Annmarie Throckmorton, M.A.
- Mar 14, 2019

High IQ Puzzle Pieces Fit Into Place

I first saw the word "library" on the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Quotient test* given to me when I started high school. Yes, my Intelligence Quotient was tested before I even knew that libraries existed in the world. Somehow everyone, parents, teachers, other students, had all failed to let me in on the wonderful secret of libraries. Still, I tested at well above average, not stratospheric, but respectably smart enough to qualify for the ordinary ranks of Mensa**.

My parents were very upset after the school called them into an evening meeting to tell them my IQ score. In fact, timid mouse that I was, when they got home from meeting with school administrators my parents' attitude suggested to me that I had done something very wrong. I could not imagine what was wrong. My mother would not speak to me, but I pressured my father until he finally told me that the meeting had been about my IQ score. He did not want to say, but he finally confided that my Stanford–Binet Intelligence Quotient test score was 142! Most IQ scores go from 40 to 140. Normal IQs range from 85 to 115. I had scored 142 solely on school work alone, without any of the other books or learning resources available at libraries.

I remember going to school the next day and demanding to know where the library was. I walked in, perused the shelves full of treasure, and checked out as many books as I could carry. From that day forward I read everything. Every subject in the world was interesting to me. In fact, I felt so left-behind by my lack of knowledge that in order to catch up I learned to read a book while I curled my hair at night, I learned to read a book while I walked about, I learned to read while I ate. I was delighted to read what interested me, and not just the next chapter in my schoolbooks. And I was pleased to have a highly superior level of intelligence! Knowing this made my interactions with the world understandable, a lot of intellectual puzzle pieces began to fit into place for me.

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* "The most frequently used individual IQ tests in schools are the Wechsler Intelligence Scales. These tests are divided into ten to twelve subtests (depending on the level) that measure separate abilities. Verbal subtests measure vocabulary, arithmetic reasoning, general information, abstract reasoning, and common sense comprehension. Performance IQ subtests include puzzles, putting pictures into a logical series, finding what is missing in pictures, spatial reasoning with block designs, and a visual motor integration test (timed copying of codes). Results of the two groups of subtests are then summarized in separate verbal and performance IQ scores as well as a full scale IQ score." Source: http://www.sylviarimm.com/article_intelligence.html

** "Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test..." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_International