Children who score high on IQ tests tend to stand out later for their academic achievements, their financial management, and even their health. This tendency to success has always been linked to greater intelligence. However, a new study has revealed that the IQ largely reflects the child’s motivation when taking the test , indicating that the effort put into achieving a goal is as important as the intelligence itself.
There is an intricate debate about what exactly measures IQ. A group of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) set out to demonstrate the influence of motivation on test results, since children who take tests are often harshly instructed to achieve their full potential. Previous studies had already raised the idea that a monetary incentive favored obtaining a higher score.
Starting from this premise, the team offered a sum of money (less than 10 dollars in one case, and greater in another) to two groups of children who were going to undergo the test. Their scores showed a variation of 0.64, which would be equivalent to almost 10 more points out of 100 on the test scale. On the other hand, the IQ of the children who expected to receive a higher monetary reward increased by up to 20 points , compared to the timid increase of that of the children in the other group.
The study has concluded that intelligence tests measure much more than “native” intelligence: they measure the persistence of the subjects to pass the test itself. However, scientists remember that motivation does not compromise intelligence, since, for example, poor school performance does not imply poor grades.
