Our Methodology

What we are measuring

IQCognify estimates general cognitive ability — the broad capacity that psychologists often refer to as the g factor. Rather than testing acquired knowledge, our items target fluid reasoning: the ability to identify patterns, hold and manipulate information, reason abstractly, and solve novel problems. This is the construct that traditional IQ instruments are designed to capture, and it is the most stable and well-studied dimension of cognitive measurement.

Item types

The test draws on several established reasoning item formats, each chosen because it loads strongly on general ability while minimizing dependence on language, culture, or prior schooling:

• Matrix and pattern-completion items — identify the rule governing a visual sequence and select the missing element.
• Numerical and logical sequences — infer the underlying relationship in a series and extend it.
• Spatial and visual reasoning — mentally rotate, fold, or transform figures.
• Verbal reasoning — analogies and relational logic that test reasoning rather than vocabulary trivia.
• Working-memory and processing items — short tasks that gauge how much information you can hold and how quickly you can operate on it.

Items are calibrated for difficulty so that the test spans a wide ability range, with easier items to anchor the lower end and harder items to differentiate at the top.

The scoring scale

We report results on the conventional deviation-IQ scale, with a population mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. On this scale, a score of 100 is exactly average, roughly two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115, and about 95% fall between 70 and 130.

Your score is not simply the count of correct answers. It is a deviation score: a measure of how your performance compares to the reference distribution. We translate raw performance into this standardized scale and then report the corresponding percentile (the share of the reference population you scored at or above) and a descriptive classification band.

Age-norming

Cognitive performance — particularly on speeded reasoning tasks — varies systematically with age. Comparing a teenager's raw score directly against a 60-year-old's would be misleading. We therefore norm results by age band, so your score reflects how you performed relative to peers in a comparable age group rather than against the population as an undifferentiated whole.

Our norms are built from aggregated, de-identified performance data and are continually refined as more results accumulate. We deliberately do not publish a single fixed sample size as a marketing badge, because norming is an ongoing process: the reference distribution is reviewed and updated over time rather than frozen at one snapshot.

Server-side scoring and anti-cheat

Scoring integrity matters because a test that can be gamed produces meaningless numbers. We protect it in several ways:

• Answer keys never reach your browser. Correct answers and the scoring logic live on our servers; the client only ever sends your responses and receives the computed result.
• Timing is measured server-side, so the speeded components reflect genuine performance.
• We use item randomization and a large item pool so that no two sittings are identical and answers cannot be easily shared.
• We apply basic anti-cheat heuristics to flag patterns inconsistent with a good-faith attempt.

These measures do not make cheating impossible, but they keep ordinary results honest and comparable.

Confidence ranges

Every measurement carries error, and a responsible IQ estimate should say so. Alongside your point score we report a confidence range — a band within which your true ability most plausibly lies given the test's measurement precision. A result is better read as 'most likely in the 112–122 range' than as a single exact number.

Treat the range, not the single digit, as the meaningful output. Two people whose ranges overlap should not be ranked against each other on the basis of their point scores alone.

Accuracy and limitations

We are committed to being honest about what our test is not:

• It is an estimate. A short online assessment cannot match the precision of a multi-hour, individually administered clinical battery.
• Conditions are uncontrolled. Distraction, fatigue, screen size, motivation, and test-taking experience all affect a single sitting.
• Practice effects are real. Taking many similar tests can inflate scores without reflecting a genuine change in ability.
• It does not diagnose anything. The test cannot identify learning disabilities, giftedness, cognitive decline, or any clinical condition.