If you were to administer this exact test to 25 year old adults, the average for the adults might be 55%, with a standard deviation of 5%. So an adult in the top 2% of 25 year olds would need to answer 65% of questions correctly.
So the 8 year old answering 55% of questions correctly would have a higher IQ (in the top 2%) than the 25 year old who answered 60% of questions correctly (top 32% of test takers). So bright children may not be smarter than adults in absolute terms, but are definitely so in relative terms.
Examples of child prodigies
Some famous child prodigies include Mozart (IQ of 143), would was writing concertos by the age of 8. Bobby Fischer (IQ of 160) was a young chess champion, while Terrence Tao (IQ>200) was the youngest-ever winner of field medals in mathematics. So being a child prodigy is not just about high IQ, it’s about incredible accomplishment for that child’s age.
For more information about IQ, click here.