How to Calculate Your Mental Age

The oldest and most used IQ (intelligence quotient) test is the one published by Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman in 1916. It measures verbal, math and visual reasoning, as well as short-term memory, to determine the mental age of a child. Your IQ stays the same when you reach adulthood, but other factors come into play as you age such as blood flow to the brain or illness that causes a mental slowdown or memory loss. The two ages are treated differently.

Instructions

Children's Mental Age

• 1

  Give your child an IQ test. IQ tests can be purchased at a bookstore or from a list of suppliers at the local library.

• 2

  Take the score your child made and compare it to the list that comes with the IQ test. If the majority of the children who took the test and made the same grade as your child were 8 years old, then the mental age is 8. If your child is 6-years-old, the chronological age is 6.

• 3

  Multiply the mental age times 100 and divide by the chronological age. This gives you the IQ of the child. A 6-year-old who performs on the level of an 8-year-old has an IQ of 133.

Adult Mental Age

• 4

  Test your mental age and the blood flow to the brain as an adult. Stand next to a wall in case you need support. Stand on one foot and close your eyes. See how long you can stand on one foot.

• 5

  Stand on one foot for 15 seconds. If you are older than 45, 15 seconds is good, but if you are in your 30s, 30 seconds is good. Less time means less blood is flowing to the brain and the brain cells are beginning to die.

• 6

  Rejuvenate your brain by learning something new each day. The brain will make new cells if you exercise it. Learn a new language or how to crochet or do woodworking. Anything you have not done before will jump-start the brain.

• 7

  Eat healthfully and exercise. Exercise will get the blood flowing to the brain. If you had an IQ of 120 at age 20, you still have an IQ of 120 at age 50; you just have to keep the cells working.