Why IQ is not the same as intelligence | BBC Ideas

00:05:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ1rDEPUZ1M

Summary

TLDRThe video discusses the history and implications of IQ testing, pioneered by Alfred Binet. Initially designed to aid education, IQ tests claim to quantify intelligence but primarily measure abstract reasoning. The video critiques the idea that IQ is an innate trait, highlighting the impact of environmental factors on IQ scores. It emphasizes the complexity of intelligence beyond a single number and warns against using IQ as a measure for access to basic rights. In summary, while IQ tests can be useful in certain contexts, they do not encompass the full spectrum of human intelligence.

Takeaways

  • 🧠 IQ testing originated with Alfred Binet for educational support.
  • 📊 IQ is often misunderstood as a fixed measure of intelligence.
  • 🧩 Early life experiences significantly influence IQ scores.
  • 🚫 IQ tests have historically been misused for political aims.
  • 🔄 IQ scores can change with practice and education.
  • 🔍 IQ tests mainly measure abstract reasoning, not all intelligence forms.
  • 👩‍🏫 Intelligence is multifaceted and can't be summed up in a single number.
  • ⚖️ Using IQ as a determinant for rights is misguided.
  • 📚 Education and nutrition influence IQ over generations.
  • 🧬 Intelligence genetics is complex, involving thousands of genes.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:20

    The video discusses the concept of IQ, its origins with Alfred Binet, and the implications of IQ testing. Binet developed the first intelligence tests to identify students needing educational support, cautioning against equating these tests strictly with intelligence. American adoption of IQ testing led to a controversial belief in innate intelligence linked to ethnicity, which has since been discredited. Factors like education and nutrition have shown to influence IQ scores over time. Additionally, the socio-cultural environment plays a significant role in shaping one's abstract reasoning abilities, which IQ assessments primarily measure, often neglecting other forms of intelligence such as emotional and practical intelligence. The video argues against the misuse of IQ tests for political agendas and emphasizes that intelligence is multidimensional, not accurately represented by a single number. Environmental influences can alter IQ scores, indicating that they are not fixed and reflecting only a partial understanding of human intellect.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the origin of IQ testing?

    IQ testing originated with Alfred Binet, who developed the first intelligence test to identify students needing remedial help.

  • Can IQ scores be changed?

    Yes, IQ scores can change due to practice, education, and environmental influences.

  • Do IQ tests measure all forms of intelligence?

    No, IQ tests primarily measure abstract reasoning and do not capture other types of intelligence like emotional or practical intelligence.

  • Is IQ innate or influenced by environment?

    IQ is influenced by environmental factors like education and early life experiences, contrary to earlier beliefs that it was solely innate.

  • Can IQ tests support political agendas?

    Yes, throughout history, IQ tests have been misused to further political aims, including racist and sexist agendas.

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  • 00:00:00
    what's your iq 120
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    91 and what does it all mean
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    is it even possible to define a person's
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    intelligence by a test
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    and does who is setting the test and why
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    make a difference to your score
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    welcome to this short guide to iq made
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    with the help of two
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    highly intelligent experts iq really
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    started with alfred binet
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    who was a frenchman and he was asked by
  • 00:00:26
    his government to develop a test
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    that could determine whether people
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    needed remedial help with their
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    education they later became
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    dubbed iq intelligent quotient but he
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    warned against that name because he said
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    they weren't
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    tests of intelligence what they were
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    were tests of a certain kind of ability
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    so
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    binet was the originator of intelligence
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    testing
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    and that led to the concept of iq
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    that we have today the idea that
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    somebody could have
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    a general intellectual level that could
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    be measured between one and a hundred
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    what happened next
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    was that it crossed the atlantic and was
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    adopted by
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    american psychologists and they decided
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    that iq was innate that you were born
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    with it
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    there was nothing you could do to change
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    it and the different population groups
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    different ethnic groups had different
  • 00:01:18
    innate iq
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    [Music]
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    this view of the early iq testers in the
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    united states has been subsequently
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    decisively disproved with ashkenazi jews
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    at the time of the first world war they
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    had lower than average iqs
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    by the time of the second world war
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    higher than average and the reason for
  • 00:01:58
    that
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    was they had they had better education
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    better nutrition
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    and that on average the parents had
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    become better educated as well
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    so those factors shifted the average iqs
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    the reason different groups
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    score differently on iq relates to the
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    fact that
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    iq tests measure abstract intelligence
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    in other words your ability to deal with
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    abstract logic
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    and that is determined very
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    significantly
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    by what happens in your early years of
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    your life so if you come from a
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    community
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    where there's a lot of argument where
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    you're encouraged to read
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    were you encouraged to discuss things on
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    average it's likely that that community
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    will have higher iqs iq tests have often
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    throughout history been used to
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    further political aims whether those be
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    sexist racist whatever agenda
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    politicians
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    may want to put forward iq tests have
  • 00:02:56
    been used
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    to support that and the idea that they
  • 00:03:00
    are
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    scientific because they're based on
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    quantitative measures
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    has been something that's been exploited
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    by many governments
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    iq tests in the early 20th century
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    sometimes women did
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    fair worse that wasn't always the case
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    intelligence tests
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    were based on completing activities such
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    as
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    completing a puzzle completing a task
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    looking at reaction times
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    and if someone had not engaged in those
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    activities before
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    if they were for example a girl that had
  • 00:03:30
    never been allowed to
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    access these kinds of activities they
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    wouldn't perform in the same way as
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    somebody who had done
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    one of the dangers of iq tests is that
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    they people see them
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    as a measure of intelligence whereas
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    really what they're measuring is
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    abstract logic
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    and there are other forms of
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    intelligence like emotional intelligence
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    like practical intelligence like
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    long-term memory like wisdom that they
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    don't measure
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    i'm not opposed to iq tests per se i
  • 00:03:58
    think that they are useful
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    in measuring abilities in things like
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    maths
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    science computer science because they're
  • 00:04:06
    measuring the same kinds of things that
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    iq tests measure
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    i think the biggest misconception of
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    about iq is that it's the same thing as
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    intelligence and it's not
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    we've seen that iq can change so
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    if you practice iq tests your iq will go
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    up
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    so environmental conditions and
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    education
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    can change iq it is not fixed i would
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    hope
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    that intelligence would never be used as
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    a concept
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    to make political decisions over whether
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    or not someone has
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    access to education access to healthcare
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    access to freedom of movement access to
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    any of these universal human rights
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    intelligence is a multifaceted thing and
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    multifaceted things
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    can't really be measured in terms of a
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    single number
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    which is what iq tests give you and
  • 00:05:00
    when they've looked at at the genetics
  • 00:05:02
    of intelligence
  • 00:05:03
    there are thousands of genes that are
  • 00:05:05
    implicated
  • 00:05:06
    so it is a much more complex thing than
  • 00:05:09
    what is measured
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    by a single iq test
Tags
  • IQ
  • intelligence
  • Binet
  • testing
  • education
  • environment
  • abstract reasoning
  • political agendas
  • emotional intelligence
  • practical intelligence