The social impression of IQ versus the tested reality of IQ

Simply fascinating illustration of how social strangers estimate one another's IQ and then rank each other collectively.  They are then reranked based on the results of actual tested IQ performance.  Watch it first.

Double click to enlarge. 

The six participants were:

Sada, 24, attended Yale, Bachelors degree, works in finance

Tyler, 21, HS graduate, USMC, CBRN strategist (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear). 

Kaylee, 25, Ohio State University Bachelors degree, software developer

Maria, 30, Graduate degree from University of Florida and Bachelors from University of South Carolina , PhD in cancer biology, biotech firm 

Sean, 27, Social Media Director, Double major in Dance and Cultural Anthropology from Loyola Marymount University

Ray, 24, Bachelors degree from Harvard, consulting

In their discussions there is clearly a mixing of estimation of IQ, credentialism, social class and social status, some of which is recognized as it is going on.  

My ranking prior to watching the results looked something like the following and my informal justification:

Ray - few words but succinct and to the point

Tyler - a little more vocal but again, succinct, to the point, articulate and confident.  Also, apparently, socially immune from unveiled insults and low expectations.

Kaylee - Software developer.

Sean - Wildcard.  Deferential and modest but possibly an overlay on a quick mind.

Maria - PhD certainly but from lower ranked schools.  Too confident and talkative.  Set too much store by EQ which is a nebulous and largely overturned construct.  Clear status prejudices.

Sada - Too talkative, justifying her opinions when they didn't need to be justified.  Too status seeking. 

Sean was the real unknown.  

In the department of self-revelation, it was very interesting to see the correlation in my mind between concise and succinct communication and high IQ versus prolixity and low IQ. 

Similarly, the correlation in my mind between those demonstrating neutrality of judgment and high IQ versus those signaling class/status focus and low IQ. 

Similarly, the correlation in my mind between those demonstrating social politeness and/or self-deprecation (Ray, Kaylee, Tyler, and Sean) and high IQ versus those expressing prejudices without regard to others' feelings (Maria and Sada) and low IQ. 

The role of expressed ignorance.  Sada's declaration that she strongly disagrees that you can't get better at learning is one example.  Beyond the basics of simple study habits, your limitations are largely IQ related.  No one can learn their way into a higher IQ (+/- 2-3 points).  She has a strong opinion not based on facts.  

Later Sada asserts that "IQ tests are now known to be flawed and based on incorrect sample sizes" both of which are incorrect.  Sample sizes is among the least of the criticisms of IQ tests which are none-the-less among the most replicated and reliably robust psychometric measures of performance.  This reflects in Sada's lack of knowledge rather than her IQ but it is striking.  

Likewise, Maria's continued referencing the importance of EQ, an unsupported hypothesis is another example.  Yet again, a strong opinion unsupported by facts.  Everyone else tended to be more careful about opinion based assertions.

The role of stereotypes.  Ray (emigrant striver), Tyler (USMC competent mission focus), Kaylee (middle class work ethic).  In contrast to Sean (exotic creative).  And in further contrast to Maria (academic poser) and Sada (affirmative action admit).  Stereotypes are not necessarily true, but they are the rapid heuristic which colors first impressions.  

The presence of excuse making - Sada had a portfolio of excuses including ADHD, dyslexia, etc.  Kaylee was focused on how she had to fight against low expectations of her as a woman.  Maria dismissed the whole IQ construct as inadequate to assessing an individual (after having been confident in it at the beginning).  

Finally, the overwhelming reliance placed on credentialism (quality of school) and education attainment (terminal degree) in driving most of the IQ estimations is striking.  

Sean had an interesting insight.  He dinged Tyler for linear thinking versus more holistic thinking.  That is not an IQ issue but a matter of how IQ is expressed.  Linear thinking, and more broadly, structured and disciplined thinking is an approach often associated with high IQ individuals.  Too constrained and it is ineffective.  It requires some 360 degree visioning but not to the point of distraction.  

On the other hand, the creative thinking, associative thinking is also often associated with high IQ.  Too much creativity and nothing is accomplished.  Too little and there is little innovation.  The point being that Sean was doing his assessment on something other than IQ.  

Tyler's response to the question "Is anyone upset with their ranking?" is revealing.  He doesn't focus on whether he is upset.  "If I were in their shoes I would definitely have ranked myself among the lowest."  He is not accepting an emotional premise.  He is affirming his understanding of their perspective.  And he is implicitly reserving the possibility that their perspective is wrong.  That is a lot of positive attributes (independent of IQ per se.)

I also liked the contrast in responses between "I'm sensitive to my environment and what is going on" Maria ("I didn't think an IQ test would be part of it") and down-to-earth Tyler ("It was kind of expected.  We're talking about IQ, an IQ test is definitely within the realm of possibility.")  

The ultimate ranking by IQ is:

Ray - 136

Kaylee - 133

Tyler - 131

Sada - 131

Sean - 123

Maria -112

Maria (112) is almost one standard deviation (115) above the average (100) and significantly more than one standard deviation (twenty-two points) below the average of the top four.  Sean is toward the second standard deviation (130).  From Sada above, everyone is tightly clustered at or near the second standard deviation.  I am surprised at Sada's score.  The others not so much.  

The surprise regarding Sada is due to the mismatch between the volume of her non-factual knowledge and the possibility of her having a high IQ.  She apparently has the IQ capacity to learn a lot but for some reason what she has been learning is nonsense.  

It was interesting that Tyler mentioned that he had an ASVAB score of 94.  That should have informed a much higher estimation of his ranking among his peers than it apparently did.  Probably simply a lack of knowledge on their part, but still notable.

Also interesting was Maria's explanation of her 6th place ranking for Tyler.  It was something along the lines of "I put him last because he was basing his definition on the actual definition of IQ and not what everyone thinks the definition of the word ought to be."  

Personally, were I to be asked to assemble a team to solve some novel but undefined problem I would choose in rank order:

Ray

Tyler

Kaylee

Sean

Sada

Maria

Even if I could choose as many as I wanted among the six, I would not choose Sada or Maria at all - both seem toxic personalities and not good team players.  Sada seems to have spent a reasonable amount of time being miseducated about some pretty fundamental facts as also seems the case with Maria.

If I could only choose two, it would definitely be Ray and Tyler.  Level headed, modest, self-aware, capable, likely adaptable. 

Kaylee would be definitely third if I could choose three.  The fact that she has a range of excuses based on an estimation that others are underestimating her can be overcome.

Sean is the wild card.  Possibly very creative, definitely very modest but clearly with some intelligence.  He would be a good add if a four person team were permitted if only because he seems like a fun guy.

I scanned through the comments to the video.  There is near unanimity about Maria's poor showing.  Not quite as many condemnations of Sada's arrogance, but reasonably uniform.  Everyone seems to have liked Sean and most seemed to rate Tyler very highly as well.  Everyone seems to accept Ray as the highest IQ.  

I did like the commenter who quoted Matthew 23:12 in the context of Maria and Sada.  

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.