized has pointed out, these tests prove little.
They mostly show if you're used to taking this kind of tests, or if you can stay focused and concentrated long enough.
It's also strange that they mix logics with semantics, but still leave out many other areas.
I got 20, same as Shbaz, but I wasnt a hundred percent focused...on the math test that comes with the swedish version of SAT, I usually do a bit better.
And if I get to do language questions in my own language, I'd do considerably better.
Oh, and I think I might have found an alternative answer for one question. Please read the hidden area (if you don't intend to do the test)
Spoiler
One question is:
What 3-letter word can be added in front of these words, to create new words:
LIGHT BREAK TIME
The correct answer is DAY.
I answered TEA, which I think works pretty well. A tea-light is one of those flat, small candles you can put on tables and similar. Both break and time should work as well.
Am I right?
These tests are stupid and don't prove anything,
I'm not sure about that Andail, you could argue sun fits aswell if you enjoy your suntime or break
I don't understand the point of these tests, unless it's just something to do for a few minutes.
some people do well in tests, some people do well with girls/guys, some people communicate well, some people can spit further than others.
I'll kick all your arses in a spitting contest.
Spoiler
I got 28 and I still don't know what BANALITIES means and I couldn't give a fuck
I wouldn't qualify those as one word, Andy.
observe:
Spoiler
daylight - tealight
daybreak-teabreak
daytime - teatime
QuoteYour score was 21 out of 30. That is a very good score, you have a good chance of passing the Mensa test. I'm sure your a very "special"boy.
STOP DEGRADING ME!
(all those english word puzzles make this test unfair.)
Quote from: jetxl on Tue 28/09/2004 12:21:38
(all those english word puzzles make this test unfair.)
I had IQ tests as a hobby once. I took one test in english and scored pretty well. Then I found th same test translated into Norwegian, and I scored less. Go figure. My current record is 166, but that was on a site that wanted me to register to get my full result.Ã, ;)
gah I hate maths I suck at it :)
I actually don't like these statistic things, they point out one person to be better then another, I hate those ideas.
The last time I took an IQ test I scored a 163, so I wouldn't put much faith in them, but I'll try it out anyway. :P
Bah. I never was much for these types of questions. Sally likes this number better than that number, this number better than that number, what number would she like better? What? I hate it. I'm considered highly intelligent by friends (quick learner, the best with numbers, etc.), and I don't get half of these questions. I can do basic math (one fourth of one tenth of one third of this number is what?, e.g.) but questions where there's a weird, unseen pattern or some number doesn't belong (yet there are no visible similarities). If that's how they measure IQ, then I'd be "special" too.
I was only ever tested for IQ in primary school... I think it was some national thing, and we were never told our scores. I've never done one of these internet IQ tests but... I mean, how do they go as IQ tests? Are they a good judge of IQ?
I agree that IQ doesn't matter much, and it depends greatly on all sorts of varying factors... BUT, as far as IQ tests go, is it worth doing one on the internet?
EDIT: I just did the workout, I got 23/30. I got a couple of the maths questions wrong, and ...
Spoiler
PARACHUTE and BANALITIES
...wrong. I've never heard of that second one before so I was never gonna get that. The first is annoying ^_^
I don't give much credit to tests like these (Mensa, Standford-Binet, etc) because they're very anglo-centric. Research shows that if you give a test like this to someone of an Western cultural background and someone of an Eastern cultural background, chances are the Westerner will score more highly. And it's not because the Westerner is more intellegent, but because the questions have a bias towards Western cultural patterns of numerecy and linguistics.
I prefer Howard Gardner theory on multiple intelligences. Here's some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_intelligence
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/PIs/HG.htm
http://www.newhorizons.org/future/Creating_the_Future/crfut_gardner.html
As retarded as it is, I kind of want to join now that I've read a bit about Nemsa. I agree with you DG, it's better to judge brainpower by all of the things the brain does, but the idea of gathering groups of intelligent people just to hang out and debate stuff is appealing to me.
Plus, one guy in the Tulsa group builds robots and has a home foundry.
I think I made a 135 on my high school IQ test, so I doubt I'd be able to get in.
Good luck getting in calling them Nemsa. :)
Lol, ****.
The last time I took it, I got 30/30. I'd probably get much less now, because I'm finding myself dumber the older I get. Not that I'm much older than I was the last time I took it...
I could've gone to Mensa if I wanted to, but who the hell wants to go to school with a bunch of annoying math nerds?
I'm too menso* for mensa.
* Menso is a (mostly) central american word that means dumb. how ironic.
Mensa means "table."
So, netmonkey too dumb for table. :-\
C'mon.
You have to pay to join Mensa, right? So they are a business. So their main concern is making money. How will they make the most money? By admitting only the smartest-two-percent of the population, or by admitting everyone who likes to believe they're in the smartest-two-percent of the population?
Or maybe I'm just cynical.
Davy
Quote from: Creed Malay on Wed 29/09/2004 11:04:18
By admitting only the smartest-two-percent of the population, or by admitting everyone who likes to believe they're in the smartest-two-percent of the population?
ha i like this one
9/30
and i guessed
Quote from: blackman890 on Wed 29/09/2004 13:01:31
9/30
and i guessed
[joke]maybe that test is accured after all.[/joke]
Quote from: Creed Malay on Wed 29/09/2004 11:04:18
You have to pay to join Mensa, right? So they are a business.
No, they are an organisation. You have to pay to join many organisations, because for an organisation to thrive it needs to have meetings, and meetings need to take place somewhere where a lot of people can meet, which costs money. If the organisation ever does anything, then they have to pay for doing whatever it is that they do (be it paying for lobbyists, organized trips, charity, or whatever). Besides, that's a bold statement to make when membership is only 100,000 worldwide and you don't know what the membership fee is ($45 US a year, which isn't that steep in comparison to other organizations. It's about what you'd pay for one month of cell phone service).
A business is a profit seeking venture.
Since scoring in the top 2% of an IQ test is something not many people can do, I really don't see your scenario as valid. Although it might seem like a common thing since so many people in this thread have done well in this small test and real IQ exams, it's not. You need to consider demographic - and this is a community of people who enjoys games made up primarily of puzzles. Puzzles tend to challenge the mind and people who seek them tend to be people who are very intelligent, since they are always challenging and improving their thinking/reasoning skills. The high density of smart people is one of the reasons I really enjoy these forums.
I've been thinking about this some more, and I came to the conclusion that even though IQ tests are a poor measure of brainpower, they are a good measure of intelligence (defining intelligence as an above-average ability to think and reason). That's why there are all of the difficult "find the pattern" problems. They seem to try to avoid some of the western tendancies that DG mentioned in the Mensa test, because according to this website (http://people.cornell.edu/pages/cy55/MensaPhil.html):
QuoteArturo Ilano, UP business administration professor and Mensa Philippines president, said that the test sought to avoid cultural biases that stem from mathematics, reading comprehension and similar types of test.
“A figural reasoning exam is culture-free. People from the Third World countries, for instance, will not be discriminated against, regardless of the kind of education they have had. What matters really is how much you use your brain in your daily activities,†Ilano said.
um, i scored something about 23 or something. in this german test i scored 28 of 33, and it's without questions concerning language..
http://81.169.179.189/index.php?id=65
25/30 in Mensa test.
Quote from: shbazjinkens on Wed 29/09/2004 03:12:23
Mensa means "table."
So, netmonkey too dumb for table.Ã, :-\
http://mensa.dk/testiq.html
Harder, non-english language, pattern only test. I made a 121, and apparently it takes a 130 to pass, but I can't read it.
This is probably very close to the real thing, it's timed and while it starts out easy a few are extremely difficult.
My dad was in Mensa once. He quit because they were losers.