

What Does the SAT Test? (2004) - tokenadult
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/07/04/the_sat_tests/

======
madcaptenor
It's interesting that the SAT-IQ "conversion" formula is (.095 X SAT Math) +
(.003 X SAT Verbal) + 50.241 = IQ and that therefore one SAT math point is
"worth" quite a bit more (about thirty times as much!) in IQ than one SAT
verbal point.

(The formula seems suspicious, though -- 800 math, 800 verbal converts to an
IQ of 129, and 500 math, 500 verbal, which is supposed to be the average
college-bound student, converts to 99. The average college-bound student
should have an IQ higher than the average person.)

~~~
tedunangst
Disagree that college bound students have higher IQs than average. There are
many factors that determine one's interest in college, and means and motive
aren't tied to IQ.

------
baddox
I've never taken the SAT, but here's what I think about the ACT:

It tests the smaller of two things: your test-taking ability and your
"knowledge." "Knowledge" in this case is what you have learned and retained
through high school. I am being gracious by throwing test-taking ability in
there, because I'm not entirely convinced there really is such a thing. I only
took the ACT once, as a senior, and scored a 32 (out of 36), so I certainly
hadn't specifically prepared for the type of test. I just took the test, and
the questions I knew the answers to, I got right, the others I got wrong. But
since almost everyone else seems to agree that being bad at test-taking can
make you "choke" and score lower than what you should, I will concede that
your ACT test score represents the lower of those two attributes.

------
ujjwalg
I don't completely agree with the article. I am a firm believer that SAT Score
provides some credibility to your thinking ability but calling it an IQ test
is not correct. IQ test doesn't require any syllabus, its a general
methodology to determine how you intellectually analyze.

We are developing SAT prep apps for iPhone, desktop and web and I believe that
people can score higher if they practice a lot which is not true for an IQ
test IMO.

~~~
noodle
i agree. and i really don't like the reliance on SAT scores for college
admissions. is it an indicator, sure, but it isn't extremely accurate.

~~~
ujjwalg
I don't know of a solution better/more efficient than a written test. The
education system is different in India and I like that system somewhat better.
There is an entrance exam you need to give to enter into high profile colleges
which has a defined syllabus but no questions are repeated and are based on
your understanding of the subject rather than rote learning.

~~~
noodle
tests are very efficient, but the SAT only tests one dimension of a person. it
provides a very flat picture of a potential student. i agree that the system
in India sounds distinctly better, but still not perfect in my opinion.

~~~
ujjwalg
I agree with you, but do you know of a better/more efficient solution?

~~~
noodle
i couldn't say. all i know is what doesn't work, from experience.

i'd really like a college to sit down and do a study on what really does
predict success in their student body, looking at and perhaps requiring
different things like IQ, SAT, ACT, high school data, etc.. test all incoming
freshmen on the things they haven't already taken. etc.

------
arohner
I can say that I got bored during my SAT test. At the time, I was taking AP
Calculus (which I also found easy), and the SAT was testing pre-calc. I sped
through the answers just to get out of there. If I had actually cared, I'm
pretty sure I could have scored 1600.

Edit: My point being, even if IQ and SAT are correlated, I suspect there are a
large number of intelligent people for which test does not correlate. i.e. p <
1

~~~
whughes
Perhaps, but your experience does not indicate that the SAT test is not useful
for college admissions. Chances are, colleges will want to admit the person
who was motivated enough to complete the whole test instead of the person who
was intelligent, but lazy. Intelligence without motivation is not of much use.

~~~
arohner
My point was that the correlation between SAT and IQ is not perfect; I said
nothing about its usefulness for college admissions.

You also imply that there is a single 'motivation' scale. There isn't. I am
highly motivated at my startup and many other things. I'm highly unmotivated
at answering the same math problem for the third time with different numbers.

~~~
berntb
The psychologists seem quite certain of their "g" factor, so I assume it
exists, but I doubt anyone has ever argued that an intelligence test didn't
have statistical errors.

Just consider how differently teenagers mature and how that might affect their
learning. Lots of them do sports instead of reading. A friend of mine never
studied in school because she had an unknown eye problem; new glasses at 30
and she could read effortlessly. Some are depressed or suffer unknowingly from
a disease. Etc.

Edit: As noted, I should have written "any researcher in the subject" instead
of "anyone" in the first sentence. :-)

~~~
tokenadult
_I doubt anyone has ever argued that an intelligence test didn't have
statistical errors._

Certainly no professional psychologist would claim that IQ tests have no error
of estimation.

<http://learninfreedom.org/iqbooks.html>

