An IQ or Intelligence Quotient is simply a number derived from a standardized test. It is a number that shows you how your intelligence compares with that of an average person of the same age.

A reputable IQ test is one that has been carefully prepared and given to a large number of subjects prior to its public and private use in schools and clinics.

There are IQ tests that are given individually; that is, you and the examiner are alone in a room while questions and tasks are presented for you to solve. Then there are IQ tests that can be given in a large group and you read the problems, work them out and put down your answer.

Generally, the tests that are given to you individually are better indicators of intelligence, but they also are the most expensive to take.

Tests found in books and on the Internet are certainly less expensive and will give you an idea of your IQ, but again they tend to be in the arena of popular psychology, and not true, in-depth testing.

But basically, what is intelligence anyway? Simply stated, it is the efficiency with which you solve the varied life problems that come your way. In an intelligence test, we really cannot measure anyone's true intelligence; we only infer ones intelligence by the number/amount of the problems solved. It is interesting to note that IQ tests are closely related to ones level of exposure to our educational system. Someone who has a low level of schooling, for example the poor person who drops out of school at a young age and has to work to support his family, will likely not do well on an intelligence test. Most IQ tests sample a small amount of ones understanding of historical facts, memory skills, number skills, motor skills and some visual and auditory skills,as well a variety of other human skills. The results of this sampling yields a score, and that score is compared to the scores of a group of people your same age, and then a total number of rights answers produces an intelligence score.

For most tests, a person who scores 100 is only in the average range of intelligence. This might come as a shock since in school 100 is perfect, the best you can do. Not so with intelligence tests!

For example, a test might indicate that average is between 89 to 109, with 89 being low average, 100 being average, and 109 falling in the high average range.

Most IQ tests also give a percentile score. For example, the 100 IQ score is equivalent to a 50th percentile. So, if 100 people took

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