- ...it doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are - if it doesn't agree with experiment it's wrong. - R.P. Feynman
- All too often we are stuffing the heads of the young with the products of earlier innovations rather than teaching them to be innovative. We treat their minds as storehouses to be filled rather than as instruments to be used. - Robert Finch
Relax, close your eyes and pay attention to your breath - that's the whole meditation. The idea of this meditation is to let go of your thoughts. Of course this is easier said than done, so here are some tips to make this more effective.
1. Tense to relax. If you have difficulty relaxing or letting go of the tension in some particular part of your body, it sometimes helps to first tense up and then release. Pay attention to the feeling of the tension draining away when you release, and you essentially train yourself how to relax more deeply.
2. Choose a comfortable position. Sitting with legs crossed is the most common meditation posture, but if you can remain awake, laying down works fine as well. I even enjoy doing this while standing.
3. Breath deeply through your nose. You'll notice that your diaphragm is more engaged when you breath through your nose (notice how your abdomen expands more). This brings air deep into your lungs. Let your chest expand as well.
4. Return to the breath. Your thoughts will intrude again and again.
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Simply meditate like this for at least five minutes, working up to twenty minutes in subsequent sessions.
The easiest way to meditate is to simply listen to a meditation CD that uses brainwave entrainment technology. These products usually have background music (or other sounds) in which beats are embedded. These "binaural beats," as they are sometimes called, affect your brainwaves, slowing them down. This quickly brings you to a meditative state with no real effort on your part.
Do they work? Yes. Having tried many different types of meditation CDs, I can report that they are powerful tools. I use them for meditation as well as sleep-inducers (just lay down while listening).
Latest Research On Meditation
You know that I am a fan of meditation for increasing brainpower. Well, the latest research shows that it not only makes your brain perform better, but may actually reduce the amount of sleep you need. This is good news for those of us who don't feel like we have the time for meditation. Perhaps we can just take the time from our sleep time if we want to.
A study at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, used the established "psychomotor vigilance task," which is used to quantify the effects of sleepiness on mental ability. Participants look at a LCD screen and press a button when they see an image pop up. Typical response time is under 300 milliseconds. Sleep-deprived people consistently take longer, or just miss the stimulus altogether.
Subjects had 40 minutes of sleep, meditation, reading, or light conversation before and after testing. All subjects tried all four pre-test activities in different tests. A 40 minute nap had already been proven to improve performance, when subjects are given an hour to get past the after-nap grogginess. The researchers were surprised to find, though, that only meditation caused an immediate improvement in performance. This was true even though none of the volunteers were experienced meditators.
Interestingly, every single subject showed improvement. When testing was done after a night without sleep, the improvement was even more dramatic. What was not determined, is why meditation improves brain performance.
It sounds like a cat choking on a hairball, but it'll help you increase your know-how! The standard (most popular) typeset is QWERTY, which came into standardization with the first typewriters (*interesting side fact that has nothing to do with this article whatsoever: "Typewriter" is the longest word you can make using only letters from the top run of your keyboard?). QWERTY is an arrangement of keys that was actually designed to slow typists down! This was because typewriters were notoriously erratic and often broke down due to people typing too fast. And so in an ironic twist of fate the most popular typeset is in fact the most inefficient one! DVORAK is one of the more efficient ones, in fact for every mile that your fingers travel on a DVORAK keyboard, they'd have traveled 4 miles on a standard QWERTY keyboard! So- learn to type faster AND increase your intelligence while doing so.
How to switch your keyboard to DVORAK and more from mwbrooks.com
All about DVORAK at Wikipedia.org
The most misspelled (*interesting fact that has nothing to do with this article whatsoever no. 2: Misspelled is also one of the top misspelled words in the English language!) puzzle in history, Rubik's Cube was invented in the 70's by a Hungarian architect and is said to be the most sold toy in the world! It's also one of the best for getting your gray matter going. You're bound to know someone who has one stored away in a deep dark box, or thrown behind the sofa in a moment of profound frustration. If not, pick one up at your local toy store for pennies and get shuffling!
The word sudoku derives from the Japanese phrase "Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru," which means "the numbers must be single," or "the numbers must occur only one.". Sudoku is a great and popular puzzle because the rules are so simple yet the methods to solve it can be extremely difficult. Sudokus range from easy to fiendishly difficult and there are many different kinds to try out once you get bored of the standard version.
At WebSudoku.com you can start playing immediately (for free) and adjust the difficulty too.
*Additional note: You can actually buy Sudoku themed Rubik's cubes, thus you can kill two birds with one stone!
4. Juggle your way to smartsThe left hemisphere of your brain controls your right hand and the right hemisphere of your brain controls your left hand. This means that by using your less dominant hand you are stimulating the opposite half of your brain. This is a common phenomena which explains why ambidextrous people are often more intelligent. Taking up juggling is not only a good way to show off to your friends but it will wake up parts of your mind.
WikiHow has a good guide to get you started playing with your balls (sorry couldn't resist that one).
By playing with constructive toys like Lego and Meccano your brain is learning how to utilize different skills. Fitting together different shaped blocks and using subtle techniques that you might take for granted like which shapes fit where and how to make something look good actually employs your analytical and spacial awareness skills. Essentially you are having fun while learning how to increase your IQ! Why not steal your kids collection for a few days and construct a Lego masterpiece or start a new Meccano project to develop your creation skills and thought processes.
Yo-Yo's are an almost annual fad. Most years for a few brief weeks or months there seems to be a Yo-Yo craze and then they suddenly die out again. Well fortunately Yo-Yos are pretty cheap and fascinatingly learning how to use them and do different tricks activates and improves your hand-to-eye coordination and your motor functions. Learning to do some simple tricks or using two Yo-Yos at once will activate both hemispheres of the brain at once and really give your brain a jolt. Likewise the Chinese Yo-Yo or Diablo (pictured) is a unique toy whose roots began in Carnivals and festivals. You can buy one for $30 dollars or so on e-bay and after just a couple of weeks practice you can pull off some impressive tricks. A half hours practice per day will work out the alignment of your brain and also help to improve coordination skills
There are a whole lot of array of exercises that you can indulge in to sharpen your brain. It can be as simple as reading something new or more complex like solving a crossword puzzle or later thinking riddles. Below I give some ideas about some generic exercises for the brain which can be practiced anywhere. Later, I recommend some for enhancing specific functionality of the brain.
Easy Exercises for your Brain
The simplest of the drills could be to invent and imagine new possibilities for an object. For example take a clock. Think on ideas for improving the clock. It could like you do not have to look at it to know the time. You could think of a clock which informed you about the time and alert you of the tasks and appointments you need to attend to.
There are a lot many methods. One such is solving puzzle or riddles. These could range from very simple to complex. Lateral thinking puzzles can also help enhance creativity. For example a riddle like “ Why was Bertha not jailed even after killing many people?”. The answer – Bertha was a hurricane. Such riddles can open up your mind to think in new directions and enhance creativity.
Coming up with jokes is a great exercise. But it could be a little difficult if you do not have any experience at it. Pick a word at random and use it to come up with a joke. It could be as simple as the word “Justice”. For example “Where can you find justice always?”. In the dictionary! If you cant think of any joke, move on to another word of your choice.
Enhance Specific Functionality
Our brain has specific parts dedicated for a specific functionality. If you are weak at visualization you could enhance it by imagining to be walking in your home. Create all possible scenes in your mind till you can clearly see in your mind each and every object at your home.
To enhance concentration power, you could practice “mind” irritations. Whatever goes below the surface inhibits you from focusing. Identify such objects and list them. Meditation is one technique which is found to be helpful. But being alert and mindful is a simpler method to increase your natural power of concentration.
There are numerous memory techniques available to strengthen your memory. Practice mentally placing a host of objects in fixed locations in your house and imagine them in strangest of al places. Or imagine the person you will visit next and call them by their name in your imagination. This could help you memorize names
Creativity enhancement needs you to be a little wild. Imagine something illogical like lights which fly. To make it more effective have the sense of the image in your mind. Imagine yourself being in a market where there are lights on helium balloons. Put in a little more thinking and imagination and you could be in the company of colorful flying lights.
It is undisputed that the more you exercise your brain the more it functions and in a better manner. The more the brain is exercised, the less then chances of you becoming a victim of age related mental disorders. Better to start as early as possible with simple exercises
1. We often prefer people who think similar to us. I believe developing friendship with people who think differently is a great idea. Talking to these people can really help change some of the beliefs that you hold. Have a variety of people like artists, doctors, construction workers as friends in your life.
2. The world has a number of things to offer to you. Cultural diversity exists everywhere in the world. Travel, social gatherings etc are few methods to get to experience other cultures. But travel doesn’t mean going to Cuba and staying in a Western hotel. It should expose you to a different environment. I had a wonderful trip to China with my kids. They quickly got accustomed to the Chinese traditions. This was the time when I realized how rigid and inflexible I had become.
3. In today’s electronic era, cell phone and email have become addictions to us. Always find time for introspection. Don’t give email more importance than yourself. Switching off the cell phone for a few hours is not a sin! Make it a rule not to spend more than an hour answering your emails. Implement the above and you will definitely have more time to think and you would be able to do good reading.
4. It is a very common tendency nowadays to do a number of things. In the end, we complete nothing perfectly. Whatever task you undertake should be done perfectly. Realize that any work, be it science or art needs one to put a dedicated effort for completion and even more effort to polish the work. People like Darwin should be a benchmark for us. No matter how much you want to undertake many projects at a time, learn to resist. Pay attention to a few and most important project would be your family.
Writing.
Writing helps you in a lot of ways. It keeps your memory activated, so that it can recall things in the future. Also you can be very clear in your thoughts. You also hone your analytical and creative skills while writing. Some ways to enhance your memory power are maintaining diaries, writing poetry, essays, stories etc.
Brain exercises.
Math is a great exercise for your brain. When you see an object, think of something it can be used for, apart from what it is usually used for. If you regularly exercise your brain you develop your neurons and can stop or delay the process of mental deterioration that age causes.
Read faster.
Speed reading increases you ability to understand. But many people believe it doesn’t help. Speed reading helps you learn faster and more. A tip: when you scan always read the first and last stanzas because all the crux lies in these contents. Pick up any article and test this tip.
Work out
Exercising regularly enhances the power of your brain. Any regime that is good for your physical fitness boosts brain power too. Latest research has shown that an exercise as short as a 10 minute aerobics is sufficient to activate your brain. Hence, if you want to freshen your brain, just climb up and down your stairs a few times.
Rosemary
Many people claim that this herb has effect on the brain. No research has been done though. Just sniffing seems to stimulate your brain. It is a very safe technique, no side effects hence no harm in trying it out.
Smart learning
Always make it a habit when you learn something new. Always have some question to ask for each session of learning that you take. Take short breaks, because things at the starting and ending of a class last in your memory for a longer time.
Have conducive surroundings
Congested places and surroundings can affect your thought process. Have a conducive environment to do any mental task. Simple techniques like deep breathing, stretching can help you gear up before you begin the mental task. Always have time to divert your mind.
Creatine
Creatine, is found in meat and is used by sportspersons to help become muscular. Research has shown results which say that creatine also is beneficial to the brain. Proceedings B, a Royal Society journal has published the results. These results say that a remarkable improvement in the working memory and intelligence level was observed when a person takes creatine. The recommended dosage is 5 grams in a day. This is what most sportspersons take and can be found in 4 pounds of meet.
Talking
Talking, if done judiciously, will help you clear your understanding about things. Try to explain a concept about which you yourself do not have a clear idea. You will notice that this clears up your understanding to a large extent.
Use brain wave tools
This is the latest tool. These brain wave entertainment tools help you a lot. They can relax you quickly and some of them can make your brain start analyzing things in a different manner. You can try BrainWave stimulator software, that is a part of thesubliminal messages software package.
Indulge in what you love to do
This reduces stress and rejuvenates your brain. But it should be not something like watching TV. It should be an activity in which your are fully involved like playing scrabble or other similar games. When you indulge in what you love to do, you tend to worry less and this clears up your thought process.
Be positive
Be confident about yourself and you will become smart. Affirmations will be of great help. Always remember things you succeeded in. Note down all the creative ideas that come up in your brain. Note all things you do in a smart ways and you will grow smarter.
Follow creative people’s methods.
Always be in the company of those who are smart and productive. Observe them and do what they do. This is the basic principle behind neuron linguistic programming. But be cautious, when anyone of them advise you. Usually successful people don’t fully understand the reason of their success. Remember to follow what they do, not what they say!
Avoid getting into debates
Arguments always arouse your ego. When you are defending your view, you bring ego and not logic. This adversely affects your brain. The more you argue, the more you destabilize your brain. Arguments and debates can be value adding, but only if ego is not involved. Once ego enters, all logic fails. This certainly doesn’t help your IQ.
Avoid allergic food items.
Some food items like wheat, corn, peanuts and diary products may cause some minor allergies. Be observant to notice such effects. Some people face digestion problems and even brain fog by eating such items.
Eat fish.
It has been proven that consuming fish speeds up your brain and helps you focus for longer durations. Research has depicted a strong relation between lowering of depression and fish consumption. For instance, Japan (where fish is the staple food) has far less instances of depression than US.
You can take our IQ test to make sure that the techniques described above are working and your IQ score is improving.
What is high IQ? Is it better performance in school? Is it a good standard of life? Let examine if IQ is a relevant means to gauge one’s intellect or not.
Intellect and High IQ: Interrelated?
It is a known fact that the more your IQ score is the more intelligent a person is believed to be. But there are tests which are culturally biased. So for a person whose intelligence level is mediocre, this is a wrong means of measurement. Also, many simple techniques exist using which one can very easily boost IQ scores.
These techniques like a cup of coffee before a test may help you boost your score. Hence it is easy to adopt techniques which will modify your score. In short, you can manipulate the IQ score. I do agree that there is correlation between intellgence and IQ score, but it has its limitations.
Is lifestyle linked to High IQ?
There is no proof till date that higher intelligence leads a better lifestyle. Moreover, how do you quantify “better life”? What parameters are used to measure lifestyle?
There are people who had high IQ, yet they ended their lives voluntarily. Some of the names are Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway and Sylvia Path. Does this indicate towards a inverse relation between IQ and life? Research has shown that chances are high that people with low and high IQ would commit suicide. But these studies are only indicative. They do not pinpoint towards a reason for this phenomena.
Educational Grades and High IQ
Studies and experiments conducted lately, indicate that there did exist relation between IQ and academic performance. But it also showed that self discipline is more closely related to the grades a student secures. The more the self disciplined the child is the better is his/her performance. Yet there is no relation between IQ and discipline. These qualities are independent of each other.
There are experiments which have been conducted to understand the relation between discipline and academic performance. In these experiments the children were presented with two choices. First was that they could choose the cookie then. Second alternative was, if they do not choose cookie they could have 2 at a later stage. Those who opted the second choice had good academic grades. Thus the will power to choose the more lucrative choice, which comes through self discipline, has proven to be more influential on educational grades.
True meaning of IQ
I do agree that intelligence is a powerful tool, but remember there are far more significant tools which play an equally important role in shaping up our lives. It is only useful if applied to improve one’s lifestyle. Computing power alone is not capable of making a computer helpful. Other components are necessary to support it. Do not underestimate people with average IQ. People like Henry Ford have been successful. So be cautious when you exaggerate the importance of high IQ.
If you want to improve your IQ for an important meeting that is scheduled in the near future or anything important you can certainly do so. Try the following methods:
Breathing Exercises
Deep Breathing helps: This is very easy for anyone to practice. Deep breathing opens up your brain. You help more amount of oxygen flow into your brain which relaxes the brain. It has been known that higher the oxygen amount in blood the more it is easy to relax. Most of the people do not deep breath, hence this is a quick and effective way to relax. I recommend you to breath through nose, since this helps you in breathing deeply.
Meditation: This is immensely helpful because it involves deep breathing. Meditation involves observing breathing pattern and this induces relaxation. Close your eyes and start breathing deeply for some time. Later you can breathe at your own pace. You will have a flood of thoughts coming to your mind, ignore them all and concentrate on your breathing. Practice this daily for a few minutes.
Hypnosis and self-hypnosis: Practicing hypnosis oneself can help you increase your IQ.
Exercise
Improve your posture
Sit with your back straight and keep your mouth closed. If you have a good posture you can improve your concentration and clear up your thought process. Try it yourself. When you attempt to do some math problem sleeping or mouth opened, you will notice that you don’t do it as fast as when you sit straight with your mouth shut.
Exercise :Physical activity helps regulate the blood flow into your brain. You need have a rigorous regime. An activity that is sufficient enough to pump blood will wake up your brain is good. Walking is good and aerobics is even better to enhance IQ.
Sleep: Everyone knows that sleep refreshes you. But remember to sleep deep, it’s the quality and not the quantity of sleep that will help your IQ.
Improve your Food Habits
Coffee: Experiments conducted have shown that scores can improve if you consume coffee before you take an important exam. Be cautious because the effect is short and caffeine if consumed regularly can have harmful side-effects.
Ginkgo biloba: It is available in the form of capsules, tea or leaves. Have it as you like since it increases flow of blood into your brain. This helps improve your memory and concentration capability. It is very fast and the effect is long lasting if regularly used.
Reduce Sugar: Not only sugar, but any carbohydrate if consumed more or regularly can affect your thinking capability. This is due to the insulin that the body generates to digest sugar. Avoid items like white flour, sugar, potatoes especially before anything important like a meeting or an exam.
Be concerned only with the boosting your IQ
Don’t bother yourself with debates like what is real intelligence. You should be concerned only with the results, only your score in IQ test. Test always test your intelligence albeit only at a particular point of time. You have to score higher at these points of time. So if you slept well, drank coffee or employed any of the above techniques and others to boost your IQ, you will have nothing to lose. If you inculcate some of the above, you will be alert to do your tasks perfectly.
Workout to Build the Neural Network
We all know that regular physical exercise helps keep the body active and in good health. Similarly, mental and neurological exercises can help our mind and nervous system to be functional and healthy for a longer period of time.
Any activity like meeting new people or playing games can keep your brain active and agile. Doing it is very easy and fun filled and you can do this sitting in your home!
In this article called “Keep Your Brain Sharp” 5 exercises to keep your brain and the neurons active have been described.
The Mechanism of Memory
Brain is a seven-pound mass of highly flexible and impressionable material. Each bit of our brains is composed of thousands of connections called synapses. These switches are biologically described as your nerve cells which form a network and exchange signals whenever we think. The more this network or synaptic connections get formed, the more you improve your capability to remember and think.
E.M.Forster, the renowned novelist had said “Only connect”. He was referring to the connections that get formed in our brain, which enhances our thinking capability. We form millions of such connections every week, but these weaken over time, due to which we begin to “forget” things.
Alzheimer’s is an ailment which has many effects on the victim. Perhaps, the cruelest is the loss of memory of a person. This is because the agents which travel between neurons, called neurotransmitters do not function because they get stuckin a protein called amyloid. The nerve cells deteriorate and over a period of time parts of a person’s memory become unusable. It is not known if this effect is permanent or reversible. But the issue we have to focus on is how to strengthen and sustain the synaptic network in our brains
Memory : A distributed network.
Do not be under the impression that our brain is compartmentalized into cabinets. Instead, it is large complex structure interwined together. We surely remember any funny incident that might have happened at a party. We would also recall the person’s face, the surroundings and all such minute details of that occasion. Our brain stores such information at number of locations. There is an analogy between brain and internet. Like the internet, our brain stores and retrieves information at various information sources and retrieves from the same.
1. Recollect a discussion
Try recollecting a discussion you had a day ago. Pay attention to how these memories are ingrained with other elements of the discussion like the place, the voice of person, his/her tone etc.
2. Apply.
One of the important factor for enhancing long term memory is social component. Try remembering some elements like person’s clothing, place where you had a discussion, the climate etc.
3. Add new activities to your life
a) Be flexible.
Visit a different store. Rearrange your furniture. Visit a park you have never gone.
b) Have conversation with new people.
Have a conversation with people you have never interacted with. Talk to people as varied in professions like may be librarian, sales clerk, waiter. You may know them by face, so add a name to their faces into your memory.
4. Make new friends.
The internet is the best place to do this.
The Crux:
Make it a point not to get stuck to a routine. Add variety into your life. Spice it up a little.
Lawrence Cahill, professor or neurobiology at the University of California, says, “A good intellectual diet, combined with physical exercise, is going to keep you sharper longer”.
How it happens? Duke University neurobiologist says that we enhance creation of the neuron networks by creating a rich environment all around us. This in turn boosts the formation of neurotrophins, which acts a a manure for the brains to invigorate itself.
An experiment conducted has proven this theory. This experiment was conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, where in researchers bred mice in a cage devoid of anything to do or play with. As the mice grew, they were transferred to a cage which had a lot of things filled to do. There were exercise wheels and habitrils and wood chips of various colors. It was observed that the mice’s brains actually grew and expanded physically so as to assimilate the new surroundings they had been exposed to.
5. Cultivate Habits
a) Undertake some new task
Undertake a task which involves physical effort. This will enhance your computational reserves in your brain. It could be sailing if you don’t know it. If it’s winter try out skiing. There are a host of activities you do not know and can learn it to enhance your brain power
b) Reading Habit
Books can be of great help. Try to read a genre which you have never read. If you are a fiction buff, pick a biography or history book. If you are non fiction fan, read some literature. It is in a way challenging your brain.
Caution:
Do anything, but watching TV.
Humor : Motion to Emotion
The movie “Patch Adams” did show people the benefit of humor, but it is still a debated topic. But one thing is very sure: humor will not cause or hurt anyone in any possible way.
Karyn Buxman, a Missouri nurse and member of the American Association of Therapeutic Humor has stated that laughter and humor helped increase the production of a hormone called catecholamine. This resulted in the subjects being more alert and having better memory. A fake laughter can also sometimes cause a genuine smile on many lips. It has been observed that irrespective of the laugh being fake or real, motions do get transferred to emotion.
The training to your brain need not be as rigorous as physical workout. “No pain, no gain” is not applicable in this case. If you want to reach a destination you always have two options. The harder one is to run and the other smart choice is to use a vehicle. Likewise, there are smarter tools available to train your brain. This article will tell you about tools which you can practice to hone your brain.
Simple Tips
Simple techniques can sharpen your brain. Take a simple tip. If you want to invest and want to forecast your earning use a rule called “rule of 72”. You can use this formula to estimate in how much time you can increase your money by 100%. The rule is: divide 72 by the rate of return on your investment. The result will give you the time span it takes to double your money. It assumes compounding of interest and that you reinvest all interest again into the same.
Another useful rule is from the real estate advisors. They say not to pay for a property if it exceeds 100 times your monthly rent. Although, not a substitute for a more complex analysis, but it is an easy tool to take decisions. If a property costs 150 times your monthly rent, you need not even think twice before deciding not to buy it.
Ask
Mathematical formulas are not the only tool you have at your disposal. Make it a habit to ask simple queries. This many times helps you reap results quicker. Many comedians, use these questions and are able to produce better jokes.
A friend says that he feels immortal since he has children. The comedian would ask, “Detect what is the mistake in this picture?”.. Soon it dawns upon you that it indicates death. You answer that you wish to have immortality by not having to die.
Some other scenarios of comedian asking questions are : “ what happens if I drag it to the upper limit?”, “ What will this look to a dog?”, “What are the words with multiple meanings that I can use?” and many more.
Methods
There are a host of problem solving techniques you could use daily and gradually they become a part of your thought process. Do not take assumptions for granted. Always question them. You can use this to solve your personal problems, where there are lot of unknown assumptions.
There are 4 possible assumptions when your kids are squabbling over TV.
1. TV is a necessity.
2. Fight is the real issue.
3. Squabbling has to end.
4. It is none of your business.
Question these and you may get the following alternatives.
1. Restrict the access and use to TV or eliminate it altogether.
2. Improve your kid’s behavior.
3. Exit and just ignore their fight.
4. Give kids a week to solve their issues or else tell them that no access to TV will be granted to them.
There are simple rules for every activity we undertake and there are also rules that life makes us see. Using this will help us make informed and logical decisions. Always evaluate if any activity you did helped you move towards achievement of your goals or if there was a better way you could have performed a task.
Over a period of time, all of us cultivate habits which get ingrained in our subconscious mind. Just examine their need. We can easily train ourselves to practice tips and techniques which will us become more efficient. Mental training of a basic level is only thing which we need to do.
You must have come across people who claim to have scored high in IQ tests. They flaunt their certificates to all. Usually it is believed that person is intelligent if his IQ score is high. These are absolutely illogical claims. Each IQ test differs and a high score in one such test might not be even equal to the average score of another.
Good IQ score is subjective. Raw score is what a person scores when he/she answers the questions correct. The following practices should be used to interpret or draw conclusions. Comparing two scores also needs the following methods to be used to establish if the score is really worthy or not.
Title of the IQ test
The need today is of a perfect system to compare scores from two IQ tests. It will be foolish to compare two scores solely on the basis of which is higher. You have to know what IQ test was taken by the participant.
The Level of the IQ Test
The difficulty level of the test also needs to be considered while evaluating the score. Usually, the accuracy level decreases as the level of difficulty increases. You may score different scores on test with the same name. The reason might be the difficulty level of the test. The tests are not uniform and show a variation in the level of difficulty. The developers of these tests modify the pattern depending on factors like age, education and others.
Pattern differs
It is possible for one to score differently on tests with same name, because these tests vary in their content. Suppose that you score as high as 120 in an IQ test with tested your verbal ability. This does not mean that you will score the same in another category, say logical reasoning. IQ tests, usually, test all categories, but a new trend is emerging in the industry. It is getting specialized. Hence, to evaluate a score or interpret it due consideration must be given to the area on which the IQ test focuses on.
It is possible that your scores decrease as you progress in your education. But this does not mean that your intelligence is deteriorating. There could be a whole lot of reasons which could be causing this. It could be the name of the test, the difficulty level and the pattern. It is not always the case that your highest score is your good one.
Standard Deviation : a variable factor
In the earlier stages, the mental age (MA) was the only factor that was taken into account to gauge intelligence. But it proved to be a wrong approach and hence the term intelligence quotient was introduced. Mathematically, it is defined as the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100. A person was considered average intelligent if he/she secured a score of 100. Below it was below average and above 100 was above average intelligence. All was fine, until it was found that the standard deviation wasn’t a constant all through a person’s life.
Hence standard deviation measure for each IQ tests differs today. Some have 15 and some take it as 20. So, it would not do justice to judge two IQ test scores. This has further complicated the issue of judging what a good score is.
Sample Size and Elements
It may be easy to find instructions about the factors like test items, content, standard deviations in the manual of the IQ tests. But it is very difficult to get access and information to the guidelines which helped the people who shaped these test to research and establish these standards.
To do this, the developers aim for a perfect sample space. But there is too much variation in each individual, so a perfect sample remains a distant dream. Further, comparing IQ scores of different societies is even more difficult. Given these conditions and factors, it is impossible to claim that a score is the best even though all other factors do not vary much.
IQ Score: What is good?
It is highly impossible to say that a particular IQ score is good. Any such claim will be establishing a wrong practice. At the same time, we cannot establish a score as bad. To increase this ambiguity, it seems that even the testing industry is not much inclined to clarify this issue.
Brain is very similar to a muscle. Like muscles, brain also needs the right kind of exercise and nutrition. The more you use your brain in the right direction, the more you will enhance your ability to focus and think sharply. On the contrary, if you feed your brain the wrong chemicals you will harm its functioning and your thinking capabilities.
Listed below are 5 easy techniques to extract a little more of creativity from your gray cells.
1. Avoid Watching Television : This is perhaps very tough to convince people about. Many people including myself love to just sit in front of TV. Watching TV is not at all productive. It neither enhances your mental capability nor recharges your brain. It is very similar to having all energy drained out of your brain without reaping the benefits of exercise.
TV does make you feel tired after a few hours. Don’t you agree? Eyes hurt and crave for rest after you watch TV for a long time. You are not left with any energy and motivation to read a book.
A good way to relax is to read a book. If not a book, then listening to music is a great idea to relax. Whenever in the company of friends and family have a chat with them instead of watching television. This will utilize you mind more than when you watch television.
2. Work Out: Earlier, I used to think that reading a book is more useful than exercising. But over time I realized exercise is more helpful since it helps you learn more in the long run. A work out is a good way to cleanse your body and rejuvenate it. You will find that exercise helps you focus for longer periods of time.
3. Read books that stimulate thought: Fiction is what most prefer to read, but it is hardly useful for enhancing the thought process. Reading books which are mentally challenging will help you improve your ability to read and write. Classics will improve your vocabulary to think in English and may even change the pattern of your thinking. Never ignore the words you don’t understand. Look up for their meanings. Also put all your effort in understanding paragraphs which appear complicated. Read them again and again to understand the full depth. Cultivate this habit and you will soon be able to grasp any complicated matter.
I am sure that once you get hooked to stimulating books, you will no longer be tempted to read fiction. Learning and imbibing fresh ides is far more thrilling than reading a fiction novel.
4. Sleep Early, Rise Early: Insufficient sleep is the main cause of people not being able to focus for extended periods of time. Sleeping early and rising up early will keep you very fresh and active. Remaining awake till late in the night , you will end up waking up late and feeling lazy . Moreover, you ability to focus will also take a hit. Waking up early in the morning enhances your productivity and keeps you alert all through the day.
If you feel tired and sleepy, take a nap which is not longer than 20 minutes. Anything more will make you lethargic. Short naps do rejuvenate you.
5. Find Time to Introspect: We become so much involved in our daily life that we don’t find time for ourselves. Concentration reduces. Find time where in you are alone and can think about issues. This will help organize your thoughts and you can prioritize your tasks and duties. You will be able to make clear cut decisions and focus on the most important issues. You cluttered mind will be a lot more clear and you will know why you are doing activities when performing them.
All said and done, I am not advising that you do yoga or chant some mantra. Any technique that allows you to sit alone and think is good. Personally , I prefer talking a long walk all alone. Experiment and try out new methods to find out which one suits you the best.
Recommendation: I am sure you do appreciate the techniques that I have suggested above. Remember, it is more often that things which sound simple turn to be most relevant. The crucial part is to implement them for longer periods. Follow the above 5 and I am sure you will greatly enhance your mental abilities and ability to reproduce what you have imbibed. From time to time test your intelligence- you can take our IQ test to estimate your progress.
