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The Flynn Effect by Gary Trotta (Are We Getting Smarter?) |
 Here's something I ran across several days ago that I had never heard of before. It is called the Flynn Effect. The Flynn effect is named for James R. Flynn, philosopher and statistical analyst, who went through 100 years of past IQ testing to document and promote the fact that the World appears to be getting smarter. You see as IQ tests are revised, they are of course, standardized and by convention the average result is set to 100 with a standard deviation of 15 points. That makes sense, doesn't it? But when you compare older tests to current (revised) tests, the Flynn Effect, demonstrates that achieving a score of 100 today is a lot tougher than achieving the same score on past models. In other words, if you scored 100 on an IQ test today, a somewhat average score, you would have been much more of a genius, scoring substantially higher (maybe 9 – 12 pts.), on your grandfather's IQ exam.
As many of the coolest scientists today are saying, "Let's unpack this".
Flynn studied data from 20 countries around the world comparing standard IQ tests taken over time (100 years). Average IQ scores were steadily higher and higher for people born in later years. IQ scores increased about 3 points each and every decade. In some countries, actually more! In Denmark and Israel for example, scores rose a whopping 20 points over the last 30 years. What could be going on?
"The increase has been continuous and roughly linear from the earliest days of testing to the present." (Neisser U (1997). "Rising Scores on Intelligence Tests". American Scientist 85: 440–7. Explanations for the increase are all over the board; improved nutrition, smaller family units, better education, greater environmental complexity, even gene superiority through racial intermarriage! Quite a conundrum! One theory purports that the effect has been due to a more stimulating and complex environment. Remember today we have computers, cell phones, visual multi-media entertainment, all not available many years ago. The increases DO appear to be leveling off in industrialized countries and in fact, in the United Kingdom, tests from1980 as compared to 2008 show the IQ score of an average 14-year-old dropped by more than two points over the period.
I suppose it is more than likely a combination of the reasons mentioned above, however the mystery, to date, remains. What about evolution, you shout! Unfortunately, it took the last 2 million years for our brains to grow from 350 cubic centimeters in size to the present enormity of 1350 cubic centimeters. It is doubtful the last 100 years have had much of an impact, at least for most of us! |
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