Abstract
The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests and the corresponding psychometric explanations dominate both the scientific and popular views about human intelligence. Though the IQ tests have been in currency for long, there exists a gap in what they are believed to measure and what they do. While the IQ tests index the quality of cognitive functioning in selected domains of mental repertoire, the applied settings often inflate their predictive value leading to an interpretive gap. The present article contends that studying the influence of motivational and affective processes on cognitive functioning would help to evolve a more psychologically comprehensive account of the IQ tests and bridge the interpretive gap. To conclude, the article suggests possible future research directions that could strengthen the predictive value of the IQ tests.
Highlights
The need to distinguish ourselves from others around us is perhaps distinctly human
The composite of such tests is known as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test
Lewis Terman took this test to Stanford University and revised it to what has come to be known as the Stanford-Binet IQ test (Roid and Pomplun, 2012)
Summary
The need to distinguish ourselves from others around us is perhaps distinctly human. Intelligence as a concept sets us apart as a species from the rest of the animals and enables us to place ourselves uniquely in the company of fellow human beings (Sternberg, 2018). The narrow theories identify intelligence with performance on a set of tests that account for cognitive functioning in selected domains of human mental repertoire. The composite of such tests is known as the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test. The broad theories emphasize on the aspects of mental functioning associated with the vernacular use of the term intelligence including adaptation to the environment, display of wisdom, creativity, etc., irrespective of whether these aspects are amenable to measurement or not (Gardner, 1993; Perkins et al, 1993; Ceci, 1996; Sternberg, 2018) They highlight aspects of mental functioning that shape human behavior that is otherwise largely ignored by the narrow theorists, including biological characteristics, psychological processes, and socio-cultural environs. EG Boring’s (1923) famous assertion that “Intelligence is what IQ tests measure” reflects the status enjoyed by the IQ tests in the scientific community
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