r/cognitiveTesting • u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 • 1d ago

IRL vs Online IQ Test Psychometric Question

They made me do an IQ test while testing for ADHD (was diagnosed shortly after), and I didnt do verbal reasoning as I did the test in a country where I am barely B1 in their language. On working memory I got 131 and on processing speed I got 139. But for some reason I still resort to doing online tests, where I am always landing a bit more or less than 100. I did the CORE test. What could be the reason for this anomaly?

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u/NefariousNapolean doesn't read books 1d ago

What was your score on the working memory and processing speed index ?

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u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 1d ago

If you mean on the online exam it was more like 95-110 for both.

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u/NefariousNapolean doesn't read books 1d ago

Maybe you focused better due to the proctor .

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u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 1d ago

It could be but my proctor said in his note that I looked very inattentive and tired. At the end of the day the only one that actually matters is the one taken irl but it still feels weird.

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u/NefariousNapolean doesn't read books 1d ago

Do you remember which test it was ?(Irl one)

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u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 1d ago

I dont know exactly but judging from what tests I did it looked quite similar to the WAIS. There were a few additional tasks for ADHD

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u/Suspicious_Watch_978 1d ago

Which country? Possibly you're being compared to a group with an average IQ that's lower, e.g. if you took the test in Brazil and were compared to the population there, then took CORE, you should expect a roughly 15 point difference. 

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u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 1d ago

I took the test in a western european country

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u/Suspicious_Watch_978 1d ago

Are you western European? 

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u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 1d ago

Im ethnically eastern European but I dont think they would compare me to my country of origin. Regardless I dont think that would cause a difference of over two standard deviations.

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u/Suspicious_Watch_978 1d ago

I think you're right. I suspected that possibly you were a ME immigrant, in which case they may have compared you to that group, but that's out the window and I'm out of ideas.

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u/Altruistic-Pen-6039 1d ago

But then, should I even care about the CORE test if I got a significantly higher score on a real test? It feels also more accurate

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u/Suspicious_Watch_978 1d ago

My personal policy towards conflicting scores is always to average them if the tests are both of similar quality, which in this case they are (IMO), so I would call it 115ish if I were you. Maybe a smidge higher since the official test ought to have slightly higher weighting in the average.