-=> Quoting Sondra Ball to Jim Casto <=-
 SB> @MSGID: 1:141/355.0 17168085
 JC> IQ tests are _supposed_ to measure the "Intelligence Quotient" of 
omeone
 > to cope within the culture wherein the test is given, are they not? Would
 > you give an "American" IQ test in China? The tests _have_ to be 
culturally
 > biased".
 SB> Actually, I suppose that's true.  Although I *thought* they measured
 SB> the ablility of a person to learn,
 But isn't "learning" part of one's ability to "cope"? Plus, even if we are 
 measuring the ability to "learn", it is _still_ within a _specific_ culture.
 SB> which is not the same thing as
 SB> ability to cope.  As a matter of fact, people who can't cope at all
 SB> (because they are extremely schizophrenic, for example) may have very
 SB> high IQs. 
 
 But does that mean they have a high degree of "ability to learn"?
 SB> Actually, I'm not convinced that the average American is middle and
 SB> upper class anymore;
 I guess we have to define "middle class". Income? (That would put my wife
 and I in the ranks of the "poverty class".) Lifestyle? (Judging by the
 neighborhood in which we live, that would put my wife and I in the upper-
 middle class.) No, I think just by driving around, I can see that MOST of
 the major Portland metropolitan area seems to be doing fairly well with
 a few pockets of "not so good". This seems to be true of most of the major
 areas (like Seattle, Los Angeles, Baltimore, etc.) that I have been to in
 last few years.
 SB> although I will concede that the average american
 SB> is still white. Even that won't be completely true much longer,
 SB> however, if the demographic projections are correct.
 I think as long as the demographics are allowed to be "self-identifying" and
 there appears to be a distinct advantage to being "white", that the majority
 of most of America will be "white".
 SB> I believe that
 SB> by the year 2010, whites are expected to make up less than 50% of the
 SB> population of the US, although they will still control most of the
 SB> money, and will certainly still contain more people than any one of
 SB> the minority groups isolated from the others.
 
 Yes.
 
 SB> college.  Somewhere in my years of growing up, I realized that the
 SB> test makers were no smarter than the test takers, and therefore the
 SB> test takers really could figure out how to do well on tests.
 
 Actually, there are a lot of ways to learn how to take tests. Classes,
 computer programs, etc. are available for almost every SAT, GAT, SMAT,
 SPLAT (or whatever the heck they are , post office, etc. I took a
 class for a "Limited Electrician's License". The _entire_ class was "How
 to Quickly Find the Answer in the Book Because the Test is an Open-Book
 Test". There was NEVER any "practical" knowledge (such as how to wire a
 house or change a light bulb) in the entire class. But, I _did_ pass the
 test and was licensed to do much of the electrical wiring in a home for
 alarms, sound systems, etc. as long as what I did "met the code".
 
 JC> "The average IQ is set at 100; about half those that take the test 
achieve
 > scores between 90 and 110." Encarta 97
 SB> will probably score lower.  I learned this from a person who spends his
 SB> life testing kids, and evaluating the results.  I questioned the
 SB> validity of IQ tests, and he admitted they are not all that reliable. 
 
 Again, only a measuring stick attempting to measure something not physical,
 but mental.
 SB> age 6, and their IQs, as tested, at age 18.  There was not a high
 SB> correlation between tested childhood IQ and adult IQ before age 12,
 
 I don't _ever_ remember taking an IQ test. But, I am reminded of a test I
 took in about the fifth grade that was _supposed_ to indicate "suitability
 for an occupation" when we "grew up". The test said I should become a
 social worker. 
 SB> above 150 at age 6 tended to stay in those postions, although, even
 SB> then, there was not 100% correlation.
 
 When it comes to "testing" any mental process, I doubt that there will
 _ever_ be 100% correlation.  College exams/degress are a classic example.
 
 Jim
--- Blue Wave v2.12
---------------