Can You Prepare for an IQ Test?

Whether you can raise an IQ score by preparing is one of the most argued-over questions in testing. The short answer: you can make sure you perform at your usual level, and familiarity with the formats adds a few points. You cannot study your way to a different level of reasoning ability in a week, and over-practicing makes the score less informative, not more.

What an IQ test samples

A broad IQ test samples several abilities: fluid reasoning (matrix and pattern problems), verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, spatial reasoning (mentally rotating or folding shapes), working memory and processing speed. Those abilities build up over years of schooling, reading and problem-solving. That matters for preparation, because it separates two kinds of change:

Familiarity effects. Part of any score gain from practice comes from knowing the format: what a matrix item looks like, how a number series works, how much time to give one item. If you have never seen a matrix-reasoning item, the first few cost you time that has nothing to do with your reasoning.

Changes in ability. These are real but slow. A meta-analysis of quasi-experimental studies estimated that each additional year of education raises IQ by roughly 1 to 5 points (Ritchie & Tucker-Drob, 2018). That is measured in school years, not in study sessions.

What the research says

Retesting raises scores a little. In a meta-analysis of retesting on cognitive ability tests, the second attempt scored on average about a quarter of a standard deviation higher, roughly 4 points on a scale where the standard deviation is 15, with larger gains after coaching (Hausknecht et al., 2007). A later meta-analysis found that gains keep growing over the first two or three retakes and then level off (Scharfen et al., 2018). That gain is in the score, not in the ability.

Brain training mostly improves the trained task. Dual n-back and similar working memory games show a small average effect on fluid reasoning tests, about g = 0.24 in one meta-analysis (Au et al., 2015), and the effect largely disappears when studies compare against an active control group rather than doing nothing (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016). A large independent review reached the same conclusion for commercial brain-training programs: good evidence for gains on the trained tasks, little for distantly related tasks or everyday performance (Simons et al., 2016). If you want to try the task itself, our free n-back test scores it the way researchers do, with d′, and says plainly what it will not do for your IQ.

Speed training stays specific. Getting faster at one speeded task shows up on that task, not on general reasoning.

What actually helps

1. See the formats once

Look at a handful of example items of each type so nothing on the test is a surprise: a matrix, a number series, an analogy, a rotation item. That is enough. Working through dozens or hundreds of practice items of the exact kind you will meet does not make you a better reasoner; it inflates the score and makes it a worse description of you.

2. Sleep normally the night before

Sleep normally the night before; short sleep mainly hurts attention and speed, which can pull a score below your usual level. A meta-analysis of short-term sleep deprivation found the largest effects on attention and vigilance and smaller ones on complex reasoning (Lim & Dinges, 2010). Don't stay up late practicing.

3. Control the conditions

Take the test in one sitting, somewhere quiet, with notifications off and nobody interrupting. Eat normally beforehand. An online test cannot correct for a noisy room or a phone buzzing every two minutes, so the result simply absorbs them.

4. Keep anxiety in proportion

Worry uses up the same working memory the test is measuring. It helps to remember what the result is: one estimate with a range, not a verdict. Slow breathing for a minute before you start is a reasonable, harmless routine.

5. Know whether it is timed

My Path's test is untimed by default; you can choose a timing mode if you want speed to count. In a timed test, don't get stuck: skip an item that is eating your time and come back if you can. In an untimed one, work carefully, because accuracy is all that is scored.

What won't work

Cramming. Last-minute practice costs sleep and adds nothing the first look at the formats didn't.

Memorizing answers. If you have seen the actual items, the result describes your memory, not your reasoning.

Apps promising an IQ boost. See above: the gains stay on the app.

Preparing for a clinical assessment

If a psychologist is going to give you or your child an individual test such as the WAIS-5 or WISC-V, the advice is different: don't practice at all. Clinical results are compared with norms collected from people who had not practiced, and psychologists keep test materials confidential for that reason. Rest, eat, bring glasses or hearing aids if you use them, and tell the examiner about anything that might affect performance on the day. For more on what that appointment involves, see preparing for a clinical IQ assessment on our sister site, My IQ Path.

Realistic expectations

For someone taking an IQ-style test for the first time:

• Format familiarity, sleep and calm conditions remove the things that would pull you below your usual level. Expect your score to reflect you more accurately, not to jump.
• This is not cheating. Knowing what the test is asking is part of fair measurement.

For someone who has taken similar tests before:

• Expect a small retest gain of a few points from familiarity alone.
• Small differences between attempts are within the margin of error. They don't mean your ability changed.

Take the free IQ test →

My Path's IQ test has a 12-item short form and a 60-item full form, both free, covering six areas: fluid, verbal, numerical and spatial reasoning, working memory and processing speed. The result shows your percentile among people who took the same form, its range, and that position re-expressed as an estimated IQ (≈ N, with range) — an estimate, not a clinical IQ. It describes how you did on this test on this day: a useful data point, not a fixed verdict.