The highest IQ level is for an Australian mathematician, the author of the Green-Tao theorem, his name is Terence Tao. Getting results above 200 points is a very rare occurrence, because most of the inhabitants of our planet barely score 100 points. People with extremely high IQs (over 150) can be found among Nobel laureates. It is these people who move science forward and make discoveries in various professional fields. Among them are the American writer Marilyn vos Savant, astrophysicist Christopher Hirata, phenomenal reader Kim Pik, who can read a page of text in a few seconds, Briton Daniel Tammet, who memorizes thousands of numbers, Kim Ung-Yong, who already studied at the university at the age of 3, and other famous personalities with amazing abilities.

How is a person's IQ formed?

IQ level is influenced by several factors, including heredity, environment (family, school, social status of a person). The test result is also significantly influenced by the age of the test taker. At the age of 26, as a rule, a person’s intelligence reaches its peak, and then only declines.

It is worth noting that some people with exceptionally high IQs found themselves completely helpless in everyday life. For example, Kim Pik could not fasten the buttons on his clothes. Moreover, not everyone had such talent from birth. Daniel Tammet gained his ability to remember huge numbers of numbers after a terrible attack of epilepsy as a child.

IQ level above 140

People with IQ scores over 140 are owners of excellent creative abilities who have achieved success in various scientific fields. Famous people with IQ test scores of 140 or higher include Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking. Such geniuses of their era are known for their outstanding abilities; they make an incredibly high contribution to the development of knowledge and science, creating new inventions and theories. Such people make up only 0.2% of the entire population.

IQ level from 131 to 140

Only three percent of the population has high IQ scores. Famous people with similar test results include Nicole Kidman and Arnold Schwarzenegger. These are successful people with high mental abilities; they can reach heights in various fields of activity, science and creativity. Want to see who is smarter - you or Schwarzenegger?

IQ level from 121 to 130

Only 6% of the population has an above average intellectual level. Such people are visible in universities, since they are usually excellent students in all disciplines, successfully graduate from universities, realize themselves in a variety of professions and achieve high results.

IQ level from 111 to 120

If you think that the average IQ level is around 110, then you are wrong. This indicator refers to above average intelligence. People with test scores between 111 and 120 are usually hard workers and strive for knowledge throughout their lives. There are about 12% of such people among the population.

IQ level from 101 to 110

IQ level from 91 to 100

If you took the test and the result was less than 100 points, do not be upset, because this is the average for a quarter of the population. People with such intelligence indicators do well in school and universities, they get jobs in middle management and other professions that do not require significant mental effort.

IQ level from 81 to 90

A tenth of the population has a below average intelligence level. Their IQ test scores range from 81 to 90. These people usually do well in school, but most often do not go on to higher education. They can work in the field of physical labor, in industries that do not require the use of intellectual abilities.

IQ level from 71 to 80

Another tenth of the population has an IQ level from 71 to 80, this is already a sign of mental retardation of a lesser degree. People with this result mainly attend special schools, but can also graduate from regular primary school with average grades.

IQ level from 51 to 70

About 7% of people have a mild form of mental retardation and an IQ level from 51 to 70. They study in special institutions, but are able to take care of themselves and are relatively full-fledged members of society.

IQ level from 21 to 50

About 2% of people on Earth have an intellectual development level from 21 to 50 points; they suffer from dementia, moderate mental retardation. Such people cannot learn, but are able to take care of themselves, but most often have guardians.

IQ level up to 20

People with severe mental retardation are not amenable to training and education, and have an intellectual development level of up to 20 points. They are under the care of other people because they cannot take care of themselves, and live in their own world. There are 0.2% of such people in the world.

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IQ tests - FIND OUT YOUR INTELLIGENCE LEVEL!

We have collected BEST FREE IQ TESTS . In the allotted time, answer all 40 questions and identify your weaknesses and strengths. Make intelligence your main ally to achieve your goals!

Choose any of the IQ tests below and get started. Good luck!

Looking for free texts on intelligence? You found them! Typically, the structure of each IQ test is a list of questions, including quite simple tasks and very complex ones. For example, the test subject is asked to cope with tasks that will help determine the quality of your spatial and logical thinking. We have prepared a whole series of tests for you. Choose any free IQ test (we don’t offer paid ones:) and start brainstorming! You can do it!

How world celebrities passed IQ tests

What is this mysterious “IQ Test”?

All people are different. Therefore, it is not surprising when one person has a more developed level of intelligence compared to another. Each of us has a certain idea of ​​our capabilities. But how to measure them accurately? In this case, in most developed countries of the world, it is the IQ test, expressed in points, that comes to the rescue.

Translated from English, the abbreviation IQ means “intelligence quotient.” This indicator is a quantitative assessment of the level of intelligence of an individual in comparison with the same indicator belonging to the average person of the same age as the test subject. IQ can be determined by passing the tests presented above, which (as experts point out) may not evaluate the individual’s existing knowledge, but they do determine his thinking abilities. Our IQ tests are free chances to find out how developed your intelligence is!

The structure of each IQ test is a list of questions, which are both simpler and more difficult. The subject is asked to cope with tasks related to determining the quality of spatial and logical thinking in a person. There are very different variations of questions. As practice shows, the higher the experience in passing these tests, the better the results. The Eysenck test is the most famous among such IQ tests.

Scientists note that half of people have an IQ in the range of 90-110 points, the rest are either below 90 or above 110 (about 25% each). According to American researchers, the average score of this test among graduates of higher educational institutions is 105 points. For excellent students it is 130-140. It is believed that you need to work on improving your mental abilities when your IQ is below 70.

In recent years, IQ tests have gained incredible popularity among the entire population of the planet. They are used everywhere: when applying to universities and colleges, during job interviews, when passing driver's license exams, and so on. Russia also did not stand aside. The population of our country is entirely interested in knowing the level of their own intelligence, which is why many residents try to learn as much as possible about tests to determine intellectual abilities and are not averse to taking them. The big advantage of such intelligence tests is their accessibility. If you search the Internet for IQ tests, you will certainly find free ones. Moreover, not all of them will be correctly composed. The uniqueness of our site is that we give you the opportunity not just to take a free IQ test, but to try to pass a test compiled by an experienced specialist. That is, we have real IQ tests.

It is worth noting that the average IQ of the population of a particular country depends on the efficiency of the state machine and the level of gross domestic product. In addition, a study was conducted that found a relationship between the social intelligence factor and average results on the Unified State Exam (the foreign analogue of the SAT).

IQ tests: how they are constructed

There are other variations of questions. As practice shows, the more experience you have in passing these tests, the better the results. The most famous among such tasks is the Eysenck test. Good accuracy is demonstrated by tests bearing the names of their creators: D. Wexler, J. Raven, R. Amthauer and R. B. Cattell. At the same time, to date no one has yet introduced a single standard to which existing IQ tests would adhere.

All tests are divided into groups by age in order to give an accurate assessment of a person’s intellectual development, corresponding to his age. In other words, the results of IQ tests can be the same - for example, an 11-year-old child and a master's degree in mathematics. This is all because they are equally developed for their age. If we take the Eysenck test, the creator developed it to determine the level of intelligence in people over 18 years of age.

History of IQ and what influences it

Back in 1912, the German scientist Wilhelm Stern introduced the then unusual concept of “intelligence quotient” to the general public for the first time. While conducting his research, he turned his attention to the shortcomings inherent in one of the indicators of the Binet scales, namely mental age. To determine an accurate assessment of an individual's intelligence, Stern proposed dividing mental age indicators by real age (also called chronological), and taking the remainder of this operation.

The first appearance of the term IQ dates back to 1916, when it was used in the Stanford-Binet scale. But today (perhaps due to the greatly increased interest among the population in IQ indicators) there are several other scales, the validity of which has not been proven. Therefore, it is now quite difficult to compare the results shown by different tests. Therefore, psychologists often recommend turning to classical tests to determine the IQ. These are the tests we have selected for you.

Reasons affecting IQ

Naturally, one of the main reasons that has a serious impact on IQ levels is heredity. The main emphasis in the ongoing research on determining the relationship between these two indicators was on children. The results of these studies resulted in quite a wide range of readings: some scientists stated that less than half of IQ depends on existing genes; and others even cited data reporting almost one hundred percent dependence. The rest that could affect the results of IQ tests is the environment and situation, as well as all sorts of errors inherent in such measurements. That is, according to such studies, it turns out that the level of IQ largely depends on hereditary genes.

Another reason that influences IQ scores is individual genes (the brain activity of an ordinary person depends on approximately 17 thousand genes). Research shows that individual genes influence an individual's existing IQ level, but in fact their influence does not have a strong effect. This dependence, revealed during the research, turned out to be at the level of statistical error.

Currently, research has begun to look for differences in the genome in people with high and low IQ levels. If someone manages to figure out the genetic causes of “braininess,” then perhaps there will be a means to increase a person’s IQ level. States with such knowledge will quickly move forward in terms of economic and technological development.

The third reason that can affect IQ level is the environment. Of course, everything that is around a person (especially the family) influences his development. Research has identified many factors for this dependence. They included family income, the size of the house and its price, the developing relationships between all family members, and so on. This dependence is characterized by a coefficient equal to 0.25-0.35. But as a person grows older, this influence gradually decreases until it reaches zero around adulthood (these studies concerned only a full family with two parents and two children).

Improper nutrition can also affect the level of IQ development. Thus, recent studies have shown that eating fish products by a pregnant woman has a beneficial effect on the intellectual development of her unborn child.
Another study, involving about 13 thousand people, determined that breastfeeding also has a positive effect on the infant's intelligence. However, it should be noted that immediately after the publication of this study it was criticized. The reasons for the scientific “attack” were an incorrect analysis of the data obtained and a complete disregard for existing theories.

Differences in IQ across human groups

According to most experts, on average, there is no significant difference in the level of intelligence development between men and women belonging to the same age group. But it is among the male population that the most striking dispersion in this indicator is observed: that is, there are a lot of men with a high level of intelligence and also a lot of those whose IQ is quite low. In addition, this indicator is expressed slightly differently in women and men. This is especially noticeable after five years. At this age, boys begin to show superiority over the fair half of humanity in terms of spatial intelligence and manipulation. Girls demonstrate better verbal functions.
Men are also gaining leadership in the area of ​​mathematical abilities. One of the American researchers came to the conclusion that for every 13 men who have excellent abilities in mathematical operations, there is only one woman equal to them.

Racial differences

Numerous studies have been conducted to identify differences in the average IQ level among residents of the United States of America and have led to the following conclusion: among representatives of the African-American population this indicator was 85 points, among Latinos - 89, whites - 103, Asians - 106, and Jewish - 113.

At the same time, the average IQ level, if we consider data from tests half a century ago, shows some changes. So, today the IQ of the Negroid race in 1995 corresponds to the IQ of white people who lived in 1945. Therefore, it seems impossible to “blame” everything on the genetic characteristics of people.

One should not ignore such an important factor as the influence of society on the development of intelligence. This is especially noticeable in orphans. For example, in the same USA, the IQ level of children raised by representatives of the white race is approximately 10% higher than that of those who lived in a black family. And in the UK, this indicator varies even more interestingly: in boarding schools, black children have a higher IQ than their white peers.

During the research, scientists discovered a pattern in the existing difference in the average IQ level between residents of different countries. According to certain data, this indicator is influenced by the current size of GDP, the practical use of democratic principles, crime and birth rates of the population, and the percentage ratio between believers and atheists. In developing countries, in addition to the above reasons, the average IQ level and poor quality nutrition, coupled with numerous diseases, also have an impact. In this regard, we ask you to familiarize yourself with this interesting map...

Relationship between health, age and IQ

A properly composed diet, especially in the early stages of human development, has a beneficial effect on the development of intellectual abilities. An example is the factor of iodine deficiency in the body: if it is present, the average IQ score decreases by 12 points. Those who have a fairly high IQ live longer and get sick less often.

IQ acts as a measure of a person's intellectual abilities, which reach maximum values ​​at 26 years of age. Then they gradually decrease.

The IQ of an adult, to a greater extent than that of children, is determined by genetic inheritance. For the latter, this indicator is influenced by the environment. Due to certain life characteristics, some children are initially ahead of their peers in terms of intelligence, but over time their indicators level out.
School achievements

Representatives of the American Psychological Association noted that children whose results on IQ tests are high are much better at mastering the material presented in school than those who receive lower scores. This correlation reaches 0.5. Tests to determine the level of intelligence make it possible to pre-select naturally gifted children in order to teach them in a separate, accelerated program.

Revenues, scrime and IQ

Some of the research devoted to the influence of IQ level on a person’s life shows that higher intelligence increases the productivity of an individual and, accordingly, his income increases. Moreover, this indicator does not depend on a person’s social environment, including his family.

The American Psychological Association noted in one of its reports that intelligence level has little to do with a person’s propensity to commit crimes. The correlation in this case is only 0.2. It is important to note here that cause-and-effect relationships are indirect. That is, poor performance at school is not always explained by a low IQ level, but it often influences the possibility of a person becoming criminal.

Arthur Jensen provides information according to which the largest percentage of crimes occurs among people with an IQ ranging from 70 to 90 points.

Scientific achievements, etc.ore activity

According to some studies, it can be concluded that success in the scientific field is largely dependent on character traits such as determination and innovative thinking. But Dr. Eysenck cites other data according to which the level of intelligence of successful scientists is lower than that of their colleagues who received the Nobel Prize. The average IQ test scores were 166. At the same time, some scientists demonstrated the highest possible level of 177 points. Spatial IQ was, according to the scientist, 137 points, although at a younger age it should have been higher. And the average mathematical IQ is 154.

Two scientists, Frank Schmidt and John Hunter, came to the conclusion that, given an equal amount of experience, the person with the higher IQ level will be more productive. As researchers note, the development of intelligence affects all types of human activity, but its level differs depending on the chosen field of activity. From this we can conclude that work that requires long-term brain work will not be available to those with a low IQ. And at the same time, the size of this coefficient will not seriously affect activities related to physical activity.

Text: Ilya Yanovich

The idea of ​​measuring human intelligence using a relatively simple test, it appeared more than a hundred years ago and has fallen into different hands since then. There is no single and universal IQ test, but a similar technique is still used by both some employers during interviews and supporters of far-right views who are trying to scientifically prove the theory of racial superiority.

However, some time ago scientists noticed that the average IQ in developed countries from Great Britain and Denmark to Australia began to fall, although it has been growing steadily over the past 80 years. Let's figure out whether IQ is important at all and what it really says about a person.

What influences our
mental development

New Zealand political scientist James Flynn was the first to notice the connection between living standards and IQ. The development of science and education, new inventions, improvement of living conditions, health care, nutrition, reduction of crime rates - these are some of the factors that influence intellectual development.

The so-called Flynn effect is confirmed by almost all local studies. For example, in Denmark, all people preparing to become military must pass an IQ test - and this has been the case for more than 60 years, and the test, adapted in the middle of the last century, was updated only a few years ago. At the same time, the average result grew every year: with the scores that were considered the norm in the 1950s, today you may not be accepted into the service. The growth continued until the end of the 1990s; in the 2000s, the numbers froze, fluctuating slightly in one direction or the other, and now they have gone down. And not just in Denmark: many universities and research centers around the world are reporting similar results.

At first glance, there is no logical explanation for this: according to the Flynn effect, growth should only gain momentum. Moreover, scientists from the University of Otago - the one where Flynn conducted his research - add information flow to the growth factors. The number of newspapers and magazines increased many times in the middle of the 20th century, at the same time television appeared, and people, constantly passing large amounts of data through their heads, learned to more easily absorb any new information. The drop in numbers coincided with the massive spread of the Internet, which makes things even more confusing.

Flynn himself has two explanations for this phenomenon. The first version is that according to statistics in developed countries, wealthy and relatively successful couples are increasingly having one child, while many large families live near the poverty line. Parents there have not received proper education and cannot afford to pay for college or university for their children, and poor living conditions, according to the same Flynn effect, lead to a decline in intelligence. This hypothesis, firstly, requires additional research, and secondly, it is valid only if genes really influence IQ level.

Genes do indeed influence IQ levels, and significantly, according to the results of a study by American psychologist Robert Plomin. But this assumption has many opponents: supposedly Plomin and his colleagues did not provide convincing evidence in favor of the fact that smart children come from good families precisely because of genetic connections, and not because of the comfortable environment around them.

Flynn's second version: a high standard of living has long become the norm for most developed countries; today this level is growing slightly or not growing at all, which is why the average IQ is no longer rising.

What IQ Tests Really Measure and Why They're Not Universal

A test very close to what we understand today as an IQ test was developed in 1912 by the German psychologist William Lewis Stern. He took as a basis various problems and puzzles of the 19th century and tied them into his system of studying child psychology - the result was partly reminiscent of the psychological test developed in parallel by Alfred Binet. Essentially, Stern wanted to create a method for assessing the developmental potential of children, but all subsequent IQ tests (including those of the controversial British psychologist Hans Jürgen Eysenck, who popularized the very idea of ​​​​measuring IQ) assumed variations for adults.

A test where you have to answer 40 questions in 30 minutes is too outdated and inaccurate. But it has penetrated so deeply into universities, research institutes, and now the Internet that it still cannot be eradicated. If you took an IQ test in school, it was probably one of the many variations of the Eysenck test. At the same time, a standardized test has not appeared in more than 100 years: there are several dozen basic versions (by Cattell, Wexler and other psychologists), as well as several hundred of their modifications - and this is if we take into account only the tests used by major scientists, and do not take adapted versions for different ages are taken into account.

Most likely, each of us has taken an IQ test, at least out of interest, but many find it difficult to answer what exactly it measures. The most popular answer is some kind of conditional “mind”. In fact, the average IQ test measures your ability to analyze new information (both using and not using old) relative to your age. In this case, the tests are specially designed in such a way that the average value is equal to 100 points. It is believed that a score below 70 points indicates problems in mental development, but the so-called threshold of genius varies greatly from version to version: somewhere it starts from 140 points, somewhere from 160.

Behind the scenes, the person with the highest IQ in history is the American William Sidis, born in 1898. A writer, asexual, political activist, he read the Iliad in the original at the age of three, knew several dozen languages ​​by the time he came of age and invented one of his own, was incredibly capable in mathematics, and published several science fiction books and monographs on various topics. Exact data on his IQ score has not been preserved, but, according to unconfirmed data, it reached a corridor of 250–300 points. Nevertheless, no one uses his only pragmatic invention, the “perpetual calendar,” today.

An intelligent and successful person by all visible parameters with an ordinary
or even low IQ - is far from an exception

Taking the same test with short breaks can give you different results because your concentration is significantly affected by your physical and psychological state. But even in potentially sterile conditions, IQ tests are far from highly accurate. For example, a version of the Eysenck test, long used in the United States to test preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years, asked what color an apple was. The correct answer is to say that there are many colors and name some of them, but there is a high probability that a three-year-old child could only see red or only green apples, and this would not affect his mental abilities.

Some versions of the Rudolf Amthauer test generally ask questions about erudition (“what is measured in joules?”) - the answer can be found out in a second on the Internet or in a reference book, which will not make you more capable. Psychologist W. Joel Schneider, in an interview with Scientific American, also recalls that the average IQ test gives not only a very approximate, but also a very average value, because it consists of several subtests, each of which tests different types of thinking. Thus, a person with outstanding abstract thinking and weak verbal reasoning is likely to score average.

Research centers use more advanced systems that produce not only average scores, but also very detailed statistics. One of these programs, called Compositator, was developed by Schneider himself, although he admits that it is far from the required accuracy, and a smart and successful person by all visible parameters with an mediocre or even low IQ is far from an exception. In his blog, which is largely devoted to the measurement of IQ, Schneider notes that public interest in IQ tests and their results is falling: they are no longer taken too seriously. This is especially noticeable among American employers: in the 50s, when IQ measurement became popular, large companies wanted to hire only people with high scores and even arranged tests directly at the interview, but by the 2000s this practice was almost completely abandoned.

Finally, another important problem with IQ tests is their strict timing. It is known, for example, that Albert Einstein thought extremely slowly and did not meet the allotted deadlines in exams, but hardly anyone would doubt the level of his intellectual abilities.

Is high IQ important?

There are several organizations that bring together people with extremely high IQs. Mensa International will accept those who score higher than 98% of the population (that is, two out of a hundred people). Although you will still need to take not a standard IQ test, but a specially revised one. The Prometheus Society is much stricter: their tests are designed so that only one person in 30 thousand can pass them. The organization is growing very slowly: in 2013 it had only about 130 members.

The Mensa website allows you to take part in an intellectual exercise - take a test of 30 questions in an hour. This is not a traditional IQ test or a Mensa admissions test. You are warned that the test is created for entertainment purposes only, but is based on the same questions and techniques for assessing intelligence as the real Mensa exam, which is not publicly available. Many tasks resemble the Eysenck test, but at the end they will describe in detail how to solve the questions and the most common mistakes you made.

Members of Mensa and Prometheus do not have any extraordinary achievements. 68-year-old American journalist Marilyn vos Savant, a member of Prometheus and the Guinness World Records holder for IQ scores from 1986 to 1989, writes a column for Parade magazine, solves logical paradoxes, has published several books and written several plays. But you might not have heard of her at all, although according to the test results she is the most outstanding woman in history. The last Guinness World Record holder, Korean Kim Un-young, quickly mastered mathematics and foreign languages, solved speed problems on local television programs, but by the time he was 51, he also had not achieved anything truly significant. In 1990, the Guinness Book of Records stopped including IQ champions in its publications altogether, explaining that there were too many tests, they all gave different results and it was impossible to determine the winner.

While it's true that average IQs are falling across the developed world, it hasn't had any noticeable impact, says Thomas Tiddle, a professor at the University of Copenhagen and the same scientist who noticed the decline in average IQs among the Danish military. The number of scientific publications is growing, an increasing percentage of people are receiving higher education, the pace of technology development is increasing every year, and it is not very clear whether the average IQ value can influence anything other than statistics. So you shouldn’t attach too much importance to some arbitrary numbers.