Kids who score higher on IQ tests will, on average, go on to do better in conventional measures of success in life: academic achievement, economic success, even greater health, and longevity. Is that because they are more intelligent? Not necessarily. New research concludes that IQ scores are partly a measure of how motivated a child is to do well on the test. And harnessing that motivation might be as important to later success as so-called native intelligence.
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A continuation of our "greatest hits" from past Cognitive Daily postings:
[originally posted on December 14, 2005]
IQ has been the subject of hundreds, if not thousands of research studies. Scholars have studied the link between IQ and race, gender, socioeconomic status, even music. Discussions…
IQ has been the subject of hundreds, if not thousands of research studies. Scholars have studied the link between IQ and race, gender, socioeconomic status, even music. Discussions about the relationship between IQ and race and the heritability of IQ (perhaps most notably Steven Jay Gould's…
There was no sentence in How We Decide that I regretted more than this one, which was first written in the fall of 2007, when Vince Young was the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans:
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The following is a guest post by Stephanie Zvan. In this post, Zvan addresses a recent study of "reaction times" and IQ measurements in two study groups distinguished by race. I'll let the post speak for itself, but it is worth nothing that in the ongoing discussion of race and intelligence, the…
So the smartest people are paid the most money, it is just that the causal chain goes the other way.
No wonder the GOP is trying to keep money away from the poor.
So basically what you are saying is that the âdumbâ people will never excel like the âsmartâ people can? Well I think that it is very likely that some âdumbâ people can be very lucky to excel farther than some âsmartâ people. The âdumbâ people can excel in something like shop or something else. Also I think that the GOP should not hold money from the âdumbâ people just because they arenât book smart.
This article was actually very intresting. So does this mean that kids who score a high on the IQ test aren't nessasarly smarter than kids who dont score as high? THe whole smart people go farther in life deal isnt nessasarly true look at me im not the smartest i dont get straight A's but im succesding in life just fine i have my family and friends and a future job even tho i am going to collage. ALso some people that dont score high in IQ are sometimes smarter than the ones who do score higher they might just not try or they might freez up during tests.
This is actually a interesting article. So since they score higher on their IQ test actually arenât as smart as they are in the real world? IQ test actually arenât as smart as they are in the real world? Your article says that if they score high on an IQ test then they could get high scores on their school testâ¦. Then are they really smart at all or just smart on what to study before they take a test?
SPelling isn't such a great deal at ur collage is IT?
sockpuppets?
This study seems to be missing important data. If motivation rather than IQ (whatever that is but let's leave that for the moment)is what gives IQ differences, then when you provide monetary reward, the unmotivated (low scorers) should do better. But by the same token the high scorers who are already doing as best as they can because they are motivated, should not be able to do much better. So the IQ curve should not remain the same at a higher level, but flatten out a bit, squeezing lower scorers up 10 points but showing little difference in the high range. I would expect a study like this would examine that. Shame it does not.
sailor, nobody in the study or the write-up is saying that motivation is the only thing being measured, only that it accounts for a large part of the difference in scores. There's no reason there can't be unmotivated people who still produce high scores.
Dear Greg,
I liked this article. I think you put a good point. And for those who have low IQ scores, it can be very encouraging to them. If it is proven that the test are partly on how motivated the person is, what might be something to motivate kids to do well on tests?
There's no reason there can't be unmotivated people who still produce high scores.
I was definitely unmotivated - it was when I was tested into special ed and was my third or forth weekly three hour session with the occupational psychologist. I took several batteries of tests over the course of six weeks, all of which I did exceptionally well at - excepting basic arithmetic, which I was two years behind in (theoretical math was excellent) and English mechanics, which I was only a year ahead in.
Having produced a rather high score, I then proceeded to drop out of high school, do a lot of drugs, played music, engaged in many destructive behaviors, settled out a little and built a small business that failed, had two kids for whom I am now a only parent and am finally in college (started at thirty-three). I am now (since getting teh boys) living in an apartment I am building in my parents basement and dependent on welfare to eat and receive healthcare for me and my boys. I am on the verge of a breakdown, have been for months - the medications are barely staving it off.
I concluded a very long time ago that scoring well on an IQ test isn't all it's cracked up to be.
IQ tests alone cannot predict accademic success, or a successfull career. There are many people with high IQ scores and who have not attended a college. The same with motivation. There are many other important things for success in life: personality traits, education, financial support...