Make Your Child Smarter

Difference in IQ based on Age

Q: My child is 6 years old. Since the IQ tests are apparently normed for age by the year, would he more likely test as having a higher IQ if he is tested late in his 6th year rather than when he has just turned 6? Thank you.

A: It is true that standardized tests are normed based on age in a particular year. It is assumed that children of a certain age in a particular year should perform close to accuracy on an IQ test, regardless of whether the child is born close to or far from the birthday month during the time of the test.

Of course, common sense is that the more experience a child has (which translates to being older), the better the performance, which may appear that if a child is tested late in his, say 6th year, he may perform better than if it were given earlier. Having said that, standardized IQ tests are designed in such a way that this should not affect the results, at least no more than a point or so more. Therefore, it is perfectly fine to test your child as I doubt the difference would be that drastic for any educational intervention.

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