Back to topics

What can one IQ score tell you about a person?

An IQ score looks like one precise number, but its report can contain several task scores and a range of uncertainty. That is a more revealing starting point than treating the number as a complete portrait of a person.

5–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • What does a comparison with a reference group tell you that a prediction about one person does not?
  • How do a test's measurement uncertainty and the range of abilities it samples limit an individual interpretation?

Start reading

  • PearsonWAIS-IV Score Report Sample

    The publisher’s example report shows different cognitive indexes alongside a full-scale score and confidence intervals. It illustrates reporting for this test edition, without interpreting anyone’s actual results.

Ready to try your ideas aloud?

Your topic carries over. Record up to 2½ minutes, depending on your plan.

Psychology

Can an option nobody wants change what people choose?

Choosing between two offers can feel different when a third appears beside them. A decoy is less attractive than one option on the relevant features, but its presence does not reliably change every decision.

5–7 min

Can an option nobody wants change what people choose?

Psychology5–7 minChoosing between two offers can feel different when a third appears beside them. A decoy is less attractive than one option on the relevant features, but its presence does not reliably change every decision.

How can you miss something that is right in front of you?

Psychology3–5 minLooking at a scene does not mean noticing everything in it. When attention is occupied by one task, something plainly visible can go unreported, a pattern called inattentional blindness.

Psychology

When a question reshapes a memory

After a car crash or a crime, the way an investigator phrases a single question can change what a witness remembers seeing. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally observed from information introduced afterward, making question wording a crucial part of the evidence problem.

3–7 min

When a question reshapes a memory

Psychology3–7 minAfter a car crash or a crime, the way an investigator phrases a single question can change what a witness remembers seeing. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally observed from information introduced afterward, making question wording a crucial part of the evidence problem.

What can one IQ score tell you about a person? | Speech Topic | speaking.app