Defining IQ

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I really doubt that any adult with an IQ 8 could receive an IQ of 100 on a standardized test, much less an IQ of 130. Even if he had a Photographic Memory and Mathematical Ability 4, anyone who interacted with him would understand that he was an idiot savant because his verbal communications (as well as reading and writing) would be equivalent to that of the average 8-year old child. When we are talking about an IQ 8, we are really talking about a poor unfortunate who is incapable of comprehending the world beyond the level of the average child in third grade.

Such a character would probably be in a group home or under the care of a guardian. While he might have a job as an accountant, his finances would be handled by the administrator of his group home or his guardian because, while he would be capable of remembering to pay his bills, he would be vulnerable to any person who wanted to take advantage of his inability to detect deception or malice. He would never be allowed to live alone in a developed county because he would be considered as vulnerable as an 8-year old child to exploitation.

Not at all. By the definition you're using, with 100IQ as the median and a standard deviation of 15, about 10% of the adult population has an IQ of 80 or less, and the percentage of adults who need this level of care is way under 10% (though some days at work I wonder).

[Stormcrow]

I think part of the reason people link the GURPS attribute with real-world IQ is that they mistake it for the clever two-letter abbreviation for "Intelligence," which is the actual name of the attribute.

[Kromm]

In GURPS, ST is the only attribute easily correlated with anything in the real world.

DX? Not really. It measures balance, flexibility, manual dexterity, reflexes, and whole-body agility, among other things. I don't know of any tightrope-walking contortionist jewelers who are champion drivers and ballroom dancers.

HT? Doubtful. It rates aging genetics, cardiovascular fitness, healing, immune function, tolerance for toxins, and host of other things. Maybe track stars all outlive the rest of us, never catch cold, and can drink everybody else under the table, but probably not.

And IQ is in the same boat. It's a catchall for everything that isn't governed by one of the two catchalls above, and that's all you can say about it. Not many real-world people are creative, logical thinkers who enjoy social success, nigh-infallible memory, iron will, superior situational awareness, mental stability, and intangibles such as intuition.

[Rupert]

Note that the box on B14 informs us that attributes of 8-9 are below average but within human norms. Seven is the lowest you can have and count as 'able bodied', and in the case of Intelligence could presumably mean the lowest you could have and still function as an independent adult.

This means that Intelligence 8 can't really be two SD below the average IQ, as that's the traditional definition for disability, and would thus be a much better fit for IQ7 (and not for the upper bound of IQ7, either). This suggests that Intelligence being IQ/10 (round nearest) would be a better fit, though I'm in the "IQ and GURPS' Intelligence do not map to each other well" camp.

[Brandy]

I have some thoughts, and I've thought a lot about statistical distributions of attributes for my own purposes -- I do want to ask, however, what is your purpose for this exercise? What gaming problem will be solved by establishing a loose correlation between intelligence quotient and IQ?

[AlexanderHowl]

Higher functioning people with low IQ probably have above average Per and Will, which would make them effectively more competent than an individual with just low IQ. A character with IQ 8 [-40], Per 12 [20], and Will 12 [20] would be able to live without supervision because they are as competent as the average adult (they are just geared differently). A charter with IQ 8 [-40] and the base of Per 8 [0] and Will 8 [0] is a much different story, as they are only as competent as the average 8-year old, so they would require lifelong supervision. Since IQ, Per, and Will are all part of intelligence in GURPS, the combination of the three determines intellectual competence before factoring in advantages and disadvantages.

The purpose is to translate fictional capabilities in real world numbers. By doing such comparisons, I am capable of roleplaying more effectively because I know which people I have met through my life to emulate for a particular character. Since I have known a wide variety of people, from people with intellectual disabilities to people who are supergeniuses with multiple doctorates, I have an adequate sample group for comparison.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Kromm

In GURPS, ST is the only attribute easily correlated with anything in the real world.
...

I don't think even ST really correlates that well. We have hundreds of muscles that don't have to maintain the same ratios of power with each other.

[DocRailgun]

WHAT?! Are you next going to tell us that Sumo Wrestling, Karate, and Judo aren't skills in literal Sumo, a karate style, and judo?

I'm shocked! How could you lie to us all these years?!

Originally Posted by Kromm

In GURPS, ST is the only attribute easily correlated with anything in the real world.

DX? Not really. It measures balance, flexibility, manual dexterity, reflexes, and whole-body agility, among other things. I don't know of any tightrope-walking contortionist jewelers who are champion drivers and ballroom dancers.

HT? Doubtful. It rates aging genetics, cardiovascular fitness, healing, immune function, tolerance for toxins, and host of other things. Maybe track stars all outlive the rest of us, never catch cold, and can drink everybody else under the table, but probably not.

And IQ is in the same boat. It's a catchall for everything that isn't governed by one of the two catchalls above, and that's all you can say about it. Not many real-world people are creative, logical thinkers who enjoy social success, nigh-infallible memory, iron will, superior situational awareness, mental stability, and intangibles such as intuition.

[AlexanderHowl]

I do not know about everyone else, but I know people healthier than me (my fiancee) and less healthy than me (the majority of my gamer friends). In the case of my fiancee, she possesses a better immune system and more edurance than me, and is immune to altitude sickness, seasickness, etc as well. In the case of my gamer friends, they were always sicke and more unfit than me, and I could always drink them under the table, even compensating for weight differences. Of course, some of this comes from being a sailor, which does involve quite a bit of drinking.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Within GURPS, I think that each point of IQ above or below 10 should represent a standard deviation of intelligence above or below average. Since modern IQ tests are designed to measure each change in standard deviation as a change in 15 points, that allows us to quantify an IQ score from 6 (IQ score of 40) to 18 (IQ score of 220).

To make the problem even less tractable, the standard deviation of a 3d6 roll is 3.0.