Child IQ Calculator
Enter parents' IQs and a desired child IQ to estimate the probability for a son and a daughter (at or above the target).
Parent-Child IQ Calculator
Estimate the probability that a son or daughter reaches a desired IQ based on parents' IQ scores.
| Son | Daughter | |
|---|---|---|
| Expected IQ (mean) | — | — |
| P(IQ ≥ Desired) | — | — |
| 1 in X Odds | — | — |
Probability is computed as the upper-tail probability under the model. This is an approximation.
About the Parent-Child IQ Calculator
Like height, the IQ of a child is strongly influenced by the IQ of their parents. Twin and family studies consistently find that intelligence is highly heritable, with heritability estimates increasing from childhood into adulthood. In adulthood, estimates commonly fall in the range of 0.80 to 0.85.
This calculator estimates the expected IQ of a child based on both parents' IQ scores, using regression to the mean. Because IQ is not perfectly heritable, children of high-IQ parents tend to score somewhat lower than the parental average, while children of low-IQ parents tend to score somewhat higher. This calculator models that effect.
The model accounts for known sex differences in IQ variability. Males show a larger variability compared to females. As a result, sons and daughters with the same parents will have slightly different expected IQs and different probabilities of having different scores.
This calculator uses a mid-parent-child regression slope of about 0.64 (on a standardized scale), which is consistent with many family and twin-study estimates of parent-child shared variance for cognitive ability.
Please keep in mind, results are statistical estimates, not guarantees. Individual outcomes are influenced by many genetic and environmental factors beyond just parental IQ alone.