IQ or intelligence quotient is a total score derived from one of several standardized tests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term Intelligenzquotient, his term for a scoring method for intelligence tests he advocated in a 1912 book.
Here’s a couple of things you probably didn’t know your IQ says about you:
- IQ is that it is a composite score generated from the results of many different tests of reasoning, memory, acquired knowledge, and mental processing speed. These sub-scores are then totaled to give the score. A perfectly average score is set at 100.
- LIFE SPAN: According to the research, people with high IQs tend to be healthier and live longer than the average life expectancy. One is the fact that people with higher IQs tend to make more money than people with lower scores. Money is helpful in maintaining weight, nutrition, and accessing good health care. It could also be that people with higher IQs are smart enough to avoid accidents and mishaps. There's a lot of research to support this: Higher-IQ people are less likely to die in traffic accidents.
- INTELLIGENCE IS RELATIVELY CONSISTENT AS YOU AGE: Studies have found if you're a smart kid, you'll be a smart old person. It’s a general rule that intelligence declines with age, however it is noted that those who had high IQs as children were most likely to retain their smarts as very old people.
- INTELLIGENCE IS NOT PURELY GENETIC: Much as your genes have a huge role to play in your intelligence, Genetics doesn't seal your destiny when it comes to IQ. About half the variability in IQ is down to environmental influence. Access to nutrition, education, and health care play a big role. However good genes are a big plus when it gets to IQ.
- IQ HAS INFLUENCE ON CAREER SUCCESS AND WEALTH: Like mortality, the relation between IQ and career success is positive. People with higher IQs generally make better workers, and they generally tend to make more money. However this is not set in stone, there are very smart people who are awful at their jobs. Though, you're just less likely to encounter them.
- IQ IS INCREASING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Studies have shown a consistently higher rate of increase I the IQs of children from developing countries compared to those in developed countries. This is mostly attributed to the improving welfare, health and nutrition
