Statistics of top scores

Introduction

Below are some statistics regarding top scores (highest scores per test) on high-range I.Q. tests. To obtain genuine top scores, the included tests have been selected by the following criteria:

Heterogeneous nature (at least two different item types);
At least 10 candidates have taken the test (in by far most cases many more);
High enough ceiling to allow for a genuine top score (tests with ceilings lower than I.Q. 170 have been excluded);
Norms with positive quality (tests with zero-quality norms have been excluded);
In cases of triple compound tests with a non-verbal numerical-spatial subdivision that gives scores in its own right, only the total score is included;
In cases where a test has been revised and the top score on the revised version is much higher than that on the (very similar) earlier version, only the revised version is included.

For each test, only the highest obtained score is considered.

The tests

It concerns the following 19 tests:

Test of the Beheaded Man
Cartoons of Shock
Cooijmans Intelligence Test — Forms 1, 2, and 3
A Paranoiac's Torture: Intelligence Test Utilizing Diabolic Exactitude
Isis Test
The Nemesis Test
The Sargasso Test
Reflections In Peroxide
Reason Behind Multiple-Choice — Revision 2008
The Marathon Test
Test For Genius — Revisions 2004 and 2010
Associative LIMIT
Narcissus' last stand
Short Test For Genius
Long Test For Genius (English and Netherlandic versions)

The number of scores

There are 22 top scores; this number is greater than the number of tests because on three of the tests there is a "tie" (two persons sharing the score).

Top scores by sex

Sex	# top scores
Male	22
Female	0
Intersexual	0

Top scores by candidate

The 22 top scores belong to 16 candidates; the numbers of scores per candidate are as follows:

# candidates	# top scores
1	****
1	***
1	**
13	*

Top scores by country

Country	# top scores
United States	*********
Spain	****
Belgium	***
Netherlands	***
Germany	**
Finland	*

Candidates from the United States are also highly represented among high-range candidates on the whole (about 15 %).

Top scores by educational level

Educational level	# top scores
Secondary school completed	****
Bachelor	****
Master	*********
Doctor	**
Unknown	***

Top scores and presence of psychiatric disorders

Disorder	# top scores
No	**************
Yes	*****
Unknown	***

For information: among high-range candidates on the whole, about 24 % report having a psychiatric disorder. Obvious deviant, disordered behaviour has only been observed directly in one of the top scorers. There is no significant correlation between the scores in protonorms and the presence of disorders among these top scores (actually the correlation is .05 over 19 pairs). Among high-range candidates on the whole, a significant negative correlation between test scores and disorders (and several indicators of disorder and deviance, and disorders in parents and siblings) exists.

Top scores by decade of birth

Decade	# top scores
1960s	************
1970s	******
1980s	****

This distribution is opposite to that of high-range candidates on the whole, which has its mode in the 1980s, with less in the 1970s and less still in the 1960s.

Top scores by age

Age class	# top scores
50-54	*
45-49	*******
40-44
35-39	*****
30-34	**
25-29	****
22-24	***

Top scores by year taken

Year taken	# top scores
1996	*
1997
1998	*
1999	*
2000
2001
2002	*
2003
2004	*
2005
2006
2007	**
2008	***
2009	***
2010	***
2011
2012	****
2013	**
2014

The greater numbers of top scores in later years may have to do with the increasing number of available tests; after all, each test normally has only one top score.

The top scores themselves

Considering the tentativeness of norms in the top part of the range, the absolute height of the scores and the shape of their distribution may have limited significance:

Protonorm	# top scores
450-499	*
500-549
550-599	********
600-649	******
650-699	******
700-749	*

Expressed as I.Q., these scores range from 153 to 190.