<p>Is this a good way to put it? SAT is not a measure of intelligence but an indication of intelligence.</p>
<p>^ Yep i think so.</p>
<p>basically: if you measure one thing (weight) and it correlates with another thing (height) then obviously you can’t say that, in effect, you measured both things when you measured one. obviously. but you can say that weight indicates something about height, based on the data that tells you the variables aren’t independent </p>
<p>However, to me there is the question if score on the SAT and intelligence are actually separate variables in the sense that weight and height are. this confuses me a lot.</p>
<p>because there’s something funny about intelligence. like if you say its unmeasurable than that’s very alarming, so you can’t say that. And maybe you say its unmeasurable because we don’t know how to define it, or because it can’t be defined. But those things make me uneasy too, bringing into serious doubt the validity of the whole concept of intelligence for me.</p>
<p>humans should probably stay away from the concept of intelligence for now, and stick to things we can measure. maybe it has a point though, which i’m just not seeing right now.</p>
<p>I’m not sure. But I took a practice ACT Math and got a 27, but I got an 800 on the SAT math.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with both of these, but I think that generally, the SAT isn’t a good indicator of intelligence. Some people are good test-takers, others aren’t, but are still generally intelligent. My best friend gets good grades and works hard, and I’d consider her to be fairly smart, but she got low SAT and ACT scores because she’s never been a good test taker.</p>
<p>I personally didn’t study for either, and got relatively high scores, but I’ve been a good test taker since elementary school when we started annual standardized tests, so I’m lucky that way. I’ve also always been a massive reader, so I have a decent vocab and good reading comprehension skills from that, which I think are key when it comes to standardized tests.</p>
<p>Honestly, I’m not sure if I should buy the idea that there’s a separate test-taking skill. Either you know your stuff and do well or you don’t know your stuff and you do poorly.</p>
<p>You can’t gauge creativity on the SAT, so no.</p>
<p>Of course they are - there is a correlation (r=0.82) between general intelligence factor (g-score) and SAT scores. If they are an indicator if intelligence than they are measuring intelligence; it is irrelevant whether it is a direct measurement or to ask why it correlates. Theories of multiple intelligence do not invalidate this. This thread clearly is meant to be about the traditional notion of intelligence. Nevertheless, people who are more intelligent in some areas tend to be more intelligent in other areas; it is not a zero-sum game.</p>
<p>@ those who complain about the emphasis on testing</p>
<p>What do you propose colleges do if testing is factored into the application decision significantly less? Colleges don’t have enough time or manpower to read the essays, recommendations, and other factors and seriously evaluate them when they are receiving over 30,000 applications a year. Standardized testing, while unfortunate because it is a big factor in an application being a 1 day experience, resolves that problem very well by weeding out the “weak applicants” and making the admissions offices job a lot easier. Regardless of its indication of intelligence, I really don’t see any viable alternative to evaluate 30,000 + applicants in only about 3 months.</p>
<p>Heh, I have really bad test-taking skills. </p>
<p>I would never judge a person’s intelligence by their SAT score however. Because it isn’t the full story…</p>
<p>Absolutely not. Unfortunately we don’t really have a good way to measure intelligence other than standardized tests, or at least we seem to accept them as a measure of intelligence in our society which puts too much weight in them. The fact that there are SAT study guides proves that it doesn’t measure intelligence, or that the intelligence that it tests is too narrow to be representative of a person. </p>
<p>For example, the math on an sat test is a joke, everybody learns that math in middle school, its just a question of recognizing which formula to use and applying it.</p>
<p>I dont like the SAT at all. I was always really good in Math (5s on my BC Calc test + I am taking Multivariable Calculus now and it is pretty easy) So, I got 680 on Math section and was completely shocked… Then I took SAT II Math got 800 on. I dont know what to say about standardized tests… They can prove your level of “smartness” but they don’t work sometimes (like with me.) A person who scored high on the SAT is obviously smart but a person who didn’t get that score can be smart too.</p>
<p>
That.</p>
<p>When researchers don’t have access to IQ scores, they use SAT scores instead.</p>
<p>@flightlessbird if there are sat study guides and the math section is a joke, then why are the median scores for critical reading under 500, and the math is 514? All the studying In the world can’t help you if you can’t remember all of it or are able to apply your knowledge in the appropriate questions. To many, the math section is very easy, but the median score indicates that many many students are not able to apply basic math in context or have some creativity to solve the hardest questions. For critical reading, I agree that the sentence completion questions should be removed. That for sure is a “you know the vocabulary words or you don’t” question.</p>
<p>Exactly. There’s no easier way to do it.</p>
<p>I personally don’t think that any sort of standardized test is a good measure of intelligence. For example, my friend is incredibly “intelligent.” She makes straight A’s, studies daily, reads the dictionary for fun! …but can only score a 24 on the test because her science and math are too low. (Talking about the ACT test.) It’s just one test, but this is an example. The idea of standardized tests in general are pointless to me.</p>
<p>
That would make more sense if the SAT was designed to be an intelligence test. However, it’s not. It just happens to correlate strongly with IQ. Instead, it’s intended to measure college aptitude, where a large vocabulary would be helpful in understanding college level textbooks and writing.</p>
<p>To a certain degree, yes. But in many other ways… no.</p>
<p>Yay for vague posts :p.</p>
<p>I think your score when you know the format of the test and have studied as much as possible is an indicatior of your intelligence (on SATs). For CSTs I think It measures your ability to retain knowledge.</p>
<p>Well, knowing 18 or so vocabulary words doesn’t mean you have a “large” vocabulary.</p>
<p>The facts are, the SAT is nothing more than luck. This is coming from a student who does well in standardized tests.</p>