Do you think IQ and Civ performance would show a correlation?

[GGitchell]

Assuming two people have been playing for the same amount of hours, do you think if person A was above the standard deviation for an IQ test and person B was average, that person A would be able to play at a higher difficulty level easier? Also, assume each person does not read up on strategies. I have hypothesis that a world class chess player would pick up this game noticeably faster than the average Civ player? Do you think having a high IQ would correlate with how high a difficult a player can play at independently of how long that person has been playing Civ? By the way, I am pretty sure I am average on both accounts.

 

[Arcaian]

I would say it likely doesn't have a very large affect outside of a small set of conditions. It may help in the initial ~20 hours, where a lot of learning is going on, but that will be dominated more by ability to learn than IQ itself. And then for the first ~50-100 hours I think it will depend much more on prior strategy game experience, prior video gaming experience and prior board game experience. You may be able to eek out a statistically significant result, but it would be minor.

 

[Ryika]

A fair amount of things would need to be concidered, for example the experience with other strategy games. In a theoretical scenario where everything else is equal, the person with the higher iq would probably have the advantage, because a well-trained brain is usually better at learning things and planing ahead. However, other branches of intelligence that aren't being measured by an iq-test, such as creativity and - probably to a lower extend - also social intelligence might have influence on results.

But overall... sure, there would be a correlation. Being intelligent is always helpful and will, if everything else is equal, lead to better results.

 

[Arcaian]

I do agree with Ryika here, I was simply saying that the affect will be very small, and many other affects will play a much larger role. It will help, but whether it would be detectable in a real life study, I'm not sure.

 

[Janskey]

Would there be a difference in gaming performance between people who have IQs 70 and 130? Sure.
Would there be any meaningful difference in performance when the IQs are 110 and 115? Not so sure.

 

[rkade8583]

I think the randomized nature of Civ would screw it. Now if you had your sample playing the exact same series of games, you might have something.

A very interesting topic.

 

[Doktor Vic Tim]

Nope. Not at all. It's just how IQ, Intelligence and Wisdom aren't the same things. People who believe that are people who believe staying up late and getting up late makes them smart.

Even the biggest of fools can be tactician masterminds.

 

[happyturtle]

I doubt there's much correlation. I play at a higher Civ level than my husband because I'm more willing to track and adjust details than he is, not because I'm smarter than him.

 

[Syailendra]

a higher IQ will help a lot in the learning process, thats for sure, but in the long run, normal dilligent guy is surely able to play deity. But this is also to the nature that civ is turn based, when you play RTS, I'm sure that IQ will play a larger role.

 

[Strategist83]

but that will be dominated more by ability to learn than IQ itself.

Ability to learn == IQ.

More than IQ, though, you'll find correlation between certain personality types and the best Civ players - it's people with a good sense of math and analytical skill and with the ability to extrapolate information to predict upcoming events - abilities that are also typically the subject of typical IQ tests under their rather narrow definition of what intelligence is. These people could be [upcoming] civil engineers or even military analysts - there will definitely be correlation between Civ ability/interest and academical aptitude. Civ is hardly a bruising test, though.

 

[NKVD]

I dont like to micromanage so i dont do it. I'd probably could play an harder level or two but i wont... A person with a lower IQ could micromanage and be way better.

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[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Well the highets value I have gotten on a IQ test is like 174 or something like that but I would probably call that test a fake.

Well I was able to guess things like how the civ 5 golden age system would work correctly.

I was able to defeat diety in like my 3 game without much experience from previous games however that diety game was a simple 2 civ duel conquest victory

Well if a test that you have to put symbols in the right spots do have much to do how well you play civ I don't know.

Well the people that play civ well probably like to micromanage and spend alot of time at each detail which myself I don't like.

Well I consider myself more creative then intelligent anyway trying to figure out new things and such not that I spend much time at this game anyway.

 

[Rubendg12]

Iq measures a lot of different things. Including language, which does not have a place in civ. I think being able to analyse the dynamics between different parameters within the game gives a big advantage. But I think knowledge of the different buildings/bonuses that are in the game, and the creativity to use them in different ways is a big factor too. So I woudnt say IQ would be higher for better players, simply because the iq test does not test for the skills recquired for civ particularly. But a certain intelligence and creativity is recquired to look beyond the surface of the game, and fully use the potential of certain bonusses. But it doesnt translate to a high iq per se. For example it took me quite a while to notice that i can use faith to acquire a great engineer, which in turn can translate to building lots of wonders. Some people may notice that quite early on, for me it took ~150hrs of playing.


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[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Iq measures a lot of different things. Including language, which does not have a place in civ. I think being able to analyse the dynamics between different parameters within the game gives a big advantage. But I think knowledge of the different buildings/bonuses that are in the game, and the creativity to use them in different ways is a big factor too. So I woudnt say IQ would be higher for better players, simply because the iq test does not test for the skills recquired for civ particularly. But a certain intelligence and creativity is recquired to look beyond the surface of the game, and fully use the potential of certain bonusses. But it doesnt translate to a high iq per se. For example it took me quite a while to notice that i can use faith to acquire a great engineer, which in turn can translate to building lots of wonders. Some people may notice that quite early on, for me it took ~150hrs of playing.


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Well can we basicly say the performance of a civ player end up in 2 things:

Knowledge: How much you know about the game.
Exactitude: How much time your willing to implement all you know about the game to maximise your advantage.

 

[zukenft]

a person with a good IQ would be able to figure out how BNW tourism work on the first game without ever asking in the forums. example : me D

 

[Rubendg12]

Reading through the comments here though, lots of people bringing valuable points, and expressing balanced views. Though from a psychological view it would seem attractive for civ players to attribute positive traits to themselves, they don't. So civ players (or at least the ones commenting here) seem rational rather than emotional.


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[BrokTheFanatic]

Reading through the comments here though, lots of people bringing valuable points, and expressing balanced views. Though from a psychological view it would seem attractive for civ players to attribute positive traits to themselves, they don't. So civ players (or at least the ones commenting here) seem rational rather than emotional.


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A necessary trait of all great war leaders is perspective

Seems everyone is aware of the IQ trap, basically what is intelligence? Various traits/talents/training will definitely help. I doubt being good at civ is a measure but perhaps how quickly you can learn the game might be an indicator.

But the bottom line... how intelligent is it to spend 20+ hours a week playing video games?

Upon consideration, that propably just demonstartes the difference between intelligence and wisdom

But I definitely like the civ, XCOM, ect. crowd. Definitely more thoughtful than the typical gamer.

 

[civvver]

I doubt there's much correlation. I play at a higher Civ level than my husband because I'm more willing to track and adjust details than he is, not because I'm smarter than him.

Exactly, it just has to do with your personality type, not raw intelligence. I don't like micro managing units, I love micromanaging economy, thus I am a much better civ4 player, not particularly great at civ5. I have no desire to get good at civ5 because I don't find the play style to be that good at it enjoyable.

It's like saying who is a better athlete, the world class basketball player, the baseball slugger who gets on base frequently or the champion golfer? They all take very different skills, hard to compare them even though all are great athletes in different ways.

 

[Ryika]

Exactly, it just has to do with your personality type, not raw intelligence.

Weeeeeell... first of all you'd have to be capable of realizing what is effective and what is not - and you'll learn that much faster if your brain is well trained and has the ability to understand and connect causes and effects. But yeah, "IQ" is a somewhat squishy term that tries to test and unite a lot of traits that are usually considered to be those of an "intelligent mind". Doesn't change anything about the fact that each brain is individual, so testing 2 individuals will most likely give rather random results - but such tests are usually done with groups that are big and diverse enough to even out the strengths and weaknesses of individuals, so overall they should show a correlation, because... well. Again, a well trained - or blessed - brain will on average be better at pretty much everything.

 

[Silverman6083]

Honestly I don't know why people make these threads
People who play basic strategy games like CiV are in no way smarter or superior than anyone who plays game like CoD, Battlefield, or games like that. CiV is only barely a strategy game after all, & just because it is doesn't make any players of that game smart, no matter what difficulty they play at.