Intelligence Tests

Trick Question: Should parents administer at-home IQ tests to their kids? Pick one: a) Yes; b) No; or c) Maybe, but don't make me take one myself. For parents hoping their kids will be able to fork out for their own educations from their "Jeopardy" winnings, here's news. Virtual Knowledge, a Needham, Mass.-based software company, has begun offering what it says is the first CD-ROM aptitude and IQ test for children.

In the words of too many announcers this past football season, Georgia's Matt Stafford separated himself from the rest of the quarterback field in one key test of potential NFL draftees -- the Wonderlic intelligence test. Out of a possible score of 50, Stafford scored 38 -- 10 points better than Mark Sanchez's 28 and 11 better than Kansas State's Josh Freeman. Stafford's score was also better than some current pros of note.

Mary Amaya was stunned that day in May, 1987, when she opened a letter from Alder Junior High School in Fontana and read what it had to say about her younger son, Demond Crawford. What disturbed her was not the recommendation that her son be tested for learning disabilities. She had been baffled by Demond's recent poor performance in school and welcomed the chance to get to the bottom of things. What did upset her, she said last week, was the letter's postscript.

James R. Flynn, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Otaga in New Zealand, discovered two decades ago that IQ test scores were steadily rising in the developed world despite failing schools and stagnant standardized test scores -- a phenomenon called the "Flynn effect." During a recent visit to UCLA, Flynn talked about the conundrum, which is the subject of his new book, "What Is Intelligence?" Are children today smarter than their parents?

The boy who would grow up to direct "The Caine Mutiny" was a 13-year-old student at Lockwood Street School on the fringes of Hollywood when he was discovered by Lewis M. Terman, the inventor of the modern-day IQ test. It was 1922, and the Stanford University professor had dispersed a small flock of assistants to test children around the state.

James R. Flynn, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Otaga in New Zealand, discovered two decades ago that IQ test scores were steadily rising in the developed world despite failing schools and stagnant standardized test scores -- a phenomenon called the "Flynn effect." During a recent visit to UCLA, Flynn talked about the conundrum, which is the subject of his new book, "What Is Intelligence?" Are children today smarter than their parents?

A Laguna Hills mother whose 7-year-old daughter was denied an intelligence test because she is African American filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Friday accusing an Orange County school district of discrimination. The dispute stems from a landmark 1979 federal court ruling that prohibits California public schools from giving standardized intelligence tests to African American children to determine mental retardation.

It's smarter to exercise than to think about it, according to the Reebok Aerobic Information Bureau. It says USC researchers split 48 senior citizens into two groups: exercising and non-exercising. Intelligence tests before and after 12 weeks of exercise show that the exercising group improved its problem-solving abilities, short-term memory and concentration.

It was hard enough when Wendy Strong realized her 7-year-old daughter, Brianna Combash, might have a learning disability and would need testing to determine if special education classes were required. Little did she know that a 15-year-old federal court ruling would make her ordeal even more complicated, because Brianna's African American heritage makes her ineligible for an IQ test that might help identify her learning problem.

Intelligence tests can seem important to parents who are trying to get their children accepted into programs for the academically gifted or enrolled in a specific private school. Understanding what factors these examinations measure can help parents understand the information that they provide about their children. The tests generally measure what children know and can do at a given age in terms of verbal skills, hand-eye coordination or motor functions.

A defendant may be spared the death penalty because he is mentally deficient in one area, even if his IQ score falls in the normal range, the California Supreme Court decided Thursday. The state high court's unanimous ruling rejected an appeals court decision that "full scale" IQ scores -- composites of tests of various mental faculties -- are the best measure of intelligence.

Do you realize how your feelings affect your judgment? Can you openly acknowledge your weaknesses? Do you have "presence"? More to the point: Would your co-workers and boss agree with your answers? It's worth thinking about. Because in the last 10 years, these kinds of inquiries have made their way into employee development programs, management coaching seminars and selection criteria for upper-management positions.

The longest study of children born after in vitro fertilization and similar treatments is reassuring on intelligence scores and psychological health, but raises concerns that the rate of birth defects may be higher than normal, researchers said Wednesday. The study, funded by the European Union, involved more than 1,500 children from Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Greece tracked up to age 5.

Children who are outgoing and adventurous as toddlers have substantially higher IQs by the time they are preteens, according to new research by scientists studying how personality shapes intelligence. Seeking links between childhood behavior and mental ability, scientists at USC and UC Riverside compared how eagerly youngsters sought out new experiences at age 3 and how well they performed on various tests of mental ability eight years later at age 11.

Q: To what extent can intelligence or personality tests be administered to job applicants, especially those for key corporate positions, as part of the screening process? Generally, a manager or executive's personality or cognitive abilities will be a very important indicator of success in a position, in addition to experience and training. --G.A.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by a man who was deemed too smart to be a New London, Conn., police officer. U.S. District Judge Peter C. Dorsey said the Police Department's rejection of Robert Jordan because he scored too high on an intelligence test did not violate his rights. The city's rationale for the long-standing practice is that candidates who score too high could soon get bored and quit after undergoing costly academy training.

In response to a court decision last summer, the California Department of Education issued a directive prohibiting the use of intelligence tests on black children referred for special education. The Los Angeles Unified School District goes it one better. On Dec. 19 the assistant superintendent's office issued a bulletin directing school psychologists to refrain from the use of intelligence tests for all students referred for special education. We have come full circle.

A Laguna Hills mother whose 7-year-old daughter was denied an intelligence test because she is African American filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Friday charging a local school district with discrimination. The dispute stems from a landmark 1979 federal court ruling that prohibits California public schools from giving standardized intelligence tests to African American children to determine mental retardation.

Gregg Colton likes to recall a minor case of deja vu that he was forced to endure a couple of years ago. The private investigator and former director of test security for an examination firm was reading an advertisement that guaranteed a passing grade on a state contractor's exam after just two days of study. He'd seen hundreds of similar ads from such "cram schools" but after further scrutiny, he had to admit this one was special.

Several years ago, Illinois-based Wonderlic Personnel Inc. found that the thousands of corporations that had been using the company's short-form intelligence test for more than three decades wanted to gauge more than their employees' brainpower. "Creativity is what our clients are telling us they need at all levels, from the mail room to the boardroom," said Victor Artese, Wonderlic's vice president for research and development.