- discussing IQ On 22 Apr 2004 15:12:15 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Herman Rubin) wrote:
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > Robert J. MacG. Dawson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: [ snip much interesting comment] > > > Similarly, at the lower end, most standard adult IQ tests presumably do > >not distinguish below a certain level at which the subject is incapable > >of following the instructions. > > > Extremes of ability need to be measured with special instruments. HR > > Possibly special instruments, but still use the idea of a scale, > not of an arbitrary distribution, or contortion to fit an > inappropriate cookbook probability course. We do not use the > same instruments to measure temperatures of .001 K as we do for > the surface of the Sun, or for the interior of a thermonuclear > reactor, but we are still using the same scale. "temperature" is reasonably defined as one dimension. IQ, merely for the parts important for living and school, incorporates at least 6 dimensions which have been rather well demonstrated as independent 'talents' that use different parts of the brain. Well-measured IQs below about 80, I once was told by specialists, demonstrate trauma or genetic defect. So there is (approximately) a normal zero for humans, if you want to think of it that way. And then there is this complication: Our measured IQ strongly does reflect something cultural and educational, particularly for those tests of 'abstract reasoning' (Raven's progressive matrices) that still are (I think) regarded as having the strongest genetic loading. - By the way, Herman -- Do you have any reference for your description of the 'better scaling' for IQ, with bigger 'real' differences at the high end, or is that personal, subjective opinion? I do not remember that. -- Rich Ulrich, [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pitt.edu/~wpilib/index.html . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
