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The fact that SAT scores are directly proportional to how much time, effort and money you have spent in preparation should tell you that it is very different fr

by paxys 3y ago

The fact that SAT scores are directly proportional to how much time, effort and money you have spent in preparation should tell you that it is very different from a general IQ test.

resters 3y ago
Do we know that general IQ tests are not also something that a person can improve on with practice?
- rhaps0dy 3y ago
  No, AFAIK you can very much improve at general IQ tests with practice. But all IQ measurements and normalisation are taken on subjects who (hopefully) haven't practiced, so the correlation between the SAT and IQ measurements should not include the practice factor on the IQ side.
- aidenn0 3y ago
  You can improve with practice to the point where the procedures for most IQ tests forbid using a measure if the subject has taken that test in the past N months.
doctorpangloss 3y ago
They are proportional, yes, just 4x less so than having academically exploitable talents.
PaulHoule 3y ago
From time to time you see a press release about a Hollywood star who just got an "IQ Test" quoting a score which is the maximum for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices Given that that test has a limited number of questions and the nature of the test it seems that anyone who is good at remembering lines could benefit from coaching. In fact they've come out with versions of that test which are different from the standard test because the standard test is too well known. My perception is that there is a psychologist who administers the test and another psychologist who administers test prep, but a lot of people hang onto the idea that Alyssa Milano must have really gotten a perfect score on Raven since everyone successful must be really smart, the system is fair, etc.
bigstrat2003 3y ago
I didn't spend a dime on ACT prep. I barely spent any time on it. I scored 33/36. It's perfectly possible to score well on these tests even if you don't spend money/effort on preparing.

by paxys 3y ago

The fact that SAT scores are directly proportional to how much time, effort and money you have spent in preparation should tell you that it is very different from a general IQ test.

resters 3y ago

Do we know that general IQ tests are not also something that a person can improve on with practice?

rhaps0dy 3y ago
No, AFAIK you can very much improve at general IQ tests with practice. But all IQ measurements and normalisation are taken on subjects who (hopefully) haven't practiced, so the correlation between the SAT and IQ measurements should not include the practice factor on the IQ side.
aidenn0 3y ago
You can improve with practice to the point where the procedures for most IQ tests forbid using a measure if the subject has taken that test in the past N months.

doctorpangloss 3y ago

They are proportional, yes, just 4x less so than having academically exploitable talents.

PaulHoule 3y ago

From time to time you see a press release about a Hollywood star who just got an "IQ Test" quoting a score which is the maximum for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices Given that that test has a limited number of questions and the nature of the test it seems that anyone who is good at remembering lines could benefit from coaching. In fact they've come out with versions of that test which are different from the standard test because the standard test is too well known. My perception is that there is a psychologist who administers the test and another psychologist who administers test prep, but a lot of people hang onto the idea that Alyssa Milano must have really gotten a perfect score on Raven since everyone successful must be really smart, the system is fair, etc.

bigstrat2003 3y ago

I didn't spend a dime on ACT prep. I barely spent any time on it. I scored 33/36. It's perfectly possible to score well on these tests even if you don't spend money/effort on preparing.