Psychometric Examination of the IQ Test as a Tool of Discrimination of Normal and Talented Individuals in the Chilean School Population

Abstract

This article presents results from the process of adaption of the Mensa Denmark IQ Test in Chile. The test was adapted to discriminate between groups of Chilean students with different intellectual capacities. The instrument was applied to two samples of Chilean secondary students: 2994 (normal group) and 394 (advanced group). The instrument shows adequate levels of confidence, and the validity of the instrument was confirmed by means of factor analysis and Rasch analysis. Concurrent validity was established when comparing the performance of the Chilean school population in other types of previously standardized intelligence tests. This instrument is able to differentiate individuals in both groups (normal and advanced) and their scores correlate positively with their performance in mathematics. This article discusses the main implications of this study for the Chilean school system.