IQ and cognitive science

Research-backed articles on intelligence, cognitive assessment and what a score actually tells you.

A narrow bridge represents the IQ test, carrying five mental tasks while creativity, persistence, practical skill, and emotional regulation remain outside it.
iq basics

What Does an IQ Test Actually Measure — and What It Misses

A modern IQ score is built from ten specific tasks across five abilities — and leaves out creativity, persistence, practical skill and emotional regulation. Here is exactly where the line falls.

26 Aug 2026 · 7 min read
A test score is shown being positioned among people ranked from lower to higher performance.
iq basics

How Is IQ Calculated? The Formula Most Sites Get Wrong

The formula at the top of Google — mental age ÷ chronological age × 100 — hasn't been used by a major test since 1960. Here's how IQ is really calculated, with a worked example from raw score to percentile.

25 Aug 2026 · 7 min read
A large central human head branches into two distinct paths: on the left, five small identical heads climb a numbered-looking but textless staircase, with the tallest at the top to show ranking against peers; on the right, three small cog shapes pass through a sieve, separating one damaged cog from
iq basics

IQ Test vs Cognitive Test: They Are Not the Same Thing

A doctor's ten-minute memory check, a hiring test with a brutal time limit and a full IQ battery all get called 'cognitive tests'. They answer three different questions — and only one produces an IQ.

24 Aug 2026 · 8 min read
A single life-course road runs left to right through three simple human profiles: a teenager, an adult, and an older adult
intelligence research

Does IQ Change With Age? What Rises, Falls and Stays Put

Your IQ score is designed not to move after about age 20. Your abilities move a lot, in opposite directions at once. And a childhood score can shift 20 points before it settles.

23 Aug 2026 · 8 min read