Intelligence Testing

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests have many uses. They can be used to predict educational achievement, help diagnose learning disabilities, identify academic strengths and weaknesses and aid in school placement. One of the best uses for Intelligence tests is to determine the presence of a learning disability. Many people with learning disabilities will display a variance between their Verbal and Performance IQ scores. This is one way that Intelligence testing can be very beneficial.

While Intelligence tests are very useful in certain scenarios, they are also misused quite frequently. Many people assume Intelligence Quotient tests will predict if someone will be able to work in a certain field, get accepted into a certain graduate school or even have a good quality of life. This is one of the downsides to IQ testing. Sometimes, people begin to read too much into the results of a test. In reality, no test is detailed enough to fully predict someone's life. One example of this misuse is when certain races are deemed to be less intelligent than others based on the broad results of IQ tests. In reality, these tests do not take other factors such as poverty into consideration. Additionally, IQ tests do not measure creative ability. Creativity is an important aspect in many jobs.

Article: http://bsnpta.org/geeklog/public_html//article.php?story=Use_Misuse_IQ_Testing