intelligence quotient definition

<assessment, learning theory> The ratio between a person's chronological age (measured in years) and mental age (as measured by an intelligence test), multiplied by 100.

Acronym: IQ

(10 Mar 2006)

<psychology> The psychologist's index of measured intelligence as one part of a two-part determination of intelligence, the other part being an index of adaptive behaviour and including such criteria as school grades or work performance.

IQ is a score, or similar quantitative index, used to denote a person's standing relative to his age peers on a test of general ability, ordinarily expressed as a ratio between the person's score on a given test and the score which the average individual of comparable age attained on the same test, the ratio being computed by the psychologist or determined from a table of age norms, such as the various Wechsler intelligence scales.

Acronym: IQ

(21 Jun 2000)