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M$1.00  Funded By Mahalo ? |  April 28, 2009 03:07 AM

Is it possible to have an IQ of 200+?

One of my friends claims that he has an IQ of 204. He makes a lot of overly bold statements, and sometimes he needs to be put in his place, or maybe he is right. Also, I know that it's not reputable, but in a domino's commercial it says the world's smartest man has an IQ of 200.
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April 28, 2009 03:25 AM
The IQ scale was created by Wilhelm Stern in 1912 and the range is from <20 to 200. It's not possible to have an IQ of over 200 because that's the highest score you can get. Here's the complete scale.

IQ Scale

Over 140 - Genius or almost genius
120 - 140 - Very superior intelligence
110 - 119 - Superior intelligence
90 - 109 - Average or normal intelligence
80 - 89 - Dullness
70 - 79 - Borderline deficiency in intelligence
Under 70 - Feeble-mindedness

Normal Distribution of IQ Scores

50% of IQ scores fall between 90 and 110
70% of IQ scores fall between 85 and 115
95% of IQ scores fall between 70 and 130
99.5% of IQ scores fall between 60 and 140

Low IQ & Mental Retardation

An IQ under 70 is considered as "mental retardation" or limited mental ability. 5% of the population falls below 70 on IQ tests. The severity of the mental retardation is commonly broken into 4 levels:

50-70 - Mild mental retardation (85%)
35-50 - Moderate mental retardation (10%)
20-35 - Severe mental retardation (4%)
IQ < 20 - Profound mental retardation (1%)

High IQ & Genius IQ

Genius or near-genius IQ is considered to start around 140 to 145. Less than 1/4 of 1 percent fall into this category. Here are some common designations on the IQ scale:

115-124 - Above average
125-134 - Gifted
135-144 - Very gifted
145-164 - Genius
165-179 - High genius
180-200 - Highest genius
Source(s):
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/IQ_scale_rates



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April 28, 2009 03:34 AM
Technically, someone could have an IQ in the thousands if they performed well enough. With the classic/de facto IQ scale, 100 is average and there is a standard deviation of 15. The odds of someone scoring consistently above 200 is roughly one in five billion if my math is right. And it does happen. It's estimated that William Sidis had an IQ in the upper 200s. I imagine most scales stop at 200 because it's a nice, round number and it makes for a good graph.

But your friend? I recommend five across the eyes for not coming up with a more reasonable lie.

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April 28, 2009 03:45 AM
Yes it is possible to have an IQ score over 200. It is confusing because there are different ways of measuring IQ and interpreting the results.

The person with the highest recorded IQ was Marilyn vos Savant, who scored as high as 230.

Here is an explanation from wikipedia:
-quote-
The two methodologies yield similar results near the middle of the bell curve, but the older ratio IQs yielded far higher scores for the intellectually gifted— for example, Marilyn vos Savant, who appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records, obtained a ratio IQ of 228. While this score could make sense using Binet's formula (and even then, only for a child), on the Gaussian curve model it would be an exceptional 7.9 standard deviations above the mean and hence virtually impossible in a population with a normal IQ distribution (see normal distribution). In addition, IQ tests like the Wechsler were not intended to discriminate reliably much beyond IQ 145, as ceiling effects become a concern.
-end quote-
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_vos_Savant


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Helpful: aleghart, chazzyfen

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April 28, 2009 04:16 AM
Yes, it's possible. I believe this guy in the video has over 200. It was recorded that Marilyn vos Savant has over a 200 IQ. Rick Rosner has received the highest IQ score. Chris Langan also has been called the "smartest" and he is shown in the video.

There is also different kinds of "smarts" as there are street smarts, game show smarts, and book smarts. Ken Jennings had game show smarts, and was the highest scorer ever on Jeopardy as also shown in the below video.

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_vos_Savant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jennings


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