Speaking about the intelligence, people usually refer to the intellectual and academic.
However, the question of intelligence is complex and it requires an in-depth approach. Intelligence Quotient is one of the concepts that should be taken into account and analyzed.
Human intelligence has been defined in many ways and it is still unclear what should we call intelligence, in the first place. The very idea of IQ scores is commonly wrongly interpreted and misused.
Perhaps one of the most fitting definitions of intelligence is that it is an ability of a human to adapt to the changing surroundings by reasoning, intellectual capacities used in practice.
Stephen Hawking, the famous astrophysicist claimed the intelligence is a mechanism of adaptation to change. This definition is enough flexible to be taken into account, since strict definitions of intelligence definitely have many flaws. The intelligence is flexible itself.
Some experts claim that the (in)famous Intelligence Quotient score is not a rule and that it was not set in stone. It means someone’s level of intelligence could be changed by effort, ambition to develop it, patience and dedicated work on it.
Whether the very level of intelligence decides one’s willingness to invest efforts in it is questionable. Be it as it may, there are other questions to be explored.
Intelligence is at least partially inherited, claim some authors. Scientific research proved it was true. Children who have been separated from their biological parents at birth and who have never met their parents often present with the same level and nature of intelligence as their actual parents. This proves that intelligence has a genetic background.
However, many other factors must be taken into consideration, as the authors of the first IQ tests claimed themselves. We could agree on the idea that intellectual capacity of individual plays the most important role in the process of learning.
A ‘more intelligent’ one would more easily make association and conclusion about the subject, in comparison to a ‘less intelligent’ one.
However, it is also important to note that intelligence cannot only be what is associated with education ad in academic circles. Intelligence is very likely multifold and multiple and it has to be analyzed from different angles.
IQ tests rather try to summarize different aspects of intelligence, but they still leave much of the important info about one’s full capacities out.
The Nature of Human Intelligence
The question that has been puzzling us ever since was that of the true nature of intelligence as it was.
Can we observe intelligence as universal mental capacity, general predecessor of further intellectual development as something of one single nature? Could it be multifold and consisted of different types of intelligences that could be observed separately?
The theory of multiple and multifold nature of intelligence is certainly attractive and it must be taken into consideration. According to this theory, there are aspects or types of intelligence that could be observed and analyzed separately.
They are, in its manifesting nature, independent one from another, but they all have something in common.
This multifold concept of intelligence enlists many types of intelligence.
The list includes logical and mathematical intelligence, verbal or linguistic intelligence, physical and kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence, visual and spatial intelligence, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence, natural or naturalistic intelligence and spiritual and existential intelligence.
Although many aspects mention here are commonly perceived as skills or spirituality out of intelligence, this approach definitely opens up a more lose and perhaps more easily understandable idea of intelligence.
If we take intelligence as multifold, we would easily conclude that common IQ tests cannot provide with full information about an individual’s capacities.
The problem is also that IQ tests are commonly seen as predictors as life success. Well, it is possible that a person with an average IQ be in life more successful than someone with a higher IQ. This fact, of course, opens up even more questions.
IQ cannot be a sole determinant of one’s life path and his or hers achievements in life. It does not decide on one’s potential success.
What is success? What are someone’s expectations? Does he or she want success in common terms, as in professional and academic circles? Do other factors play a role in it? Certainly, they do.
Emotional intelligence, social intelligence, individual personal traits, social and cultural background and more are all important elements to consider.
Classification and Average Score
The first IQ test was created in the beginning of the twentieth century. The test that has been widely in use ever since fifties is WAIS or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.
Most of the tests stick to the average score of 100 as a starting point and a standard deviation of 15 units that allows for a distribution curve. According to the common classification, more or less adapted to newer tests, there are several IQ ranges.
All scores that fall below 70 points of the scale are considered definitely feeble minded, those in the range between 70 and 79 are ‘cognitively impaired’ or ‘borderline deficient’.
Scores within the range from 80 to 89 are considered ‘below average intelligence’ or ‘dull’. Scores within the range from 90 to 110 are considered average or ‘normal’. Those within the range of 111 to 120 are ‘above average’, while 121 to 130 are ‘gifted’.
Scores above 130 are ‘very gifted’ and according to older Lewis Terman’s scale, those above 140 are ‘genius’. There are variations of the scales, some of which are more detailed and with more shades, to say so.
Special tests are required to test the intelligence of those who already fall under the category of high intelligence. In any case, average score is always around 100.
What does this average score mean exactly? The truth is that it only proves one has the same level of intelligence as majority of population.
It means that a person is of average reasoning, average task processing speed, that he or she is independent, capable of making decisions, organizing and planning, learning from theory, education in academic environment and so.
This is, indeed, what could be said for the most of people. However, it should not be mistaken for being an ‘average person’. This IQ result does not tell about all capacities of an individual.
It does not actually reveal all sides of one’s inborn intelligence, it does not say about additional skills and talents not covered by the test.
It also does not tell about the participant’s personality and emotional intelligence, at least not to a degree that matters.
IQ 103 Score Meaning
With the score of 103, an individual fall under the category of ‘average intelligence’. Now, it means all of the above, but, in reality, things get a little bit different. Many people are suspicious about the validity of the test results alone.
For example, you could get an average result because you are an anxious person, rushing and impulsive, although ‘more’ intelligent that the tests proved.
It would hardly be the other way around, although even such thing is possible, but it does add a bit of skepticism about the test.
Emotional intelligence is what some experts deem even more important than the IQ score. If you have a score of 103, but you are an extremely patient, organized, dedicated person with clear set goals, ambitious and self-confident, you could get ahead of those who are, on the paper, more intelligent.
The factor of social adaptability and emotional adaptability and flexibility play a big role in getting ahead in life.
This must be considered significant, if we think about the IQ test scores as predictors of life success. Having an average score does not mean you should do an ‘average’ job. The advantage of having an average reasoning and mental processing capacities are many.
Although the term ‘average’ might even sound offensive to some (also depending on their aspirations and personalities), let us see what it means.
The score of 103 falls under the ‘average’ and it means that one with such a score is perfectly equipped with intellectual capacities to learn, analyze, perceive, reason and decide about things.
It means that a person with an average score is perfectly capable of ‘normal’ learning from experience. Thus, if he or she makes a mistake, they would learn something from it.
An average score allows a person to realize their limitations. Those might be different types of limitations, but the point is that a person would easily understand them.
For example, one could start a study that is actually beyond their current capacities; the reasoning would make them adapt the study or adapt themselves to the study or choose something they could efficiently bring to a conclusion.
On the other hand, it could be about another aspect of their personality; a person with a ‘normal’ score would recognize the limitations of their patience, dedication, focus and else.
They could choose, decide and work on things they would like to improve. Of course, the factor or emotional intelligence and personality will play a big role.
However, we could safely say that an average score, as this of 103 is an excellent starting point.
The idea of a changeable, developing intelligence is certainly something one should think about. The average score is not set in stone, just as no other is, as the proposal claims.
Part of the intelligence must be inherited, but the other part is molded by the other factors.
In any case, with a score of 103 you definitely have capacities as most people have, but it is up to you how your own capacities would manifest in real life.