(Dagbladet): – Human IQ is declining – and some experts claim it is because we have reached our intellectual state, writes the British newspaper The Daily Mail.
IQ has greatly increased since the 1930s, thanks to better living conditions and education – a trend called Flynn effect. But “IQ test results” suggest that people in the UK, Denmark, Norway and Australia have received a lower IQ in the last decade.
These countries is also randomly selected on the basis of tests carried out by scientists in that country.
Several studies have shown that the average IQ of the residents of “the West” has plunged by ten points or more, since the Victorian era and many believe that this number will continue to plunge, writes the British newspaper.
– People are stupid
At the same claim other experts that better health care and better technology makes that “the problem” will regulate itself.
– Technology is getting better and better, but people are stupid, warn several researchers.
A study at the University of Hartford argues that The bigger the global population becomes, the less intelligent people will be, and that “IQ scores” will fall by around eight points by the year 2110.
Another IQ test conducted to determine whether Danish men is fit for service in the Armed Forces, has revealed that the rating has dropped by 1.5 points since 1998
These “standard tests” is also conducted in the UK and Australia, with the same results as in Denmark – namely lower points score, claims journalist in New Scientist, Bob Holmes.
“Flynn effect”
Between 1930 and 1980 increased the average “IQ score” in the United States with three points, and in postwar Japan and Denmark, higher test scores significantly – a trend known as ” Flynn effect “.
This increase in intelligence is due to better nutrition and living conditions – as well as better education, says James Flynn of the University of Otago, man effect is named after.
Now some experts argue that we are beginning to see the end of the “Flynn effect” in other countries – and that IQ is not only flattens out, but it is declining, writes Daily Mail.
Dr. Flynn believes better education can reverse the trend, but other scientists are not so optimistic.
Some people think, “Flynn effect” has masked a decline in the genetic basis of intelligence, so that while more people have reached their full potential, this potential itself been declining for a long time.
Can drop further
Disputed Richard Lynn, a psychologist at the University of Ulster, the estimated decline in human genetic potential.
He used data from “average IQ” around the world in 1950 and 2000 and found that our collective IQ has dropped by one “IQ points.”
Dr. Lynn predict that if this trend continues, we may lose an additional 1.3 “IQ Score” by the year 2050
Jan te Nijenhuis, a psychology professor at the University of Amsterdam, says that the West has lost an average of 14 “IQ points” since Victorian times.
Controversial Link
He claims this is because the more intelligent women have fewer children than those who are less smart, reports The Huffington Post. The perceived link between IQ and fertility is a hotly link.
Dr. Nijenhuis studied the results of 14 intelligence studies conducted between 1884 and 2004 to reach its conclusion. Each study measured people’s reaction times – just how long it took to press a button after being prompted.
It is claimed that the reaction time reflects the mental processing speed – which means that it reflects IQ.
The researchers found that the visual reaction times were on average 194 milliseconds in the late 19th century, but in 2004 it had increased to 275 milliseconds.
Other theories
Professor Fynn argues again that the results may be the result of a “general less intelligent youth.” He used data collected in IQ tests on British children and found that children between five and ten years earlier increased their IQ by half a point per year – over three decades.
– Other studies have shown how the teenage youth culture is, and what we see is that parental influence on IQ slowly is diminishing with age, he claims.
He also claims that increased video game playing among adolescents may be the reason that “IQ scores” that are measured in several surveys have declined in recent years.
– ( …) What we know is that youth culture is now more visually orientated around computer games than they were earlier in the form of reading and conversations, he said.
Fall in Norway
Dagbladet previously written about the performance of the retired professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo, Jon Martin Sundet, and psychologists D. Barlaug and T. Torjussen where you can see the number of military service itself tested on 18 year old boys that Norwegian children born after 1975 had lower IQ than those who were born before 1975, the same trend has been seen in Denmark.
– An explanation may be that they are not as good at calculation as before and that they teach things in school than what you did earlier. Thus, the Norwegian youths other skills, said Sundet Dagbladet at the time, which was not very – but some – concerned about the development.
Difference between Intelligence and IQ
Mensa in Norway has also emphasized the importance that even though you have a lot of knowledge, need, simply put, do not necessarily have a high IQ and “Vice Versa.”
“A common misconception is that people with a lot of knowledge or depth and skill has a high IQ, but it is not necessarily the case, even if high intelligence is a good spot for it. Put simply describes the intelligence quotient (IQ) logical sense and ability to learn. “Writes Mensa on their websites.
At the same time the other way, of course. Even if you have a high IQ does not mean nødvendigvs “being smart.”
“There are many who equate having a high IQ and being smart, but it has not necessarily a direct correlation. IQ is first and foremost about your potential to learn, and the ability to analyze, understand and see connections. (…) A person’s personality and abilities are extremely complex, and one should be careful not to describe themselves as very much smarter than others, just on the basis of a measured high IQ. An IQ of only describes your potential and is only a small part of the picture. “Writes Mensa.
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