Meera, a counsellor in Pune, runs a workshop on intelligence. Her first speaker presents a model that sorts intellectual traits along three dimensions: operations, contents and products. Meera then describes Kavya. Kavya breaks a hard physics problem into parts, checks each part critically and tops her school tests. Before starting, Kavya decides what to do and how to do it. Next, Ananya sets goals and a time schedule before a class test, and changes her plan when a chapter proves too hard. Meera also plans to test Rohan, a 12-year-old with learning problems, on a battery of verbal and non-verbal tasks devised by Das and Naglieri. Finally, she tests an 8-year-old boy whose mental age comes out as 10.
Which of the following is the IQ of the 8-year-old boy Meera tests?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → 125
Option (1) 80 — Incorrect. This divides CA by MA (8/10 x 100). IQ puts mental age on top, so this is the reverse working.
Option (2) 102 — Incorrect. This adds the two-year gap to 100. IQ is a ratio of MA to CA.
Option (3) 120 — Incorrect. This needs a ratio of 1.2, as for a 10-year-old with a mental age of 12. Here the ratio is 10/8 = 1.25.
Option (4) 125 — Correct. IQ = MA / CA x 100 = 10/8 x 100 = 125. His MA is more than his CA, so his IQ is more than the average of 100.
NCERT (2026-27): “Assessment of Intelligence … “The number 100 is used as a multiplier to avoid the decimal point. When the MA equals the CA, the IQ equals 100. If MA is more than the CA, IQ is more than 100. IQ becomes less than 100 when the MA is less than the CA. For example, a 10-year-old child with a mental age of 12 would have an IQ of 120 (12/10 ´ 100), whereas the same child with an MA of 7 would have an IQ of 70 (7/10 ´ 100). The average IQ in the population is 100, irrespective of age.” |