What do you think about this five minute intelligence test?

I don’t find it hard to entertain a hypothesis that a very brief exercise could be as effective (or as ineffective) as a 90-minute test in predicting young children’s fitness for a giftedness program. I definitely think the hypothesis and its ramifications are worth exploring. But it seems rather hasty to me to put it into practice without being able to explain why it works. On the other hand, that might just be my bias toward rationality speaking. If it does work, maybe it’s not important to know why.

Like the author, I have mixed feelings about such testing, though not for the same reasons. I see a great value in placing exceptionally able children in a setting where they can move ahead at their own rapid pace and not be held back by those who can’t keep up. But I think labeling as less able can do a great deal of harm and actually discourage children from trying to do as much as they can (and teachers from encouraging them to). I’ve never seen a good solution to this dilemma.

I don’t agree with the test. Your intelligence is not based on time.

Very interesting. Two of my three children were identified as gifted in kindergarten, then tested to see if they met the criteria for admission to the gifted program. It was, of course, a much longer test, but pattern recognition was a big part of it. I could see how narrowing it down to only pattern recognition could be accurate… if you think about it, even learning to read is pattern-based. I disagree with the author’s stance on identifying the children so early. My two kids thrived in the gifted program, and I feel they would have been doing busy work in a regular classroom setting.

I think it is great, according to my results I am extremely gifted and going to be a genius when I grow up!

cyndihugs,
clinical IQ is largely based on how quickly someone can complete various tasks. I believe the idea is that, given enough time, most people of average intelligence could get an above average score on an IQ test, that’s why time is such a crucial element. However, if you were referring to some sort of non-IQ based “intelligence”, perhaps you are right, but how would you measure it?

I’m just saying. I know an extremely smart guy who would take forever doing the tests and he would get like a really excellent grade A or A+. He takes his time. That’s why I say time is crucial.

School tests are not designed to test intelligence per se. For example, someone who is incredibly intelligent but lazy or without the time to study may tend to do poorly, whereas someone of average intelligence who studies diligently may tend to do well. The same is not generally true of intelligence tests. Also, it is difficult if not impossible to draw usefull conclusions from a sample size of 1.

And intelligence is not about how well you have learned a subject.

@jhp Welcome to Fluther!