If we use the measure of intelligence, what would be the score of a gifted student in the 4th grade of primary school?

IQ is defined as

IQ= (Mental age/chronological age)x100

The interpretation is that if a child has more mental ability that is greater mental age than chronological (physical) age, (s)he will have greater IQ compared to others.

But, the problem is defining mental age. How to define it precisely? A lots of error may be present such as due to type of test questions related to creativity, imagination which I think very difficult to ans (because there is no limit), individual differences among the students as well as teachers hence problem in standardization of test, generation gap between teachers and students (I always think younger generations are always more intelligent, otherwise we could not not have any development!!!). I think it is only a relative measurement based on particular group done by an expert relatively with some relative parameters. So, will be useful in determining the interest and aptitude of child and degree to some extent, but not exact / absolute mesurement. A number can't express all the abilities of a child.

To some extent, Its like RG scores : )

With regards

Gennady Fedulov

Dear Elangbam Chitra Devi,

I would want to argue your phrase "I always think younger generations are always more intelligent, otherwise we could not not have any development!!!". Just now, in fact, we are seeing a completely opposite picture of the total mental degradation of society. This fact no one denies, because the children actually stopped reading books, so they stop thinking. Now a modern society is a consumer society, and I'm afraid that after a while there will not be people who are able to create intellectual products, which we actively use every day. I'll quote one quote from https://www.researchgate.net/post/Are_we_as_a_species_actually_becoming_stupid "... and average IQ is falling: according to one's own psychology, at the University of Amsterdam, it has fallen among Westerners by as many as 14 points since the beginning of the 20th century. He goes on to record the rise in the Flat Earth believers. Is this sufficient evidence that we are becoming stupider, for there is in fact no real reason for our species becoming smarter, as once believed? ". Therefore, all the talk about IQ is just a shaking of the air and is absolutely useless. There are a lot of cases when children with outstanding abilities were advertised, who after a while became quite ordinary and even unhappy people. It is known the saying "The earlier the personality is will be formed, the less it will cost".

Elangbam Chitra Devi

Dear Dr Gennady

Thank you so much for the comment.

Actually, the phrase was my personal opinion based on some observations and not a conclusion/ result/ finding. I would like to elaborate my opinion a little bit more. First, I think intelligence of human can’t go backward, I can’t see any strong scientific reason for it and secondly, I trust in advanced medical sciences. Coming to the real world direct observation, I noticed that mental abilities of a child at present generation is very advanced compared to a child of same age at the past generation. For example nowadays, children of 4-5 years (say) are able to easily access smart phones and if I look backward myself at that stage, I can imagine the differences. Isn’t it an indication of intelligence (generation gap)? I can’t agree that there is a total mental degradation in children (stop thinking). The way of getting knowledge by children has greatly changed due to advancement in technologies (developments). I think they are going ahead from our effort (understanding) to measure their abilities. I think the statement in your comment “There are a lot of cases when children with outstanding abilities were advertised, who after a while became quite ordinary and even unhappy people.” is required to be studied. There is also possibilities that the definition of “outstanding abilities” may not be correct (but we are assuming it correct, defined at our own understanding level) and hence the result. I think your arguments further support my ideas (that I have given in my previous comment). Further, I don’t think it is possible to have a society having consumers only without efficient producers.

If I am not wrong, your interpretation is that according to the psychological test, there is decline of IQ and hence we (and new generation) are becoming stupid. Here, IQ is the deciding factor for our intelligence. Do you think a number is sufficient enough to measure all the intelligence of a human efficiently and good enough to predict our future? In this case, I prefer to say, we are not becoming stupid, but we are adapting for the survival of the fittest. A complex numerical problem solved by human which takes few minutes can be easily solved by computers in fractions of seconds. It doesn’t means that computers are more intelligent than human. We are trying to reduce our effort and maximize productivity. I think this is intelligence not stupid. My interpretation is that comparing the past few decades with present, the development implies increase in human intelligence and so the same trend expecting in future. In my opinion, our new developments are real measures and outcomes of our intelligence and I think history is evident that we are growing and developing with time (generation).

Lastly, I would like to express that a rough estimate of IQ (intelligence test) is good for understanding the student interests and aptitudes and helps in teaching learning processes, but it is not a parameter to predict the future.

Thank you so much for your kind attention.

With best regards

Chedia Jarray

there are several methods used in intelligence measuring. But the uncertainty changes from a method to another.

Yin Zhe

There are no geniuses in elementary school. There is only the question of consuming personal resources and then consuming personal resources. Only a short period of understanding of methodology. This is a technical category. The greater the difference in parental intelligence, the more intelligent the child is.