By how much does intelligence increase from 16 to 18?

Knowledge may increase, but IQ will not increase by much if anything. The IQ is highly stable from 6th grade on in most cases.

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Completely scratch IQ as being an actual means of measuring intelligence, all it is is a bunch of random questions. So you're saying that if someone knows a little about a lot of random things they are highly intelligent? Sounds pretty unintelligent to me. Someone who's intelligent usually focuses on a few things that they are extremely good at. So, like I said, IQ is an extremely poor tool for measuring intelligence. Now, what you call intelligence I call understanding and depth of perception. And yes, both of those increase dramatically (at least they did for me) between 16 and 18. Every person is different, I mean your maturity level alone may determine how much you grow between 16 and 18. For example, if you're one of the "jocks" at school constantly horsing around and partying, you're not going to be worrying about progressing yourself mentally. Where as if you're a mature person, and you don't really get into that scene, you'll find yourself observing and learning quite a lot more, not just about the world around you at that age, but a lot about yourself, which is extremely important, especially when it comes time for you to start making a life plan.

Most of these people don't know what the hell they're talking about, common lay people, except for Jody who actually knows what she's talking about. IQ remains constant throughout your life however it can vary by 10 or more points if you take a test multiple times over a few years period due to certain psychological factors that may be affecting you at the time or depending on if you take the same test or not. Kable Devidus said - "Completely scratch IQ as being an actual means of measuring intelligence, all it is is a bunch of random questions. So you're saying that if someone knows a little about a lot of random things they are highly intelligent? Sounds pretty unintelligent to me. Someone who's intelligent usually focuses on a few things that they are extremely good at. So, like I said, IQ is an extremely poor tool for measuring intelligence." Kable Devidus is misinformed. IQ tests are not devised to test EVERY facet of intelligence, they primarily focus on thinking skills used in academia. They are measures of one's academic potential, however there are cases where IQ and achievement test scores diverge quite a bit since IQ is a measure of potential and not academic achievement. Also, IQ tests are not a bunch of random questions, quite the opposite. In a qualified IQ test proctored by a psychologist the questions are not random at all, even on online IQ tests they are not random (however online IQ tests are not accurate). One IQ test used by psychologists and perhaps the most popular among them is the Weschler series. There are the WAIS and WISC and there are different versions of them, but the acronyms themselves stand for Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (used for adults and older adolescents), and the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children. There is also the Stanford-Binet, but this isn't used often anymore. In general the questions deal with verbal, spatial, logical reasoning, mathematical, and memory abilities, all of which are used in academics. These are the specific subtests of the WAIS. Verbal WAIS scales 1. Information: 29 questions - a measure of general knowledge. 2. Digit Span: Subjects are given sets of digits to repeat initially forwards then backwards. This is a test of immediate auditory recall and freedom from distraction. 3. Vocabulary: Define 35 words. A measure of expressive word knowledge. It correlates very highly with Full Scale IQ 4. Arithmetic: 14 mental arithmetic brief story type problems. tests distractibility as well as numerical reasoning. 5. Comprehension: 16 questions which focus on issues of social awareness. 6. Similarities: A measure of concept formation. Subjects are asked to say how two seemingly dissimilar items might in fact be similar. Performance WAIS scales 7. Picture Completion: 20 small pictures that all have one vital detail missing. A test of attention to fine detail. 8. Picture Arrangement: 10 sets of small pictures, where the subject is required to arrange them into a logical sequence. 9. Block Design: Involves putting sets of blocks together to match patterns on cards. 10. Digit Symbol: Involves copying a coding pattern. 11. Object Assembly: Four small jig-saw type puzzles. http://www.wilderdom.com/personality/intelligenceWAISWISC.html "Now, what you call intelligence I call understanding and depth of perception. And yes, both of those increase dramatically (at least they did for me) between 16 and 18. Every person is different, I mean your maturity level alone may determine how much you grow between 16 and 18. For example, if you're one of the "jocks" at school constantly horsing around and partying, you're not going to be worrying about progressing yourself mentally. Where as if you're a mature person, and you don't really get into that scene, you'll find yourself observing and learning quite a lot more, not just about the world around you at that age, but a lot about yourself, which is extremely important, especially when it comes time for you to start making a life plan." - IQ tests do measure how well you understand things given certain information as compared to the norm on the test, so you sort of contradict yourself by degrading IQ tests and then stating exactly what they measure. Experience definitely increases, but the ability to reason after 16 remains relatively constant throughout life, you simply experience more and build on your knowledge as you get older. Now, the definition of "intelligence" is rather subjective, however, studies do show that reasoning ability remains constant after 16, we just learn how to better control peer influence as we get older and wiser. I suggest reading a few books by Hans J. Eysenck, he can clear many of the misconceptions about IQ tests and intelligence up better than I can since this really isn't my main area of interest/expertise.