is an iq of 127 above average and if so by how much?

-- robert john burton (bobgail@mts.net), August 03, 2003

Answers

Generally IQ is set using 100 as the average and a standard deviation of 15 points, so 127 would be close to two standard deviations above the mean, and thus between the 90th and 95%ile.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), August 03, 2003.

What Hendrika says is true. However, keep in mind that 100 is the theoretical mean (i.e., the mean as it was normed when the test was published) and that, due to the "Flynn Effect," IQ scores have been steadily rising over the decades. Thus, the actual mean of IQs is somewhat higher than 100. I've heard 105, though I haven't checked on this literature recently.

-- Christopher Green (cgreen@chass.utoronto.ca), August 03, 2003.