Human Nature

illegal request?

MorganLee — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:51:58 GMT

morganlee,

do you mind giving me your username and password for pubmed and elsevier. I can't really access the articles you quote.

What?! Are you seriously asking me to provide you with illegal access to a site that charges for its services? You want to STEAL material? Would you care to explain your understanding of intellectual property rights? I was under the impression that Slate dod not allow the use of this site for criminal purposes.

I did not provide you with a link, I gave a reference. You may find the material at your library or purchase it. It is (as I understand it) a crime to share paid account access.

Re: IQ or lots of PRACTICE?

copyofcopy — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:32:56 GMT

morganlee,

do you mind giving me your username and password for pubmed and elsevier. I can't really access the articles you quote.

Hi Six

MorganLee — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:36:53 GMT

Do you believe that babies study for IQ tests? Please explain your theory with respect to the following:

the paper

The prediction, from infancy, of adult IQ and achievement
Intelligence, vol 35, issue 3, 2007
Pages 225-231
Joseph F. Fagan, Cynthia R. Holland and Karyn Wheeler

the finding

IQ from 3 to 21 years appears to be quite stable and achievement at
21 years is predicted about as well by the IQ estimate at 3 years as
it is by IQ at 21 years.

IQ or lots of PRACTICE?

sixspeedcloseratio — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:03:30 GMT

Go look for one of those tests online. The ones with all the

little symbols on it, the word comparison things, take one,

no, take two, they're small. When you get your results,

compare them to your overall puzzle-solving track record

in your own life, see if you really honestly agree with

their assessment.

Now, take a minute, and ponder: If you had editorial

control, authority over these tests and their content,

what kind of stumpers would YOU put in it?

My point is this: Anything is possible, with some

coaching, and it's been said before that test-taking is

a learned skill in and of itself. You have to learn to

concentrate, to differentiate, to recognize familiar

language. For that last part, vocabulary is key.

If you don't get the lingo, the question won't make

sense, and neither will your answer. Mainly,

though, the key skill necessary to 'pass' an IQ

test is patience. It takes a long time, and a lot

of practice, to get into the mindset necessary

to do these things. If you don't like tests, or

you have other things you'd rather be doing,

the amount of mental energy you're going to

invest in this kind of thing will be pretty

minimal.

Now, does your IQ, your level of 'smarts', does

that come from genetics, or is it a product of

environment? You take someone from the

country, from the sticks, that's learned to

navigate by the stars by themselves, that kind

of thing, and put them at a desk for the first

time in their lives, and they'll fail that test.

They may also take the desk AND the pencil

for use as construction materials for something

else. Not everyone can take and pass stupid

little paper tests. A master sculptor isn't necessarily

an accomplished speaker, and might look at you

like you're from another planet if you started doing

math problems on the blackboard, or started up

a computer if they're not familiar with the technology.

Does that mean that IQ scores are a fraud? Well,

not necessarily, the pedagogues and other

learned scholarly types like tests, because tests

give you numbers that you can play with. But,

my money's still on the 'naturals', the ones that

pick up 4 languages independently, the geniuses

that figure out how to balance a 4-ton rock on

a tree stump, stuff like that. They're out there

and some of em have never seen a pencil in

their lives...