They didn’t. IQ, as a unit of measure, only applies to humans. A dolphin is unable to take the tests necessary to be scored.
We have indicators of the intelligence of various animals based on their behaviors and what we can train them to do, but there’s no real way to quantify intelligence in a way that is meaningful across species, as we all use our various intelligence differently. Ants can “do trigonometry” naturally- does that make them smart?
While things like “object permeance” and “ability to correlate” can be tested, how do you turn “intelligence” into a quantitative value?
Even in human, the use of IQ test to correlate with actual intelligence is not exactly promoted in the psychology field.
Math? Knowledge exam? Critical reasoning? These are actually skills you can hone with practise. Things like how fast you learn, how creative, or how intuitive you are are not covered in a IQ test.
If a smart person who never learned math takes a IQ test, it will impact his score, is he less smart than how he is?
First you should ask how someone can measure the IQ of a human.
It turns out that IQ is not quite “real” in the same way as measurable things like height, weight, and age. IQ theoretically measures intelligence, but it is 100% possible for a more intelligent person to score lower on an IQ test.
It’s been said that the real definition of “IQ” is “the number generated by an IQ test”. That’s a circular definition, which reminds us that IQ numbers don’t have much real value. What about different IQ tests? They really measure different things, but a scientist can try to calibrate tests against each other by having many humans take multiple tests and check how well the result of one test can predict the others.
Next, think about very low IQ scores, from humans who are either very young, or brain damaged. Can a person who is almost too dumb to move have a measured IQ? What if he can’t handle the concept of completing a test paper?
Well, scientists who are using a fancy IQ test have some measurements to assign IQ results even to people who do almost nothing. If a subject can flinch when you poke the body, that’s worth a few points of IQ. And checks like that can be completed by most animals (and a few plants).
So, for a complex IQ test, there are some measurements that animals can attempt just like humans, and they might do better or worse depending.
They didn’t. IQ is nothing more or less than how well you can take an IQ test, and dolphins can’t take those, so some people make a general guess at what they might get if they could take one, because aome people think IQ scores mean someone.
Comments
They didn’t. IQ, as a unit of measure, only applies to humans. A dolphin is unable to take the tests necessary to be scored.
We have indicators of the intelligence of various animals based on their behaviors and what we can train them to do, but there’s no real way to quantify intelligence in a way that is meaningful across species, as we all use our various intelligence differently. Ants can “do trigonometry” naturally- does that make them smart?
They don’t. You can’t measure IQ of animals.
While things like “object permeance” and “ability to correlate” can be tested, how do you turn “intelligence” into a quantitative value?
Even in human, the use of IQ test to correlate with actual intelligence is not exactly promoted in the psychology field.
Math? Knowledge exam? Critical reasoning? These are actually skills you can hone with practise. Things like how fast you learn, how creative, or how intuitive you are are not covered in a IQ test.
If a smart person who never learned math takes a IQ test, it will impact his score, is he less smart than how he is?
First you should ask how someone can measure the IQ of a human.
It turns out that IQ is not quite “real” in the same way as measurable things like height, weight, and age. IQ theoretically measures intelligence, but it is 100% possible for a more intelligent person to score lower on an IQ test.
It’s been said that the real definition of “IQ” is “the number generated by an IQ test”. That’s a circular definition, which reminds us that IQ numbers don’t have much real value. What about different IQ tests? They really measure different things, but a scientist can try to calibrate tests against each other by having many humans take multiple tests and check how well the result of one test can predict the others.
Next, think about very low IQ scores, from humans who are either very young, or brain damaged. Can a person who is almost too dumb to move have a measured IQ? What if he can’t handle the concept of completing a test paper?
Well, scientists who are using a fancy IQ test have some measurements to assign IQ results even to people who do almost nothing. If a subject can flinch when you poke the body, that’s worth a few points of IQ. And checks like that can be completed by most animals (and a few plants).
So, for a complex IQ test, there are some measurements that animals can attempt just like humans, and they might do better or worse depending.
They didn’t. IQ is nothing more or less than how well you can take an IQ test, and dolphins can’t take those, so some people make a general guess at what they might get if they could take one, because aome people think IQ scores mean someone.