Traditional IQ tests usually measure an individual's mathematical ability, logical reasoning, and language proficiency, but many have found these types of tests to be lacking. Although these types of tests may indicate an individual's potential academic ability, it has been argued that they do not capture the full potential that an individual possesses. Moreover, they do not measure all aspects of an individual's intelligence.
Looking back at one of the earliest archives of IQ tests conducted on Scottish children in the 1930s, Lawrence Whalley decided to compare the results of those individuals with their current mental ability. Just based on those, he uncovered a few things.
One of the more striking insights from his investigation on the matter was that the motive behind the 1932 survey of Scottish schoolchildren's IQ was to identify children who would perform better at school, and give them the opportunity for education instead of their poorly-performing peers. It was a survey funded by the Eugenics Society.
Of course, these days, we have the theory of multiple intelligences, and many educators are advancing the idea that children should be taught collective scientific problem-solving, which urges them to exercise and learn interpersonal skills, teamwork, and rational thinking.
It seems that even for those we consider as great minds, IQ tests were either insignificant or irrelevant, when it came to human ingenuity and progress. For them, creativity, curiosity, and intuition were the necessary ingredients to pushing the boundaries of human achievement. And of course, the only way to foster these qualities even further was in the context of collaborative and even competitive landscapes.
Finally, when Whalley interviewed the participants of the 1932 survey, what they remembered most from their school days was not those IQ tests but the bonds they shared with their peers, and they spoke of how glad they were that schools no longer tested children by those IQ tests.
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