It Ain't No IQ Test

Ty Berry

@tberry3

I see the president is bragging about “acing” the MoCA again. 

I’m a doctor, we use this test all the time. You can’t “ace” the MoCA. 

You either get perfect or we take away your driver’s license.

11:01 AM · Jul 19, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

It Ain’t No IQ Test

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Test

This is how the MoCA website describes their brain functionality test: “When a patient starts to experience memory loss and other forms of cognitive decline, it can be a stressful, uncertain, and trying time for everyone involved, from the patient to their family, friends, caretakers, and even healthcare professionals. No matter what the cause of the cognitive impairment, it’s important to quickly find out how an individual’s cognitive function is affected so that an appropriate treatment plan can be devised. This is where MoCA comes in—our straightforward tool for diagnosing patients and gauging an appropriate follow-up and treatment plan. With the ability to assess several cognitive domains, the MoCA test is a proven and useful cognitive screening tool for many illnesses, including: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease… Fronto-temporal dementia…”

In short, the MoCA test is a very short and simple assessment of brain functionality (for different parts of the brain) when doctors suspect age or disease has impaired the mind; it is absolutely not a measure of intelligence. “Dr. Ziad Nasreddine in 1996 developed and copyrighted the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, which is a 10-minute examination usually performed with pen and paper that measures the strengths of different areas of the brain related to cognitive domains, such as short-term memory, spatial awareness and executive functioning…

“Nasreddine explained that each question is related to a different part of the brain. He declined to share a sample test page, as he and his peers are growing increasingly concerned that the test might not be as accurate anymore, because too many elements have been shared online. This allows people to potentially practice the questions to perform better on the exam. In fact, MoCA expressly notes on its website that ‘it is prohibited to publish the MoCA test and/or instructions and/or a link leading to these in newspaper and magazine articles (including electronic articles).’” MarketWatch.com, July 23rd. 

Donald Trump has repeatedly bragged about how he has “aced” this test – administered as part of a general medical assessment of the President – as evidence of his intellectual superiority. This “brag” keeps coming up in Trump rally after rally, right into the present day. And since Biden and Trump are both elderly, I thought it might be worthwhile to ask exactly when this test is used and precisely what it measures. The “when” is an easy answer at the text from the MoCA website states: if a doctor suspects the possibility of brain (cognitive) impairment, the test is a quick check on basic functionality. Nothing more. Apparently, Biden’s doctors did not suspect brain impairment, because not one has suggested that his taking that rather simple and basic test is necessary.

While Trump lost the election by over seven million votes, he continues to use his MoCA results as evidence of why he should be accorded a second term. Seriously. Hey, he claims a perfect score (30 questions correctly answered) as reflective of a man who describes himself as a “stable genius.” 

So, let’s look at what that test asks. During a Fox News interview this summer, Chris Wallace told the president that the MoCA is ‘not the hardest test’ and even posted graphics of one of the questions, which asked the test taker to identify drawings of animals. Trump responded by challenging his presumptive Democratic rival Joe Biden to ‘take a test right now.’ What’s more, Trump said that the test questions get harder and that the MoCA exam question that Wallace shared was a ‘misrepresentation… And during [a follow-up Fox interview], he described the test… in more detail -- particularly a memory question that asks to recall five words.” MarketWatch. Not that Trump drives himself, but at least he got a good enough score (which is a perfect 30 correct answers) so he would not lose his driver’s license (if he even has one).

In the end, Donald Trump is reluctantly being forced into presidential retirement with very little probability that he will ever find victory in another presidential run. But in the succeeding years, Trump has pledged to push himself and his agenda hard against all thing favored by the Democratic platform. And while Joe Biden is probably best advised to ignore the expect rantings and untruths, this “fake brag” does lend credibility to Donald Trump’s PhD psychologist niece’s statement of Trump’s test results when he applied to college (as she writes in her book: Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man). 

“As a high school student in Queens, Ms. [Mary] Trump writes, Donald Trump paid someone to take a precollegiate test, the SAT, on his behalf. The high score the proxy earned for him, Ms. Trump adds, helped the young Mr. Trump to later gain admittance when he transferred as an undergraduate to the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton business school… Mr. Trump has often boasted about attending Wharton, which he has referred to as ‘the best school in the world’ and ‘super genius stuff.’” New York Times, July 7th. Apparently, Trump didn’t do particularly well at Wharton either.

Dr Mary Trump believes her uncle has committed serious felonies in his business life and that his failed leadership has cost the lives of many Americans. In early December, she told the Associated Press: “If anybody deserves to be prosecuted and tried, it’s Donald… (Otherwise) we just leave ourselves open to somebody who, believe it or not, is even worse than he is.” She joins a litany of former Trump associates and confidents who have warned the nation of the Presidents lies and dangerous proclivities. While this may not yet sway his apparently immoveable base, it should serve as a warning to those with open minds who think Trump deserves another term as President. Ever. Or that his expected future criticisms and observations should be accorded any serious credibility.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it was clearly voting citizens that elected and thus enabled a rogue president who has led this nation into a medical and economic disaster of immeasurable proportions.