Editing Genius (section)

=== IQ and genius ===
[[Image:Einstein 1921 by F Schmutzer.jpg|thumb|upright| [[Albert Einstein]], [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] who is considered a genius]]
[[Image:Ibn al-Haytham crop.jpg|thumb|upright| [[Ibn al-Haytham]], a scientist and polymath who is considered a genius<ref>{{cite web |author1=Jim Al-Khalili |title=The 'first true scientist' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7810846.stm |website=BBC |publisher=BBC News |access-date=19 November 2022 |date=January 4, 2009}}</ref>]]

Galton was a pioneer in investigating both eminent human achievement and mental testing. In his book ''Hereditary Genius'', written before the development of IQ testing, he proposed that hereditary influences on eminent achievement are strong, and that eminence is rare in the general population. Lewis Terman chose "'near' genius or genius" as the classification label for the highest classification on his 1916 version of the Stanford–Binet test.<ref name="Terman1916p79" /> By 1926, Terman began publishing about a longitudinal study of California schoolchildren who were referred for IQ testing by their schoolteachers, called [[Genetic Studies of Genius]], which he conducted for the rest of his life. Catherine M. Cox, a colleague of Terman's, wrote a whole book, ''The Early Mental Traits of 300 Geniuses'',<ref name="Cox 1926"/> published as volume 2 of The Genetic Studies of Genius book series, in which she analyzed biographical data about historic geniuses. Although her estimates of childhood IQ scores of historical figures who never took IQ tests have been criticized on methodological grounds,<ref name="PintneronCox" /><ref name="Shurkin1992pp70–71" /><ref name="EysenckonCox" /> Cox's study was thorough in finding out what else matters besides IQ in becoming a genius.<ref name="Cox1926pp215–219" /> By the 1937 second revision of the Stanford–Binet test, Terman no longer used the term "genius" as an IQ classification, nor has any subsequent IQ test.<ref name="TermanMerrill1960p18" /><ref name="Kaufman2009p117" /> In 1939, [[David Wechsler]] specifically commented that "we are rather hesitant about calling a person a genius on the basis of a single intelligence test score".<ref name="Wechsler1939p45" />

The Terman longitudinal study in California eventually provided historical evidence regarding how genius is related to IQ scores.<ref name="Eysenck1998pp127–128" /> Many California pupils were recommended for the study by schoolteachers. Two pupils who were tested but rejected for inclusion in the study (because their IQ scores were too low) grew up to be [[Nobel Prize]] winners in physics, [[William Shockley]],<ref name="Simonton1999p4" /><ref name="Shurkin2006p13" /> and [[Luis Walter Alvarez]].<ref name="Leslie2000" /><ref name="ParkLubinskiBenbow2010" /> Based on the historical findings of the Terman study and on biographical examples such as [[Richard Feynman]], who had a self-reported IQ of 125 and went on to win the Nobel Prize in physics and become widely known as a genius,<ref name="Gleick2011p32" /><ref name="Robinson2011p47" /> the current view of psychologists and other scholars of genius is that a minimum level of IQ (approximately 125) is necessary for genius but not sufficient, and must be combined with personality characteristics such as drive and persistence, plus the necessary opportunities for talent development.<ref name="Jensen1998p577" /><ref name="Eysenck1998p127a" /><ref name="Pickover1998p224"/> For instance, in a chapter in an edited volume on achievement, IQ researcher [[Arthur Jensen]] proposed a multiplicative model of genius consisting of high ability, high productivity, and high creativity.<ref>Jensen, A. R. (1996). "Giftedness and genius: Crucial differences". In C. P. Benbow and D. Lubinski (Eds.), ''Intellectual talent: Psychometric and social issues'', Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp. 393—411.</ref> Jensen's model was motivated by the finding that eminent achievement is highly positively skewed, a finding known as [[Derek J. de Solla Price#Scientific contributions|Price's law]], and related to [[Lotka's law]].

Some high IQ individuals join a [[High IQ society]]. The most famous and largest is [[Mensa International]], but many other more selective organizations exist.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-high-iqs-hang-out1/ | title=When High IQs Hang Out | author=Sandy Rovner | website=Scientific American | date=2015-01-01 | access-date=2024-10-06 }}</ref>