According to a large study, it is wrong to use a single IQ test to determine a person’s intelligence; human cognitive ability encompasses at least three distinct psychological traits. IQ tests have been applied for decades to assess IQ, but this is fundamentally wrong because it does not take into account the comprehensive nature of human intelligence and its diverse elements. Intelligence includes short-term memory, reasoning and verbalization. Scientists have found that although these elements interact with each other, they are governed by three distinct neural “circuits” in the brain. The study was conducted online with more than 100,000 people worldwide who were asked to complete 12 intelligence tests to assess different aspects of cognitive ability, such as memory, reasoning, attention and planning. The researchers took a sample of 46,000 people and analyzed their performance. The results identified 3 different elements of cognitive ability: namely short-term memory, reasoning and verbalization. Scientists found that no single element, or single IQ, could explain all the changes revealed by the tests. After using MRI scans of the brain circuits of 16 participants, the researchers found that each of the 3 separate elements of intelligence was governed by 3 different neural activities in the brain.