Intelligence Health Dictionary

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Intelligence: From 1 Different Sources

The ability to understand concepts and to reason them out. Intelligence can also be considered as having 3 separate forms: abstract (understanding ideas and symbols); practical (aptitude in dealing with practical problems such as repairing machinery); and social (coping reasonably and wisely with human relationships). Intelligence increases up to the age of about 6 years and then stabilizes. Intelligence quotient (IQ), as measured by intelligence tests, continues to increase to about the age of 26, stays the same until about the age of 40, and then gradually declines. Intelligence is partly inherited, although environment also plays a major part, as does physical health and personality.

Extremes of intelligence occur in learning difficulties (defined by a low IQ) and in the gifted (defined by scores over 140).

Health Source: BMA Medical Dictionary
Author: The British Medical Association

Intelligence Test

A standardised procedure of mental assessment to determine an individual’s intellectual ability. The result is produced as a score termed the INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (IQ). The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and one for children, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WICS), are commonly used, as is the Stanford-Binet Scale. Assessments are made for educational purposes and to help in the diagnoses of people with possible mental retardation or intellectual deterioration.... intelligence test

Artificial Intelligence (ai)

The design and study of computer systems that have properties resembling human intelligence, such as natural language, problem-solving, and analysis of novel situations.... artificial intelligence (ai)

Intelligence Quotient (iq)

This is the ratio between the mental age and chronological age multiplied by 100. Thus, if a boy of 10 years of age is found to have a mental age of 12 years, his IQ will be 120. On the other hand, if he is found to have a mental age of 8 years, his IQ will be 80.

The mental age is established by various tests, the most widely used of which are the Stanford-Binet Scale, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and the Mill Hill Vocabulary Test.

Average intelligence is represented by an IQ of 100, with a range of 85 to 115. For practical purposes it is taken that the intellectual level reached by the average 15-year-old is indistinguishable from that of an adult.... intelligence quotient (iq)

Intelligence Tests

Tests designed to provide an estimate of a person’s mental abilities. The most widely used are Wechsler tests of which there are 2 basic types: the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). Each is divided into verbal (concerned with language skills) and performance sections, including measures of constructional ability and visual-spatial and perceptual ability (interpretation of shapes). Other tests include the Stanford–Binet test, which is used mainly as a measure of scholastic ability.

In most intelligence tests, scoring is based on mental age (MA) in relation to chronological age (CA). The intelligence quotient (IQ) is MA divided by CA, multiplied by 100. The tests are devised to ensure that 3 in 4 people have an IQ between 80 and 120. They are standardized so that the score indicates the same relative ability at different age levels.

Intelligence tests may be used to assess school or job aptitude. However, they have been criticized for their alleged bias regarding gender and race.... intelligence tests

Intelligence Quotient

(IQ) an index of intellectual development. In childhood and adult life it represents intellectual ability relative to the rest of the population; in children it can also represent rate of development (*mental age as a percentage of chronological age). The population’s IQ follows almost a normal distribution curve. Most *intelligence tests are constructed so that the resulting intelligence quotients in the general population have a *mean of about 100 and a *standard deviation of about 15. An IQ of below 80 is considered to be indicative of *learning disability.... intelligence quotient

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