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# they are not entirely meaningless
they were designed to help identify children who might have special schooling needs. They don't have much other valid application that i am aware of.
(I helped save b3ta! Spoon, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 12:50, archived)
# But if the original experiment was fixed
then how does that help exactly?
(I helped save b3ta! jsut peopel, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 12:54, archived)
# hmm
not sure which 'original experiment' you are thinking of, though intelligence testing has an entirely dodgy history.

Read 'The Mismeasure of Man' by SJ Gould for the story, it's a great book
book here
(I helped save b3ta! Spoon, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 12:58, archived)
# yes will do
SJ Gould was an excellent bloke in my opinion. As for the "original experiment" thing well i don't know, it was something that was told to me a long time ago and has stuck in my head. I s'pose it could have been the deciding what is average part of the thing.

Edit: I was just badly trying to say I guess, that if the concept is flawed due to bad practice fromthe start then how can that help? I think I need a new vocabulary
(I helped save b3ta! jsut peopel, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 13:13, archived)
# IQ is relative,
to a supposed average which they get from a large sample of the relevant population, I believe. So it doesn't matter that the first test was flawed.
Whether it tests for anything other then the ability to do IQ tests is up for debate, however.
(tomsk, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 13:01, archived)
# or
whether there is even 'a thing' to measure
(I helped save b3ta! Spoon, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 13:06, archived)
# Apparently
Bush was going to changed the way they were done in the US, cos his was bellow 100 and therefore below average. Although that could be a lie.
(jonnies, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 12:55, archived)
# I found
this, which seems fair. He's not dim, but he's not a genius.
(tomsk, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 13:08, archived)
# And they're only good for one standard deviation
ie a normal IQ test will only be valid if you're between 76 and 124, or something. If you're not in that range, you need to take a different test.

Don't know why I know this rubbish, I think IQ tests are daft but I got 160-something on one when I was 13
(I helped save b3ta! Fronds are waving gently on, Tue 14 Jan 2003, 13:13, archived)