text: what are some good characteristics of a intelligence test? i am doing some research for a school project and i am so lost. i have to answer these questions what is intelligence? compare the early and contemporary theories of intelligence and i need to give examples of how to measure intelligence. any help would be grately appreciated. there are no good characteristics of an intelligence test, because there are no good intelligence tests. there are good tests of information that people know, but that's not intelligence, and there are tests (of extremely varying quality) of different psychological factors, in both absolute and relative terms.  the real problem is that intelligence is not defined very well, in the literature or in the public consciousness. iq is not really a measure of intelligence, partly because it really measures things like knowledge and maturity, and partly because, as stated, there is no good definition of intelligence. iq is not intelligence, although it deceptively contains the word.  a good intelligence test would provide equivalent evaluation for all testers, and provide a basis on which to compare the resulting data, just like any good test. for an intelligence test, this is not currently possible. people have been trying to make it possible for well over a hundred years now, so don't hold your breath.