hi , I am studying about social intelligence for my master
thesis. but I couldnt reach enough document about SQ
especially SQ SCALES. Can you help me? if you help me
I will be very happy.

Sloan replies: Tayfun, there are over 140 pages on my SQ website. Check out http://SQ.4mg.com/site_outline.htm, which lists and provides links to all them. You might start with the page on Range and calculation of SQ scores, which includes a graph of actual SQ data from a classroom.

do you know what the average iq is for a 14 year old?

Sloan replies: At every age level, the average IQ is now set up to be 100. But that does not mean that an average 14 year old would get the same number of right answers on an IQ or SAT test as someone 18 or older. Traditionally that 14yo would have been expected to score 14/18 or 0.78 as well as an adult. But psychologists have moved away from age-differentiated IQ scores, and I am not aware of any such current data.

I have a question for you.  How does age affect spatial ability?

Sloan replies: Will, check out the findings and graph on my http://SQ.4mg.com/IQage.htm webpage. Spatial ability is one of the fluid intelligences that seem to decline after early adulthood.

As a child I was tested, my score at that time was 136, however in the 18 years that have now passed since that was done I feel my IQ quite possibly has dropped dramatically? The score was never actually told to me until about 5 years after the initial test by a well meaning teacher that felt it would motivate me to study more for 6th grade classes. My family never spoke about the score. Still to this day I have never seen the papers or official report on my score.

This is my question to you?? Do you feel that a person's IQ could severely drop 30 or more points over the period of 18 years? I have never taken another formal test, only the generic ones they give for free online. They say my score now is only 115. Is that a possible thing or should I go and get my self re-tested at a reputable testing center?

Thank you for your time, Stacey

Sloan replies: Stacey, it's not likely that your IQ has dropped 21 points. If you took an SAT or ACT test for college, you can get a good IQ of your IQ using the chart at my http://SQ.4mg.com/IQ-SATchart.htm webpage. See my response to similar questions at http://SQ.4mg.com/usingSQ.htm - on 9/24/04 and 9/17/04.

Hello,   I am currently writing a short essay debunking multiple intelligence "theory".  I have corresponded with several people on the essay so far, including Dan Willingham and Jim Delisle.  I have been trying to track online down copies of Perry Klein's critique and exchange with Gardner in the Canadian Journal of Education.  Do you know where they can be found and do you have any other references to suggest?
Scott Goodman, British Columbia 

Sloan replies:  Scott, perhaps you saw my MI webpage http://SQ.4mg.com/MIcriticisms.htm   Unfortunately I do not have more to offer beyond the links on that page.   I think that even Gardner would agree that his MI theory is outside the mainstream of psychological thinking.  

Hi, how are you doing?  In the newspaper article, it said that
hair length, short preferred, has a negative affect on SQ.  I 
was wondering why that is?
Thanks, Nick

Sloan replies: Nick, the negative reaction to long hair was only for males. (See all traits rated at : http://sq.4mg.com/traits_2437.htm). What I saw when SQ surveys were done in high school classrooms was that students were reacting more against the anti-social attitudes of those with long hair, rather than to the hair itself. This contrasted with their negative reaction to fat females, which seemed to be a real physical prejudice.

Sloan replies: Will, my http://sq.4mg.com/male-femaleIQ.htm webpage includes "Ability types at which males are better: The largest difference is that in spatial ability; the mental manipulation of figures in two or more dimensions. The difference varies from .3 to .5 SD." SD means Standard Deviations, which you can see marked just below the graph at http://sq.4mg.com/IQbasics.htm

Hi Van

I've been reading with interest your work on the adversity quotient, and wondered if you had conducted any work on an 'ambition quotient' or know of anyone else who has? Many thanks for your help.

Sloan replies: Lisa, yes I have done work on measuring ambition. Check out my webpages starting at http://sq.4mg.com/w_ambition.htm I did develop a type of Ambition Quotient. As reported in item 4 at http://sq.4mg.com/SuccessSQ-EI.htm: "In six high school classes which took a Jobs/ Ambition survey, the males did indeed score higher in Ambition than did the females (101 vs 97) " Like most looking at success, I believe that Ambition has much more influence than Adversity Quotient. For example, see "Aspirations appear to be very important" at http://SQ.4mg.com/Zax.htm

I am the gifted coordinator for Lorain County and one of my districts is Oberlin, Ohio.  This is a multi mixed ratio of minorities.  The concern has been raised that the minorities are not being identified because of the structure of the tests they are given.  Do you have any suggestions for a more reliable test.
Thanks, Mary Lou Kaminski

Sloan replies: Mary, you describe a common problem in many Gifted and college admissions programs - a problem of unrealistic expectations. When the average IQ for groups range from 103 for Asians to 85 for African-Americans, it is not realistic to expect any IQ test to identify similar percentages of gifted minorities. But there seems to be little difference among racial groups in skills that are just as important to financial success as IQ. See http://SQ.4mg.com/giftedFL.htm for a newspaper article on how Florida schools are using these other talents to help identify students for their Gifted programs.

Why you still treat Serbia as a global reject?

Why is it out of the list?

Sloan replies: Miroslav, nobody I know considers Serbia a global reject. But you do raise a good question about my http://SQ.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm page. The list of national IQ's includes Slovenia and Croatia but no other parts of the former Yugoslavia. The source list of 185 national IQ's at http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/article_intelligence/t4.htm adds Macedonia, but not Serbia or Bosnia. I am forwarding this email to Richard@RLynn.co.uk (the developer of the national IQ numbers), in the hopes that he will answer your question.

Dear Van Sloan,

My colleague Richard Lynn forwarded to me your question concerning  Serbia's national IQ. In our 2002 book, we gave national IQs for Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Herzegovina was excluded from That study. Yugoslavia included Serbia and Montenegro at that time. So Serbia was not excluded. Our next possible book will cover also Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Best regards,  Tatu Vanhanen

Sloan comments further: Miroslav, here is the explanation from the expert on your October 7 question. At http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/article_intelligence/t4.htm the IQ for Yugoslavia is shown as 93, based on Croatia 90, Slovenia 95.

I take issue with your reasoning about the IQ scores and Blacks. I do not believe more African Americans live in Southern states at all. I think it is fair to say that large, metropolitan areas are more likely to contain higher-functioning, slightly more intelligent people than average due to industry, technology and better earnings. I do not believe the ACT or SAT are fair measurements of IQ either. These are tests for students who are seeking significantly advanced higher education.

Dr. William Christopher Corrado
Director of Education
TITUS FINE ART
430 North Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90210

Sloan replies: Dr. Corrado, let's check the data. I had written that "The most likely reason for the lower IQ's in southern states is their significant Black population." The chart below (from http://www.ofm.wa.gov/pop/race/minority_data_release.xls) shows that most of the states with a high percentage of minorities are Southern. The minority numbers in New Mexico, California, Texas, and probably New York include large Latino components. One could calculate the percentages of Blacks in states from census data at http://www.census.gov/population/projections/state/stpjrace.txt

2000 Modified Race Data, Bureau of the Census

Percent

Ranking

State

Minority

Total

of Total

1

Hawaii

          929,095 

        1,211,537 

76.69

2

District of Columbia

          410,799 

          572,059 

71.81

3

New Mexico

          997,610 

        1,819,046 

54.84

4

California

      17,813,298 

      33,871,648 

52.59

5

Texas

        9,864,855 

      20,851,820 

47.31

6

Mississippi

        1,114,392 

        2,844,658 

39.17

7

Maryland

        1,995,919 

        5,296,486 

37.68

8

New York

        7,095,123 

      18,976,457 

37.39

9

Louisiana

        1,666,018 

        4,468,976 

37.28

10

Georgia

        3,041,656 

        8,186,453 

37.15

11

Arizona

        1,838,585 

        5,130,632 

35.84

12

Nevada

          686,070 

        1,998,257 

34.33

13

Florida

        5,472,183 

      15,982,378 

34.24

14

South Carolina

        1,354,212 

        4,012,012 

33.75

15

New Jersey

        2,809,838 

        8,414,350 

33.39

16

Alaska

          200,562 

          626,932 

31.99

17

Illinois

        3,948,665 

      12,419,293 

31.79

18

North Carolina

        2,388,370 

        8,049,313 

29.67

19

Alabama

        1,316,564 

        4,447,100 

29.61

20

Virginia

        2,090,472 

        7,078,515 

29.53

28

Washington

        1,214,291 

        5,894,121 

20.60

Note: This email is from the creator of http://SQ.4mg.com/corrupt.htm - one of the most viewed pages on this website.

Dear Van Sloan:

I am more than happy to meet you in Bangkok in November. And yes, your SQ is indeed very interesting and hope to discuss more. The reason why corruption vs. IQ topic came up was based on a long standing observation that businessmen hires an executive on his credibility more than his intelligence. Which is an important point why corruption which is measurable form of credibility is more important than intelligence.

As such, this makes your SQ economically relevant. One of the form of intelligence which completely escapes IQ other than SQ is perhaps, common sense or the "big picture" holistic kind of thought - an ability that is so hard to find these days especially in Asia. The trend toward specialists in U.S. is occuring with so many specialists that holistic approach (as in Medicine) completely escapes them, something I referred to as "Rain Man" intelligence (based on movie by Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise). Rain Man means the person knows a lot but understands nothing.

Well, anyway see you in November. I might visit your sight and add some more updates if I find them relevant. Thank you very much. Ted

Hello Sir,  I have a big problem and I hope you can help me out. 
I don't trust myself :-( and I have only high school.
I had a problem with math but I believe that there was
no good teachers in the school to help me understand
good. I'm 22 now. I'm Egyptian. I took 4 IQ Tests
(Online) 130, 120 and 110 this was my scores. some
people said that Online IQ Test is not good so what
can you say?    what can I do?
Thanks, Michael

Sloan replies: Michael, the wide variation in your IQ results is proof that online IQ tests are not very reliable. For suggestions, see my response to GKW on 17 Sept 2004 below

I found your site on a search for the Bell Curve graph. I thought I'd give you my two cents worth:

"Jews have an average IQ that is .84 standard deviations above that of white gentiles. The average for white gentiles is 100. For Jews it is 112."

I am sure this is a result of the strict inbreeding that Jews practice, always warning against intermarriage, and the high pressure parenting of "be a doctor or a lawyer, or marry one, "etc among their own.

In our society however they preach the exact opposite for us, and were instrumental in changing our immigration laws, the civil rights movement, striking down our laws banning interracial marriage, and now greatly encouraging it on tv.

I think it would be hard to even test white IQ in the U.S. as there are so many of even slightly mixed race, and as Jews themselves tell us, there is no genetic reason for IQ disparity, only white racism and neglect, poorly funded inner city schools, etc. are to blame. Many "experts" even tell us now there is no such thing as race.

Sloan replies: Andy, racial categories for IQ group averages are usually determined by self-marking, such as by the takers of SAT tests. Group differences in IQ are noticeable, even when adjusted for income and social class. Since most researchers agree that IQ is largely fixed by age five, IQ must have a large genetic component. My http://SQ.4mg.com/IQdifferenes.htm page describes current thinking on the causes of group IQ differences, as with Jews.

I took an online test and it gave me my score, But I'm
not satisfied. I don't think it was a very acurate
test. I scored a 120 but I feel that if I were to take
a more acurate test that I would score lower. I took
the test at www.tickle.com. I'm not so sure how
acurate they are, so I was wondering if you could give
me a web site that has a more acurate test. Before I
took the test at tickle.com I've never taken an IQ
test before. I know usually for a very acurate test
you have to pay, but I can't afford it right now with
our finances being so poor. If you could help me out
that would be much appriciated.

Sloan replies: It's sensible to wonder about the results of online IQ tests. I do not recommend any as truly accurate, but prefer ones with time controls. If you really want to know your IQ, you might consider taking the SAT-1 test. Many employers feel they are good measures of intelligence, a useful asset in most jobs. You can use the chart at http://SQ.4mg.com/IQ-SATchart.htm to translate SAT into IQ scores.

Sloan replies: Alan, thanks for your helpful comments.  They have led me to revise the paragraph you quoted. While I believe the number of work visas for the talented ought to be increased, it seems that the current immigration system is working to the benefit of the US economy. Revised part of http://SQ.4mg.comn/IQdifferences.htm : 7. Current US border enforcement procedures may contribute to the economic strength of the US.  On one hand, high IQ individuals outside the US are encouraged by employers here to get US work visas.  On another track, the semi-porous border with Mexico tends to select for desirable workers.  On average, the migrants with greater ambition and above average IQ are able to foil the US border protection systems. As in point 1 above, the average IQ of Mexican-Americans is greater than the average IQ in Mexico.  The net result is that the pool of talented workers in the US grows, to the detriment of their native countries.  One drawback might be the feisty youth gangs in Los Angeles and other barrios of illegals. But the overall benefits of an inflow of ambitious talent filtered illegally into the US likely far exceed such drawbacks.

If Anglos are so intelligent, why have they only become civlized in the last 2,000 years? They are intellectual babies in comparison to the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, Egyptians, Babylonians, and the Chinese. If you really believe that education has nothing to do with the intelligence testing success, your thinking is flawed. Perhaps you should open your mind to other possibilities. The United States has only been the world's greatest power for the last half-century. The world has been here for hundreds of millions of years. They have dominated a rather short period of the history of the world.

Sloan replies:   Your emails show that my websites have stimulated your thinking (both my IQ one and http://wlc.8m.net - World Leadership Centers).  It is impossible to completely remove one's cultural biases in matters like IQ and history.   In these areas I have tried hard to present impartial data and generally accepted theories.   On unsettled matters like ethnic IQ differences or Quetzalcoatl, I just offer reasonable explanations, not assertions.  In searching for truth, it's good to let the chips fall where they may, regardless of our biases.  Would an Anglo like me normally celebrate Hong Kong and Korea as having the highest IQ's, on http://SQ.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm  - my most popular webpage?

On your SQ test I scored 5 highs and 3 lows, and as far as I understand the test, I did good. But on the Utne.com SQ test I scored only a 25, a really low score. I checked out the answers on the Utne test, and it seemed most of the time you either picked the right answer or you get 0 points. On IQ tests I have scored well into the 130's, and I've known for a while my people skills are not the best (unfortunately), but I do have great personal ambition and motivation. Anyways, what's up with the big difference in results? Obviously, I much prefer your test. Peter S., Chicago

Along with the culling that harsh environments and pogroms create, there is the additional factor of reproduction styles.  In China, for instance, the nobility had dozens of wives and a great many peasants had no opportunity to reproduce at all.  It would be interesting to show a graph linking polygamy and effects on IQ, since those men who have the most resources will have greater opportunities to reproduce.  The middle east and Utah could also be used as test cases, especially Utah since detailed records are still kept.

Hello, I am searching for a list with all the different IQ scores for each states that will determinate if you are mentally challenged or not. I am doing a research paper for school.  Would you know where I can find something like that?  Thank you for your time,  Malin Devins, MI.

I just read an article that was posted on the web regarding minorities in gifted education.  I was wondering what thoughts you may have regarding the different cut off scores based upon ethnicity.  I am assembling a gifted program in a charter school in Yougstown Ohio and I trying to select tests/assessments that would best serve this population.  I have not had great success locating culture-fair tests.  Can you help?

Sloan replies:  John, you are struggling with the same problem that selective colleges deal with in admissions.  If you set different cut offs based on ethnicity, Asians and whites will complain.  If you don't, you will not achieve ethnic balance in an academically gifted program.  The fact that IQ averages around 103 for East Asians, 101 for whites, 92 for Latinos, and 85 for blacks means that all reasonable tests will produce weighted results.  The UC Berkeley admissions process produces a somewhat balanced class, but there is some truth in their campus scuttlebutt that Asians get A's, whites get B's, Latinos get C's and blacks get D's.  I think that recognition of IQ facts is much more honest than a fruitless search for "culture-fair" tests.   Point out to your students and parents that IQ is less than a third of what leads to financial success (see http://SQ.4mg.com/r_iq_ei.htm).

I obtained my grade school transcript a few days ago and saw a reported IQ of 102 in 1959. I recall a grade school teacher telling me that I was not working up to my IQ.  Would the methodology of an IQ test taken in Missouri in the late 1950's give the same results of an IQ test taken today?  I attended grade school in Tennessee and recall meeting with two psychologists in the third or fourth grade before moving to Missouri and always thought it was odd.

Howdy,  Both of my parents are in Mensa - and advised me to get tested albeit I am not of age to join. I took an IQ test administered through a college (RU) for around $400, and I scored a 149. Yet, I have always had trouble with my grades! What do you think is wrong with me - or what should I do?

Dear Mr. Sloan:

Sloan responds: Dale, I have a more optimistic view of the future for blacks in America.  Yes, most experts would agree that average IQ for African-Americans is fifteen points below the average IQ for other Americans.  But those same experts also agree that factors other than IQ (like social skills) account for MOST of the success of an individual.  (See http://SQ.4mg.com/r_iq_ei.htm).  All evidence points to no racial differences in the average level of these other success traits.   It is unfortunate that so much is made of the low test results in the schools of Washington DC or Oakland CA.  Their largely black students grow up thinking they will be failures.  If such students could spend some school time working on their improvable non-IQ skills, they would become more successful in the job market.  IQ is largely fixed, so efforts to make black academic scores match country averages are not likely to succeed.  But non-IQ success skills for blacks could easily match and perhaps surpass similar skills of whites.  Look at all our successful, personable, black TV personalities!  

hey!    i hope you get this....and have some time to respond. i just stumbled across this web page. i have the worst social skills. i got depressed after high school trauma along with dysfunctional family trauma and went straight up boo radley. never left the house lived alone. ive been working full time and in counseling for almost two years, and my social skills have improved and anxiety reduced a little but not nearly enough. medication is no longer an option. my body is too sensitive to that stuff and i am clearer and happier without it. what can i do to improve self esteem..confidence..and especially social skills. i wanna go to college soon and take a new direction in life. im 22 years old. male. please say at least something.

Is there a site that records IQ's taken during school years? How would one find out the actual number of ones IQ? Any info would be helpful. Thank You Eloise

Sloan replies: Jessie, my webpage http://sq.4mg.com/IQ-SATchart.htm shows that 136 is higher than the IQ of 99% of Americans.  But most short IQ tests are not as reliable as college SAT tests, also shown on that page.  Hopefully you will also score well on your SAT's, helping you get into a good college!

 Sloan replies: Holly, when I put "Multiple Intelligences will improve student success/ achievement/ test scores"  into a Google search, the first item listed was: http://www.upublish.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581121504 -  on Differential Effects of a Multiple Intelligences Curriculum on Student Performance   book.  It looks helpful and includes a free download of first 25 pages of the book.  Other items listed in that Google search also may be helpful to you.

Sloan replies: Hello Russell & August:   Perhaps a Google search will help you find percentages of gun ownership in other countries.  It is unclear to me why a nation's corruption and gun ownership rates might be related.  I am forwarding your email to Ted in Thailand, who developed the pages on corruption for my website.  It is good to learn that you are finding my site stimulating!  (Copy to parhat@yahoo.com)