& Knowledge Symbols in Pictures, Maps, Graphs & Symbols Percent who were able to identify. Star of David as symbol associated w/ Judaism* Twitter logo a US map highlighting the states Obama won in 2012 Photo of John Boehner Graph of national unemployment rate Washington asa state that legalized gay marriage Photo of Eric Holder as the Attorney General
The latest update of the Pew Research Center’s regular News IQ quiz uses a set of 13 pictures, maps, graphs and symbols to test knowledge of current affairs. (To take the quiz yourself before reading this report, click here.) At the high end, nearly nine-in-ten Americans (87%) are able to select the Star of David as the symbol of Judaism from a group of pictures of religious symbols. And when shown a picture of Twitter’s corporate logo, 79% correctly associate the logo with that company.
At the low end, just 43% are able to identify a picture of Elizabeth Warren’s from a group of four photographs of female politicians, among them Nancy Pelosi, Tammy Baldwin and Deb Fischer. And when presented with a map of the Middle East in which Syria is highlighted, only half are able to identify the nation correctly.
Seven of the 13 items were answered correctly by two-thirds or more of the survey’s respondents. These included identifying the Star of David as the symbol for Judaism (87%), the corporate logo for Twitter (79%), the map of states won in 2012 by President Obama (75%), the photos of Christie and Boehner (73% each), a graph of the unemployment rate (70%) and the symbol for the Euro (69%).
About six-in-ten (62%) could identify the new secretary of state, John Kerry, from a photo lineup of four people. When shown a list of four state maps, and asked which of the states had approved the legalization of same-sex marriage last year, 60% correctly chose the state of Washington. But just 50% were able to identify Syria as country highlighted on a map of the Middle East.
& Knowledge Symbols in Pictures, Maps, Graphs  | & Symbols  | Percent who were able to identify.  | Star of David as symbol associated w/ Judaism*  | 87 %  | Twitter logo  | 79  | a US map highlighting the states Obama won in 2012  | 75  | Photo of John Boehner  | 73  | Photo of Chris Christie  | 73  | Graph of national unemployment rate  | 70  | Euro currency symbol  | 69  | John Kerry as Secretary of State nominee*  | 62  | Washington asa state that legalized gay marriage  | 60  | Flag of China*  | Photo of Eric Holder as the Attorney General  | 55  | Syria highlighted on map of Mideast  | 50  | Elizabeth Warren  | *from set of four photos. *from set of four states.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER Jan, 18-24, 2013 