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What is your IQ score? If you don't know, you can test your intelligence quotient for free at many websites now. What is an average score? The tests are theoretically designed so that half the population will score below 100 and half above. They also are scored according to age of the test taker. Here is a quick breakdown of IQ scores in a typical population:

2.2% of the population scores below 70.

6.7% of the population scores 70 to 79.

16.1% of the population scores 80 to 89.

50% of the population scores 90 to 109 (This is considered the average).

16.1% of the population scores 110 to 119.

6.7% of the population scores 120 to 129.

2.2% of the population scores 130 or higher.

How To Raise Your IQ Score

Of course, since the IQ test is supposed to measure your innate intellectual capacity, and not your knowledge, you shouldn't be able to raise your IQ score. However, there certainly is evidence that you can become more intelligent, which would be one way to raise your score. Then there are the specific techniques that are aimed at just doing better on the specific tests you take. Here are four of them.

1. Prepare and have the right conditions for optimal brainpower. Start by sleeping well before the test. During the test, breath deeply through your nose, and sit up straight. These have been shown to improve performance on almost any intellectual test. Eat fish before taking the test. Recent studies show that eating fish actually speeds up brain waves and increases concentration.

If you're allowed to listen to music during the test, make it Mozart. Otherwise, listen to it just before taking the test. In one study, those who listened to Mozart's sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448 for ten minutes before an IQ test scored nine points higher than those who didn't. Do anything you can to have your body and mind ready for the test.

2. Learn to be a better test taker. There are techniques for better test-taking. They include rules like skipping over questions you aren't sure about, and returning to them later. On a timed test it is always better to answer the easy questions first. This way you won't leave questions unanswered just because you spent too much time trying to get the answer to a tough one.

Answer every question on multiple choice tests, unless the score is reduced for wrong answers. If in doubt, eliminate the answers that you know or suspect are incorrect, then choose one of the remaining. Eliminate two of four answers on a number of questions, and you'll get half of those questions right on average.

3. Learn more. Knowledge shouldn't affect your IQ score, but it can. A recent test asked "Which of these fruits is different?" and you needed to know something about the fruits (one had just a pit, while the others had numerous seeds). Tests have subtle cultural biases, so learning more can help, as can taking a test that originates from your own cultural background.

4. Do brain exercises. This longer term strategy assumes you can permanently improve your brain function and intelligence, and thus increase your average IQ score. It's a safe assumption in my experience, but in any case no harm will come from the effort.

A final tip. In my experience my score is higher on an IQ test the second or third time I take one. This suggests that you might benefit by taking an online test the day before your scheduled test. This might just bump up your IQ score by a point or two.