What Is An IQ Scale? Find Out How You Measure Up!

What Is An IQ Scale?

Do you ever wonder how you measure up to the rest of the world? It’s pretty natural to want to know if you’re smarter than your best friend or if that celebrity you idolize has an IQ that’s similar to yours. You might even be curious about where your IQ falls in comparison to other people around the world and how that could affect your future success! If you’re wondering, What is an IQ scale? the good news is that there are several different types of IQ scales and they all measure IQ in different ways.

The IQ scale, or Intelligence Quotient, is used to measure intelligence quotient, which in turn measures how smart you are compared to the rest of the population. While there are many people who believe that an IQ of 120 means your intelligence is above average and an IQ of 80 means your intelligence falls below average, that’s not the case. IQ scales are actually much more complicated than this, but there are easy ways to get an idea of where you stand on the scale. 

Here’s everything you need to know about IQ scales and measuring your own intelligence.

IQ Scale

What are the types of Intelligence Scales?

There are many different IQ tests in the world, each with its own unique way of testing your intelligence and assessing how you measure up compared to others. The most well-known test, used by psychologists since the 1930s, is called the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).

This test, created by Wechsler in 1939, popularized the trend of using “deviation IQs” as standard scores and scales on which to measure IQ tests rather than the earlier adopted “quotient IQs” (“mental age” divided by “chronological age”) then used for the earlier Stanford–Binet test.

This deviation IQ scale for scoring IQ tests has become the current scoring method for all IQ tests in use. Using this IQ scale method means that an IQ score of 100 on a test indicates that a test-taker’s performance was at the median level for the sample of test-takers who were used to norm the test.

An IQ score of 115 on this IQ scale means that a test taker’s performance was one standard deviation above the median, while a score of 85, means the test taker performed one standard deviation below the median.

Deviation IQs are now used for all standard scoring of  IQ tests and are the leading form of IQ scale.  This is mainly as they allow for a consistent definition of IQ scores for both children and adults.

Using this deviation IQ scale, about two-thirds of all test-takers obtain scores from 85 to 115, and about 5 percent of the population scores above 125.  

For the latest version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, the deviation IQ scale score translates as the following

  • IQ score of 130 and above: Very Superior
  • IQ score of 120-129: Superior
  • IQ score of 110-119: High Average
  • IQ score of 90-109: Average
  • IQ score of 80-89: Low Average
  • IQ score of 70-79: Borderline
  • IQ score of 69 and below: Extremely low
IQ Scale

Why take one of our IQ tests?

IQ scores are used for educational placement, assessment of intellectual disability, and evaluating job applicants. In research contexts, they have been studied as predictors of job performance and income. IQ Scores are also used to study distributions of psychometric intelligence in populations and the correlations between it and other variables. 

With IQ tests being used in so many pivotal roles, it is important to choose at test that will give you the most accurate and detailed IQ results and scores, so that you get an understanding of your cognitive strengths and weaknesses.

IQ Scale