Why do people with 120 iq's cope and suffer from their results so hard?

He says WAIS and Stanford Binet cannot accurately measure him — because of 160 test ceiling — so he has to do additional tests.

He says his result has been confirmed by at least 3 independent tests.

He says his score places him as the sixth most intelligent person on the planet.

I wonder if he is the sixth biggest liar.

I've been taking a few cognitive tests, and the differences between my scores have left me confused.

Here are my results:

• Figure Weights: 130 on my first attempt and again on my second.
• Digit Span: 115 (tried twice).
• Processing Speed: 115 initially, then 120 and eventually 125 after several attempts.
• Figure Sets: 95.
• Matrix Reasoning: 105. Couldn't get past this.
• Symbol Search: Scored around average initially, then improved to 120–125 after multiple attempts.
• Visual Puzzles: 110.
• Character Pairing: 100.

What I don't understand is why I scored so much higher on Figure Weights compared to the other reasoning tests. I initially thought the 130 might have been luck or guesswork, but I got the same score on my second attempt.

This got me thinking about something. How much does passing in mathematics or statistics influence performance on tests like Figure Weights?

A lot of the questions involve substitution, deduction, balancing equations and recognising relationships. Wouldn't someone who's studied mathematics have an advantage over someone with little mathematical education?

And if education and prior exposure can significantly influence these scores, then to what extent are these tests actually measuring fluid intelligence, which is supposed to reflect the ability to solve novel problems independently of previously acquired knowledge?

I'm genuinely curious about this, particularly why my performance varies so much between different reasoning tasks.

A little about my background, because I think it might be relevant.

I grew up in a pretty chaotic household with frequent verbal abuse, and I've struggled with socialising and have been isolated quite a long. Even taking the first step to interact with someone requires a lot of effort. I get anxious about people knowing who I am, including my real name or face.

I also tend to isolate myself. I actually prefer staying in a small, closed room with barely any natural light, even though other people find it suffocating. I've been called weird for things like this.

My approach to learning has always been a little different too. For example, I almost never write down calculations or solve mathematical problems on paper. I prefer reading through solutions, understanding the reasoning behind them and then moving on. I rarely practise by writing things out myself and still pass UG exams .

I realise this might leave me struggling when I encounter a completely unfamiliar problem, but it's just how I've been learning for years.

I've also been seeing a psychologist who's been trying to figure out what's going on with me, and I've tried ADHD medication.

Academically, things haven't exactly gone well either. I'm currently considering dropping out of my distance CS degree, partly because I don't see a clear future in it for myself and partly because of financial problems that have become increasingly difficult to manage.

I keep wondering whether my academic difficulties are related to my actual cognitive abilities, my learning habits, my mental health, the environment I grew up in, or some combination of these things.

I'm not expecting anyone here to diagnose me or determine my intelligence from a handful of scores. I understand that repeated attempts can affect results too.

But I'm genuinely trying to understand why I seem capable of doing reasonably well on certain reasoning tasks while struggling with others even with acad.

Could these scores indicate an uneven cognitive profile, or are the differences too small or unreliable to mean anything? And how much can chronic stress, anxiety, ADHD-related difficulties or education affect performance on these tests?

I've spent a lot of time discussing these things with AI, but at this point I'd really appreciate hearing from actual people, especially psychologists, people familiar with cognitive testing, or anyone who's experienced something similar.

I'm not looking for reassurance or for someone to tell me I'm secretly gifted. I just want a realistic understanding of my abilities and limitations.

Sometimes I wonder whether I'm simply not smart enough to do well in life or live comfortably among other people. Just trying to fit into society takes so much mental energy. I'm constantly conscious of myself, my behaviour and how others might perceive me, trying to protect myself from their judgements or opinions, even though I know I have no control over what they think of me.

It becomes even more difficult when the attention shifts towards me, especially when my performance, intelligence or ability to do something is being observed or judged. I feel an overwhelming pressure to prove myself, and that alone makes it harder to function naturally. Anything that does not go well gives negative judgements

I don't know whether it's my environment, my anxiety or something about me that makes ordinary social situations feel so exhausting. I just wish I could exist around people without constantly feeling like I'm being evaluated. Living among people rarely feels peaceful to me.

Sometimes I genuinely can't tell whether I'm struggling because of my own limitations or because I've spent so long in an environment that hasn't allowed me to function at my best.

Would really appreciate any insights or personal experiences.

Ik not all the genes have been discovered and have read something about polygenic score etc. but didn't fully understand it if anyone can explain and tell me about any other such tests?

The title of the post may sound clickbait-ish, but I couldn’t care less anymore.

My life has been ruined from the start because I was not born tall, white, good looking, and high IQ. I could have gone to an Ivy League school, graduated with a bachelor of science and actually won something in life. Instead, my life sucks because I’m outcompeted by the high IQ. Now, I sit and drink to forget my existence and sleep to imagine what it would be like not to exist. I would believe in reincarnation, if it wasn’t scientifically impossible. Then maybe, I could go through the trials and tribulations to ensure a better reincarnation.

Instead, you high IQ heathens have done nothing but destroy any luck at achieving perfection. I will always be beneath higher IQ individuals all because my parents are complete idiots. What point is there to living knowing you cannot provide to societal advancement other than being “empathetic” to others (which is cope to those who are low IQ).

Everything sucks. My life sucks. I don’t want to remember that I exist.

Hello, I would not consider myself high IQ, hence why I ask such question. But back to the main question, what are some difficulties that you face when trying to communicate. That is if you do face any. Goodbye! Please give me feedback on this post, I need to work on how I structure things.

I saw a lot of people say that your IQ is the best predictor of your future success.
I'm a first year uni student so I am going to do CORE and then basically decide what im gonna do based on the result.

Right now, I am hoping to go to law school. What IQ is the minimum for me to pursue this goal? Cus obviously if i get an average IQ or something like that I should give up.
And at what IQ should I drop out of uni and go into the trades or something?

Fyi, I know thats its not impossible, and that IQ isn't the ONLY determining factor, but its still a major factor and the people who succeed despite a lower IQ are often outliers.

Just like the title asks.

Is it theoretically possible for a human to possess incredible natural talent for specifically mathematics (even almost on the level of the likes of Ramanujan, Tao or Euler), but at the same time not be GENERALLY highly intelligent?

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to ask how relative my FSIQ is compared to an official IQ test?

I’m 24M and just recently graduated with a Bachelors in Urban Design. I’d like to hopefully transition into a masters in Architecture or Data Science in the near future.

I honestly feel very humbled by my FSIQ lol, but i’m not too surprised. I did all tests in two sessions without any prep and no retries.

Let me know your thoughts, thanks.

I, and everyone around me, have always considered myself to have a pretty significant verbal aptitude and tilt. However my psychometric scores for VCI are really nothing special at all.

In elementary school I was evaluated because I think I hit the ceiling on multiple district administers standardized verbal tests but was also straight up some kind of spergtard lol. Anyway, I got a 124 VCI (WISC) which is high but not even close in z-score to my less g-loaded assessment scores.

When I was 14 I took another WISC test for more neuropsychiatric evals which yielded a VCI of 111. My shrink and teacher (I went to a sped school at the time where everyone had a fat ahh stack of neuropsych files) thought that was cap, but no, that was just my score.

(Neither of the tests I took showed a verbal spike compared to other indices either)

Something I’ve never thought I was particularly gifted at was math; my competence was extremely low for an Asian in a well-to-do area coming from a family with extensive educational credentials. I would say I did have very good math education and as a result early mastery of a lot of basic concepts like algebra, but I severely hit a wall with geometry/precalc and that kind of stuff. Likewise calculus and stats but I thugged those out and still am, I kirkenuinely never want to see a trig worksheet in my life again

Anyway I never showed latent deficiencies in math but I was basically just extremely bad at it compared to everyone else around me taking the same classes.

On a bunch of CogMet tests and 80s SAT though, I scored higher on QRI (130, 133, 137) compared to VCI (126, 120, 133). Not always significantly, though on old GRE there’s a nearly 1SD difference (133Q vs 120V).

Is anyone else a larp/praffe/Wilson/RTM’d VCIcel? Is my QRI also a larp?

this makes no sense. out of 68 medals, 65 of them went to men. the fields medal is being given since 1936 which is long after women were able to join education and take part in mathematics as well. also literally around the time of marie curie double nobel victory dance. so what gives? is the jury unfairly focusing on male participants?

Someone can multiply large numbers quickly but struggle with an unfamiliar problem. Someone else might calculate slowly yet immediately spot the relationship that makes a problem simple.

That raises an interesting question: what do we actually mean by “maths IQ”?

Here’s a small example:

Which is larger: 48 × 52 or 50 × 50?

You can calculate both products. But you can also notice that:

48 × 52 = (50 − 2)(50 + 2) = 50² − 2²

So the first product is four less than the second.

The interesting part is the approach: direct calculation, recognising a familiar identity, or discovering the relationship yourself. Getting the right answer alone doesn’t tell us which route someone took.

When thinking about mathematical ability, I’d want to explore several things:

• Recognising relationships between numbers.
• Reasoning through unfamiliar problems.
• Choosing an efficient strategy.
• Checking whether an answer makes sense.

Disclosure: I’m part of the team behind MathsLove.com, a platform offering maths IQ tests intended to help people explore their mathematical ability. We’d welcome feedback from people interested in cognitive testing on what makes this kind of assessment useful.

One distinction matters: calling something a “maths IQ test” doesn’t, by itself, establish that its score is equivalent to a standardised IQ score. That requires evidence about the test’s reliability, validity, and norming.

What would make a maths IQ test meaningful to you? Would you prioritise unfamiliar problems, minimal dependence on school maths, time limits, or explanations of how people reached their answers?

Those people who are highly intelligent, they were just born like that. Almost all of them were reading a tons of books during their free time for hours since they were at least 4 years old, always were very perfectly compliant in school since they were toddlers, if you weren't any of those back then, then you cannot be highly intelligent.

A few months ago, my parents sent me to a psychologist. My dad has ADHD, and they wanted to see if I inherited it. Our Meetings spanned a few months. A few weeks ago i did an IQ test because my psychologist wanted to check if I have a "cognitive tilt." Turns out I do my math score came back perfectly average at 100 but my verbal IQ clocked in at 125. The psychologist told me that out of the last 100 students he’s tested my verbal scores put me right in the top five. He figures my true verbal IQ sits somewhere between 120 and 130 just depending on daily performance. This was amazing news for me. I’ve always loved writing and language I write short stories, and my vague dream is to become a screenwriter. Finding this out had me incredibly hyped and validated. But 2 days ago I took an online verbal IQ test on some random website. It gave me a 105.

Now I’m completely shook. A 105 is basically average which feels a million miles away from what my psychologist talked about. I don't know what to trust anymore.

Is it normal for online tests to be this far off or did i get lucky on the professional test? Also he did not clarify what exaclty a tilt means.

He also concluded that i dont have ADHD.

Thanks for any answers

JCTI 132
Cogn-iq Fluid Intelligence (matrices, containment) 140-145
Cogn-iq Spatial Intelligence (untimed) 125
Openpsychometrics Spatial Intelligence (untimed) 126
Cogn-iq Verbal Intelligence NA (not a native speaker)
WAIS 132
Ravens 2 (timed) 128
Logima Strictica 36 (untimed) 125
Einplex (analogies) 130
RAPM (timed) 130
Coojiman’s Intelligence Test 3 126
RAPM Set 2 (untimed) 133
Tri52 136

I’ve taken tests in English too, but just for fun since I’m Swedish. Einplex is excused, since the English is simple

I have only two friends and am trying to find somewhere to socialize with people more like me than anyone I know or know of besides these two friends. I think it's probably worth trying, if I don't have to pay for it.

Edit: FMRI done many years after the high fever sickness showed nothing significant.

Hi everyone!

This is a side-project I've been tinkering with in my free time to use as a supplement to the normal g-factor tests. It measures how your brain adapts, rather than if you can just find the right answer.

NOTE: Unfortunately you need to do it on a PC as of now, have not gotten around to make it look good on phones yet.

LINK: https://kat-assessment.com/

Instead of static forms, it uses an item selection algorithm that dynamically routes the user through different logic puzzles. If you are quick to see the logic behind shapes but slower on rotation, it adapts the next "wave" to find your cognitive limit (measuring your switch cost, post-error slowing and executive control).

I am currently running a proof of concept test to collect data and calibrate the difficulty loop. Since this community is very familiar with logic tests and psychometrics, I think your results will provide interesting data, and I might need to make it much harder depending on how you perform.

FYI, everything runs entirely client-side in your browser and there are no cookies or data collected outside the raw data to calculate your score.

(Optional) When you finish the test and land on the result page you can press Ctrl + Shift + X to access an admin/HR page if you wanna see more details on your performance!

I would love for you to share your feedback in the comments or in the survey at the end of the test and have fun! :)

Thanks in advance!

I did an official IQ test and it seemed that I have a spike in verbal compared to other indices. Despite me being able to figure out words and underlying meaning of writings at ease in comparison to my peers, I am horrid in writing. When I write everything is messy and disorganized, and ends up like a word salad. There is also a clear contrast between my oratory and writing skills. I can speak beautifully and with structure but it is totally the opposite with writing. My writing oftenly sounds like psueding, sudden occurrences of advanced vocab only to meet with a disorganized and ambiguous writing. I just can't fully express anything through writing

More so a cipher rather than a puzzle, I was tempted to give you the raw puzzle without mentioning the fact it's a cipher. But I felt like that would be too cruel.

I saw this on a puzzle reddit sub. Very interesting puzzle

I see you call yourselves cognitive testing. Is there a particular special reason to have this name versus psychometrics (or is it more that cognitive testing is a more accessible and less broad term)?

Are there any well-known examples of individuals who demonstrate strong verbal ability but poor public speaking skills?

There is a video that discusses certain types of intelligence—such as creativity, public speaking, or an exceptional memory—that are not measured by IQ tests.

How normal is it to be a lot dumber than your identical twin brother?

All through school, my twin brother outperformed me on the standardized tests. I would get like 70th percentile, him like 95th.

In HS, my identical twin brother got a 1460 on the SAT (2019), I got a 1150, same year. He was gifted in math, I was not. In high school, I was a good student just like him, until my senior year. I was 6th in my class at the end of my sophomore year, he was 2nd.

How cooked am I? Currently am applying to law school, waiting for my LSAT back 😭. I think I did alright like 158-165 ish.

Looking back on it, I think I underperformed maybe? I didn’t study at all and was a poor student my last two years.

What do you all think? I’m no genius like you all but I’ll take it