Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!uflorida!codas!burl!clyde!rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!clong From: clong@topaz.rutgers.edu (Chris Long) Newsgroups: sci.psychology Subject: Re: Society for extremely gifted people? Message-ID: Date: 13 Mar 88 14:57:10 GMT References: <7550@apple.Apple.Com> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 56 Keywords: IQ Intelligence Society? Bah! Summary: Comments. In article <7550@apple.Apple.Com>, Grady Ward writes: > Membership in the Cincinnatus Society is limited to persons > > scoring above the level of one-tenth of one percent on standard > > tests of general aptitude. For example, a combined score of > > 1500 (Verbal + Quantitative) on the Graduate Records > > Examination, or 1525 on the S.A.T. is deemed adequate evidence. > > For aptitude tests with about a 15 point standard deviation, > > this level of performance is around the 150 I.Q. > > level. I've been waiting to see responses to this, and I'm shocked that there haven't been any. The GRE and SAT exams are NOT intelligence tests. ETS, who likes to make all kinds of outrageous claims, even admits to this. The GRE and SAT exams are extremely couchable, and I feel that any reasonably competent person who wants to could achieve the scores you require for admission (BTW, this is the reason behind the existence of the Princeton Review). Kinda defeats the purpose of your society, doesn't it? Hell, I'd love to think my GRE and SAT scores make me better than 99.9+ % of the population, but it just doesn't work that way. Not elitist? Give me a break! If you don't want to be elitist, don't have any entrance requirements. The Cincinnatus Society appears to me to be nothing more than a group of people banding together to feed their egos and proclaim themselves intelligence superior on the basis of a test that wasn't designed to measure intelligence in the first place! Also, I don't feel, as well as many others, that "intelligence" tests measure anything beyond the ability to do well on tests like that. You may have good intentions, but please think about what I've said. This is a particular area of psychology in which I'm interested, and I have very strong opinions concerning it. I try to look at all sides of the issues, which in one reason why I'm sending for a copy of your journal. -- Chris Long Rutgers University RPO 1878 CN 5063 New Brunswick, NJ 08903 (201)-932-1160 clong@topaz.rutgers.edu