Can a test really evaluate a child's intelligence or not? Let's find out together
Do IQ tests for children really work or are they an unreliable tool? Intelligence is a multifaceted and complex characteristic: we ascribe to it our ability to learn useful and necessary skills to live a sufficiently adequate life from all points of view. Intelligence tests, generally consisting of a diverse series of tests, are useful for evaluating and better understanding some difficult situations that very often occur at school and that can involve children's lives more globally. We can therefore say that intelligence certainly does not end in giving good "scholastic" performances. However, not learning what we should be able to do is a dysfunctional signal that must be investigated, always with due caution.
It is quite natural that, being a set of tasks to be performed, one can be taken by anxiety and fear and therefore not be able to perform properly as required. Usually, however, these tests are administered by professionals and under protective conditions, reasons for which anxiety conditions fade or can be duly contained in order to put the child sufficiently at ease to perform the test.
What is the IQ
Conventionally, the IQ is a score, obtained through one of the many standardized tests. IQ tests take various forms: some, for example, use only one type of elements or questions, while others are divided into several parts. Most of them give a total score and one relative to the individual parts of the test. Usually an IQ test requires a certain number of problems to be solved under supervision in a set time. Most tests consist of questions of various subjects, such as short-term memory, lexical knowledge, spatial visualization and speed of perception. Some have a total time limit, others have one for each group of problems, and there are some without time limits and without supervision, suitable for measuring high IQ values.
