There are many general assumptions made when an intelligence test is used to measure what people know. Therefore, there are limits to the accuracy of the results. "One basic limitation is that tests cannot measure unique characteristics; they measure only traits common to many people. A score serves to show where a person stands in a distribution of scores of his/her peers. It does not provide evidence as to how a particular child thinks and (or) feels" (Tyler, 1984, p.48) everybody is unique. Intelligence tests cannot find or correlate the validity of this statement. "Trait labels such as IQ are misleading and can be insulting when applied to an individual." (Tyler, 1984, p. 48) .
Another major problem with intelligence testing is that "it is assumed that the test measures innate characteristics." (Tyler, 1984, p. 48) The measurement of innate characteristics usually happens in the interpretation of the test results. There is no test available that can measure innate characteristics. However, the real "controversy arises in the use of tests designed for individual assessment to make group comparisons." (Tyler, 1984, p.48) It is misleading to compare the average results of two different groups who may represent different cultural backgrounds. This is not the intended use for the tests, and therefore compromises the results of the group to one another. The most important limitation of intelligence testing is, it does "not measure strength and persistence of motivation." (Tyler, 1984, p. 49) Through strength and persistence a student whom has low test scores may also be a very "high achiever." (Tyler, 1984, p. 49) .
