The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests : 500 exercises to improve, upgrade and enhance your mind strength (4 page)

D

E

33 What number should replace the question mark?

3.5

7.5

5

11

1.5

3.5

4.5

2

7.5

8.5

3

?

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The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests

34

Which is the missing tile?

A

B

C

D

E

F

35 Start at one of the four corner letters and spiral clockwise round

the perimeter, finishing at the centre letter to spell out a

nine-letter word. You must provide the missing letters.

N

A

N

R

O

T

C

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Introduction

36 What number should replace the question mark?

10, 21, 33, 46, 60, 75, ?

37

When the above is folded to form a cube, which is the only one

of the following that can be produced?

A

B

C

D

E

38 Joe has one and a half times as many as Mo, and Mo has one and

a half times as many as Flo. Altogether they have 76. How many

has each?

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The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests

39 Which one of the following sentences is correct?

* The Gardener’s Association debated whether to hold it’s

bi-annual flower show at the beginning of April and

September, or at the end of April and September each year.

* The Gardeners’ Association debated whether to hold its

biennial flower show at the beginning of April and September,

or at the end of April and September each year.

* The Gardeners’ Association debated whether to hold it’s

bi-annual flower show at the beginning of April and

September, or at the end of April and September each year.

* The Gardeners’ Association debated whether to hold its

bi-annual flower show at the beginning of April and

September, or at the end of April and September each year.

* The Gardener’s Association debated whether to hold its

biennial flower show at the beginning of April and September,

or at the end of April and September each year.

* The Gardeners’ Association debated whether to hold it’s

bi-annual flower show at the beginning of April and

September, or at the end of April and September each year.

* The Gardener’s Association debated whether to hold it’s

biennial flower show at the beginning of April and September,

or at the end of April and September each year.

40 What number should replace the question mark?

1

3

7

13

4

6

10 16

9

11 15 21

16 18 22

?

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2 Specific aptitude

tests

In the somewhat complex area of psychometric testing, the

terminology and procedures involved are sometimes misunderstood

or misinterpreted.

The word ‘aptitude’ is often misused to mean ability or achievement,

and in the context of psychometric testing aptitude may be regarded

as just another way of referring to specific ability. There is, however,

a subtle technical difference between the three words ‘achievement’,

‘ability’ and ‘aptitude’, which can be distinguished as follows:

Achievement ^ what you have accomplished in the past.

Ability ^ what you are able to demonstrate in the present.

Aptitude ^ how quickly or easily you will be able to learn in the

future.

Psychometric tests can be broadly divided into two main categories:

1. Tests of maximum performance, such as ability or aptitude.

2. Tests of typical performance, such as personality or interest.

An ability test is designed to measure maximum performance and

potential in a number of areas. These abilities can be measured

separately, or combined to give an assessment of overall general

ability. Often tests are constructed so that they relate to a specific

job or skill and assess things such as perceptual speed or mechanical

reasoning.

Examples of ability tests are; general intelligence tests (IQ tests),

knowledge-based attainment tests and aptitude tests, which test the

ability to use knowledge.

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The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests

Ability is a very general term which can be applied to many

different types of specific ability. There are, in fact, over 50 different

human abilities, although these fall within the following four main

categories:

1. Cognitive reasoning ^ verbal, numerical, abstract, perceptual, spatial,

mechanical. A very broad and general definition of the word

‘cognition’ is: knowing, perceiving and thinking. It is studied by

psychologists because it reveals the extent of a person’s ability to

think.

2. Psychomotor ^ eye and hand coordination.

3. Sensory ^ hearing, touch, sense, smell, sight.

4. Physical ^ stamina and strength.

There are nine different types of aptitude, which may be summarised

as follows:

1. General learning ^ learn and understand, reason and make judgements,

e.g. how well we achieve at school.

2. Verbal aptitude ^ general lexical skills; understanding words and

using them effectively.

3. Numerical aptitude ^ general mathematical skills; working with

numbers quickly and accurately.

4. Spatial aptitude ^ understanding geometric forms; the understanding

and identification of patterns and their meaning, e.g. understanding

how to construct a flat-pack piece of furniture from a set of

instructions.

5. Form perception ^ studying and perceiving details in objects and=or

graphic material. Making visual comparisons between shapes, e.g.

inspecting an object under a microscope in a laboratory; quality

inspection of goods in a factory.

6. Clerical perception ^ reading, analysing and obtaining details from

written data or tabulated material, e.g. proof reading, analysing

reports.

7. Motor coordination ^ eye and hand coordination. Making rapid

movement response quickly and accurately, e.g. actually being

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Specific aptitude tests

able to assemble the flat pack piece of furniture once you have

understood how it should be done; being able to operate a

keyboard quickly and accurately; sporting skills.

8. Finger dexterity ^ manipulating small objects quickly and accurately,

e.g. playing a piano, sewing.

9. Manual dexterity ^ the skill of being able to work with your hands,

e.g. painting and decorating, building things, operating machinery.

In the case of most aptitude tests there is usually a set time limit

which must be strictly adhered to in order for the test to be valid, and

there is usually an average score which has been standardised in

comparison with a group of people who have taken the same test.

When taken under these conditions there may be up to five levels

of test performance expressed in percentage terms in comparison with

the average score established:

1. Top 10% of population ^ extremely high degree of aptitude.

2. Top one-third (excluding top 10%) ^ high degree of aptitude.

3. A score obtained by one-third of the population ^ average degree of

aptitude.

4. Lowest one-third ^ below average.

5. Lowest 10% ^ minimal aptitude.

The tests that follow are divided into three main sections: verbal

aptitude, numerical aptitude and technical aptitude. Several spatial

aptitude tests are included in subsequent chapters, specifically Chapter 3

(Logical reasoning) and Chapter 4 (Creativity).

Because they have been newly compiled for this book, the tests

have not been standardised in comparison to scores obtained by other

groups. Nevertheless there is a guide to assessing your performance at

the end of each test, and because the tests relate to specific aptitudes,

the results will give you the opportunity to identify your own particular

strengths and weaknesses.

Unless stated otherwise, you should award yourself one point for

each completely correct answer.

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The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests

Section I ^ Verbal aptitude

Mastery of words is seen by many as having in one’s possession the

ability to produce order out of chaos and because of this it is argued

that command of vocabulary is seen as a true measure of intelligence,

with the result that verbal tests are widely used in IQ testing.

Verbal reasoning tests are designed to measure basic verbal ability

(the ability to understand and use words), and typically include

spelling, grammar, word meanings, completing sentences, synonyms

and antonyms.

The exercises that follow test basic verbal aptitude in a number of

separate areas including synonyms, antonyms, analogy, odd one out

and verbal comprehension. There are also two advanced tests, one of

which is multi-discipline and one which is anagram-based.

For each test a performance assessment is provided. There is also a

time limit specified for completing each test, which should not be

exceeded otherwise your score will be invalidated.

Test 2.1

Synonym test A

A synonym is a word having the same, or very similar, meaning to

another of the same language. Examples of synonyms are: select and

choose, easy and elementary, inquire and probe.

Test A is a series of 20 questions designed to test your knowledge

of language and your ability to quickly identify words that have the

same or very similar meanings. In each case choose just one word from

the five words inside the brackets that is closest in meaning to the

word in capitals.

You have 20 minutes in which to solve the 20 questions.

1 GLUTINOUS (churlish, adhesive, hungry, bright, desolate)

2 ILLUMINATING (real, authentic, informative, rational,

coherent)

3 ESPOUSAL (avoidance, outburst, care, adoption, crux)

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Specific aptitude tests

4 SIGNIFY (connote, outline, depict, welcome, influence)

5 ERUDITE (ancient, scholarly, distinguished, careful, itinerant)

6 IRRATIONAL (intransigent, irredeemable, unsafe, lost,

nonsensical)

7 MODERATION (reticence, equanimity, humility, care, delicacy)

8 PANORAMIC (extensive, picturesque, distant, ceremonial,

equidistant)

9 WEB (erode, create, clothe, lattice, skirl)

10 SATIATE (follow, censure, undermine, veto, overfill)

11 THOROUGHLY (attentively, assiduously, long-winded, eagerly,

prodigal)

12 COGENCY (grace, competence, prestige, force, speed)

13 DESIROUS (eager, eligible, worthy, fulsome, true)

14 SOJOURN (relief, holiday, breach, retirement, rest)

15 PETRIFY (bedevil, calcify, agitate, decline, coerce)

16 ENCAPSULATE (facilitate, imitate, captivate, epitomize,

impede)

17 ADMONITORY (scolding, juvenile, acceptable, praiseworthy,

flexible)

18 PRETENCE (premises, precept, diversion, charade,

preponderance)

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The Complete Book of Intelligence Tests

19 FULMINATION (business, tirade, scripture, casket, channel)

20 WONT (awe, tribulation, perception, custom, desire)

Test 2.2

Synonym test B

Synonym test B is a series of 20 questions designed to test your

knowledge of language and your ability to quickly identify words that

have the same or very similar meanings. In each case choose just the

two words from the six words provided that are closest in meaning.

You have 20 minutes in which to solve the 20 questions.

1 chop, gnaw, grate, sever, chew, destroy

2 inimitable, corresponding, matchless, surpassed, mature, imposing

3 delegate, advise, identify, recruit, adjust, mobilise

4 boorish, unchaste, stable, impure, unjust, bizarre

5 workaday, prosaic, feasible, easy, special, effective

6 unassailable, kind, inveterate, entrenched, contrary, convoluted

7 truncate, abandon, misuse, relinquish, rectify, denounce

8 snappish, ordinary, cursory, shrewd, sardonic, hurried

9 severe, opinionated, crude, dogmatic, unprincipled, vocal

10 progress, orbit, travel, run, encircle, align

11 orchestrate, display, employ, defeat, sustain, score

12 conspicuous, virulent, wild, profane, noxious, rancorous

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Specific aptitude tests

13 just, somewhat, yet, once, now, moreover

14 elegant, serene, sophistic, shameful, sincere, fallacious

15 alter, assist, educate, facilitate, dream, cultivate

16 horizontal, unconscious, encompassed, submissive, supine, feral

17 farm, fare, style, food, firm, variety

18 guide, shepherd, farmer, shelter, carry, relocate

19 retreat, conclude, alight, circulate, call, getaway

20 intellect, symbol, rank, savour, genre, type