Ability to decipher "difficult" pictures/graphics as a component of intelligence (IQ, emotion)

[Those Who Squirm]

Recently I completed an online test of which each question asks the subject to decipher a letter which is partially obscured by scribble-like markings. The questions are of varying degrees of difficulty due to the amount of "scribbling" and the degree of contrast between the letter and the other markings. According to the test, you can estimate IQ from your results.

Of course, it's an online test mainly for purposes of entertainment, so I know to take it with a shaker of salt. But I have indeed seen similar questions as a component of more comprehensive IQ tests. So I'm curious as to what the logic here is. How and why would one's ability to pick out a perfect five-pointed star from a jumble of triangular shapes correlate with intelligence? To me that seems more like a skill that can be acquired through practice.

[Ruth4Truth]

Good question. I'm curious about that, too. But maybe it has something to do, in part, with the ability to distinguish patterns, and find order in chaos? Though it does seem that one could improve with practice.

Link? Can we try this test?

[Heidi60]

I think it is just a visual test to determine your ability to see patterns and color. As a component of an IQ test it is interesting but I don't think it is a total test by itself. After taking a drawing class, I was able to pick the patterns out faster than my DH but what does that prove?

[dumb]

This is somewhat true. It isn't a direct method to gauge your exact level of intelligence, but the ability to understand meaningful shapes and objects in an encrypted image requires that you have a respectable level of mental strength to decipher the code, and the stamina to wade through the clutter while you do it.

Think of captchas. The whole point of them is to foil stupid-thinking robots, which rely only instruction, and can't think or learn in any meaningful way at all. Hence why we use captcha tests to deter them. We use them because they are extremely effective. If we didn't have captchas, the whole internet would be full of automated nonsense.

The standard IQ/logic tests which are popular around are also heavily dependent on visual challenge to make sense from seemingly nonsensical images. Just google "IQ test". You'll find that the worst performers are the ones that rely on the image in total, wherein the best performers are the ones that have the ability to think outside the box, and comfortably absorb the image into an organic and solvable object, then return it as solved in the original format.

Also, connected to this are Rorschach tests (inkblots). These should be mentioned because they are puzzle images which again require a response - though these are images which are effective in communicating emotions, and nothing to do with intelligence.

Finally, if you really enjoy this topic, I certainly recommend John Berger's "Ways of Seeing". This book is an excellent essay on the meaning of art and visuals, and how they play a part in the modern century.

[Those Who Squirm]

Thank you for the responses.

I'd almost forgotten about this until I saw that I got a reputation point for it. (I hope I'm allowed to say that, apologies if I violated any rules.)