An example of one kind of IQ test item, modeled after items in
the Raven's Progressive Matrices test. |Abilities, traits and
constructs| |Models and theories| |Fields of study| An
intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of
several standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. The
abbreviation "IQ" comes from the German term Intelligenz-
Quotient, originally coined by psychologist William Stern. When
modern IQ tests are devised, the mean (average) score within an
age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation (SD) almost
always to 15, although this was not always so historically.
Thus, the intention is that approximately 95% of the population
scores within two SDs of the mean, i.e. has an IQ between 70 and
130. IQ scores have been shown to be associated with such
factors as morbidity and mortality, parental social status, and,
to a substantial degree, biological parental IQ. While the
heritability of IQ has been investigated for nearly a century,
there is still debate about the signi