Professional IQ test or practice test?

A good professional IQ test can be distinguished from a practice IQ test based on one ore more of the following features:

• A professional IQ test is standardized. This means your IQ is the result of a comparison of your test score with the scores of a representative group of people. That group should also be well described and the description should be accessible to the general public.
• A professional IQ test is reliable. That means that you should get roughly the same score if you take it twice. Coincidence should not be a factor.
• A professional IQ test has at least 25 serious questions.
• For a professional IQ test, the background and job title of the test author are clearly mentioned. That allows you to check if the creator of the test has the right training to do so. If the author is not mentioned, do not take the test.
• A good test is based on a scientific intelligence theory.
• When you take a professional IQ test, your privacy is guaranteed: the test does not only serve marketing purposes. If you have to give your email address to get the (free) results, you'd better stop. The test probably serves advertising purposes.

Is the test not a professional IQ test?

If you notice that an IQ test does not meet the above criteria, do not take the results too seriously. Usually the makers will want something else from you. For example, your email address, or your permission to send you information on schooling and training. Tests on this site are not 'marketing tools',123test® is committed to safeguarding your privacy.

You should be especially suspicious of IQ tests on which you score extremely high. Usually they only want you to feel good about yourself, hoping you will give them your personal data. So, if you really want to know your IQ, take a professional IQ test. Use free IQ tests for fun or for practicing.

Read the next article entitled cognitive development or take an free IQ test.