What is the ‘Mental Age’ quiz on TikTok? How to take part in viral trend - and what it is explained

A quiz which promsies to reveal what your ‘Mental Age’ is has gone viral on social media.

It is the latest trend to gain popularity on TikTok.

Since launching in 2016, the app has been home to many viral trends and challenges.

If you have seen the “Mental Age” quiz doing the rounds and wonder what exactly it is, we’ve pulled together a handy guide to explain it.

Here is all you need to know.

What is the quiz?

It is the latest trend to go viral on social media app TikTok.

Videos tend to follow the format of a person introducing themselves and their age as “I’m _ but my mental age is...” and then transition to show their result.

The quiz itself asks people a number of questions, covering a wide range of topics, and claims to be able to tell you your ‘mental age’.

It is said to originally be from Japan.

How do you take the quiz?

The quiz is completed online before you show your results on TikTok.

If you take the quiz, you are urged to answer the questions honestly.

At the top of the quiz it explains: “The result has nothing to do with your Intelligence Quotient.

“For the purpose of this test, we define Mental Age as a measure of a person’s psychological abilities in comparison to the number of years it takes for an average child to reach the same level.

“For example, if your mental age is 10, regardless of your actual chronological age, you are mentally similar to a 10-year-old.”

There are also a number of other tests you can take on the website.

Is mental age a real term?

French psychologist Alfred Binet was the first person to define the term mental age.

He introduced the intelligence test in 1905, with the assistance of Theodore Simon.

Binet’s used it to test schoolchildren in France in the early 20th century.

It was latter revised to become an intelligence test called the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales

Henry Herbert Goddard was the first psychologist to bring Binet's test to the United States. He believed that intelligence was a fixed quantity. At that time many peope in the US believed it was hereditary.

However measures such as mental age and IQ have limitations.

What other mental age tests exist?

The popular Nintendo video game series Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? included a brain age check.

It featured a variety of puzzles, including Stroop tests, mathematical questions, and Sudoku puzzles.

However there has been controversy over the game’s scientific effectiveness.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media platform which was launched in 2016.

Users post short-form videos, often featuring dances but that has expanded over the years.

It is developed by ByteDance which is a Chinese company.

TikTok surpassed 2 billion mobile downloads worldwide in October 2020.

It is available in 40 languages around the world.

TikTok is an international version of Douyin, which was originally released in the Chinese market in September 2016.