IQ Testing: Assessing a Persons Intelligence - Assignment Example

IQ Testing: Assessing a Person’s Intelligence Fagan III asserts that people have been defining intelligence “as how much one knows rather than as how well one processes” (2000, p.168) and normally IQ scores show the extent knowledge of a person when compared to other people his age. However, intelligence is more related to the processing of information that one’s brain possesses and how one can perform “certain elementary cognitive tasks” (Fagan III) based on that processing. The purpose of an IQ test is to measure this cognitive ability of a person as compared to his peers.

In the education sector, the IQ testing can predict very early the intellectual disability of a person hence making him qualify for special programs. This means that a person whose IQ scores are high but has other disabilities will not be excluded from the special programs. He will be able to avail special education as well as pursue development plans. Assessing intelligence based on IQ testing also helps in recruiting knowledgeable employees and in the selection of candidates for higher education.

Another implication that IQ tests tend to measure a person’s intelligence merely through a number of multiple choice questions or through pen and pencil when intelligence means much more than just answering a few questions (Hamel, 2010). Intelligence is more related to knowledge that a person gains through good and bad experiences that provide him information about what is right and what is wrong. How he processes this information is called intelligence which, according to many critiques, cannot be measured accurately by IQ testing.

ReferencesFagan III, JF. (2000). A theory of intelligence as processing: implication for society. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 6(1), pp. 168-179.Hamel, G. (2010). The strengths and weaknesses of IQ tests. eHow. Retrieved 31 Januar, 2011, from http://www.ehow.com/list_6143305_strengths-weaknesses-iq-tests.html