What Can an IQ Test Score Tell You?

Not as much as many people think.

During my years as a consultant with families, I administered individual IQ tests to people, mostly to children, who showed signs of being intellectually gifted. I also interpreted for parents what the results mean and what the results indicate about the learning needs of their children.

This job was, for me, difficult for a variety of reasons, the foremost reason being that IQ scores aren’t precise. And I know that. Having focused on Test & Measurement for my PhD program at the University of Minnesota (once called the empiricism dustbowl for being a leader in psychological testing and analysis*), I have a different background in testing than many who administer ability tests.

IQ tests generally indicate what a person is capable of learning, not how successful or cooperative at learning — and using what’s learned — the test-taker will be.

What? IQ tests aren’t precise? Does this mean that the IQ I have for myself or my child might be wrong?

Wrong? Well, not exactly. You see, an IQ is just one sample of the range that is your “true score.” A true score is the hypothetical average of…