Are humans getting cleverer?

IQ is rising in many parts of the world. What's behind the change and does it really mean people are cleverer than their grandparents?
It is not unusual for parents to comment that their children are brainier than they are. In doing so, they hide a boastful remark about their offspring behind a self-deprecating one about themselves. But a new study, published in the journal Intelligence, provides fresh evidence that in many cases this may actually be true.
The researchers - Peera Wongupparaj, Veena Kumari and Robin Morris at Kings College London - did not themselves ask anyone to sit an IQ test, but they analysed data from 405 previous studies. Altogether, they harvested IQ test data from more than 200,000 participants, captured over 64 years and from 48 countries.
Focusing on one part of the IQ test, the Raven's Progressive Matrices, they found that on average intelligence has risen the equivalent of 20 IQ points since 1950. IQ tests are designed to ensure that the average result is always 100, so this is a significant jump.

The gains have not been evenly spread. IQ has generally increased more rapidly in developing countries, with the biggest leaps seen in China and India. Progress in the developed world has been chequered - the data seem to indicate steady increases in the US, for example, but a decline in the UK.
The new research is further confirmation of a trend that scientists have been aware of for some time. In 1982, James Flynn, a philosopher and psychologist based at the University of Otago in New Zealand, was looking through old American test manuals for IQ tests. He noticed that when tests were revised every 25 years or so, the test-setters would get a panel to sit both the old test and the new one.
"And I noticed in all the test manuals, in every instance, those who took the old test got a higher score than they did on the new test," says Flynn. In other words, the tests were becoming harder.
This became known as the Flynn Effect, though Flynn stresses he was not the first to notice the pattern, and did not come up with the name.
But if the tests were getting harder, and the average score was steady at 100, people must have been getting better at them. It would seem they were getting more intelligent.
If Americans today took the tests from a century ago, Flynn says, they would have an extraordinarily high average IQ of 130. And if the Americans of 100 years ago took today's tests, they would have an average IQ of 70 - the recognised cut-off for people with intellectual disabilities. To put it another way, IQ has been rising at roughly three points per decade.

This is a puzzle not just for the US, but for all countries demonstrating the Flynn Effect. "Does it make sense," Flynn wrote in one paper, "to assume that at one time almost 40% of Dutch men lacked the capacity to understand soccer, their most favoured national sport?"


http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31556802#


Very interesting, but to me IQ is not a very good measure for intelligence.

I think it may seem to as education improves and opportunities for learning grow throughout the world. Nothing surprising in this, both biological and social evolution are factors.

Hmmmm. Why do we have to label everything and make charts about everything?
There are different types of intelligence surely?

Are IQ tests really measure of "intelligence"??

I'm never sure about "tests" measuring what someone knows either - personally, there are days I find it hard to string a sentence together and other days I'm like Einstein.... Okay not quite, but you get my drift.

Intelligence has been defined in many different ways such as in terms of one's capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving. It can also be more generally described as the ability to perceive and/or retain knowledge or information and apply it to itself or other instances of knowledge or information creating referable understanding models of any size, density, or complexity, due to any conscious or subconscious imposed will or instruction to do so.

From Wikipedia

eddie wrote:Hmmmm. Why do we have to label everything and make charts about everything?
There are different types of intelligence surely?

Are IQ tests really measure of "intelligence"??

I'm never sure about "tests" measuring what someone knows either - personally, there are days I find it hard to string a sentence together and other days I'm like Einstein.... Okay not quite, but you get my drift.

Indeed Eddie is not a good measure of intelligence in fact it is very flawed.


According to a new study, intelligence quotient or IQ may not be the best way to represent a person's intelligence. The study included 100,000 participants from around the world, who took several tests that measure intellectual capabilities.
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1806/20130508/study-iq-good-indicator-intelligence.htm

Afternoon didge,

I know many "very clever" people who have a pretty high IQ who are hopeless at "reading" situations or people, for instance?

I supposed you could loosely divide intelligence into different categories?

From wikepdia:

The definition of intelligence is controversial. Some groups of psychologists have suggested the following definitions:

From "Mainstream Science on Intelligence" (1994), an editorial statement by fifty-two researchers:
A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—"catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do.[5]

From "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" (1995), a report published by the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association:
Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought. Although these individual differences can be substantial, they are never entirely consistent: a given person's intellectual performance will vary on different occasions, in different domains, as judged by different criteria. Concepts of "intelligence" are attempts to clarify and organize this complex set of phenomena. Although considerable clarity has been achieved in some areas, no such conceptualization has yet answered all the important questions, and none commands universal assent. Indeed, when two dozen prominent theorists were recently asked to define intelligence, they gave two dozen, somewhat different, definitions.[6][7]

eddie wrote:Afternoon didge,

I know many "very clever" people who have a pretty high IQ who are hopeless at "reading" situations or people, for instance?

I supposed you could loosely divide intelligence into different categories?

Hi Eddie

I would agree with that and I also believe the more intelligent somebody is the less emotive they are.
This is not to say they do not love or feel emotions of this they still do, they just play less of a part in how they rationalize many things, where to many others emotions can hinder problem solving. I mean how easily do people get stressed over trying to resolve something?
I do not think reading situations would be more to do with being in touch more with emotions. This does not mean those who have this gift are stupid, far from it. Just the small differences in how we use our intelligence in problem solving has advanatages with emotions like relationships, where as it is a disavantage to pratical solving.
Well that is just an opinion which does seem to fit to me.

Evidence for this for example is a person like Richard Dawkins, he will rationalize a problem but fails at times to factor in the emotive point of view and why sometimes people are emotive at something he says. It is not intentional on his part but that emotions do not cloud his problem solving where it can clash with an emotive issues he comments on.

Hope that makes sense.

By this I mean emotive intelligence which is different to what we call IQ intelligence.

Brasidas wrote:

eddie wrote:Afternoon didge,

I know many "very clever" people who have a pretty high IQ who are hopeless at "reading" situations or people, for instance?

I supposed you could loosely divide intelligence into different categories?

Hi Eddie

I would agree with that and I also believe the more intelligent somebody is the less emotive they are.
This is not to say they do not love or feel emotions of this they still do, they just play less of a part in how they rationalize many things, where to many others emotions can hinder problem solving. I mean how easily do people get stressed over trying to resolve something?
I do not think reading situations would be more to do with being in touch more with emotions. This does not mean those who have this gift are stupid, far from it. Just the small differences in how we use our intelligence in problem solving has advanatages with emotions like relationships, where as it is a disavantage to pratical solving.
Well that is just an opinion which does seem to fit to me.

Evidence for this for example is a person like Richard Dawkins, he will rationalize a problem but fails at times to factor in the emotive point of view and why sometimes people are emotive at something he says. It is not intentional on his part but that emotions do not cloud his problem solving where it can clash with an emotive issues he comments on.

Hope that makes sense.

Well it makes perfect sense to me - so I'm either as clever, or stupid, as you

Also, certain illnesses can make you seem "less intelligent"
When my thyroid is playing up I seem more stupid! I am forgetful, cannot think of the right words etc etc

My son suffers terribly in the summer months due to hayfever - he gets really groggy - always wondered why they make xhildren sit exams in the hottest part of the year and when hayfever is rife??!

eddie wrote:

Brasidas wrote:

Hi Eddie

I would agree with that and I also believe the more intelligent somebody is the less emotive they are.
This is not to say they do not love or feel emotions of this they still do, they just play less of a part in how they rationalize many things, where to many others emotions can hinder problem solving. I mean how easily do people get stressed over trying to resolve something?
I do not think reading situations would be more to do with being in touch more with emotions. This does not mean those who have this gift are stupid, far from it. Just the small differences in how we use our intelligence in problem solving has advanatages with emotions like relationships, where as it is a disavantage to pratical solving.
Well that is just an opinion which does seem to fit to me.

Evidence for this for example is a person like Richard Dawkins, he will rationalize a problem but fails at times to factor in the emotive point of view and why sometimes people are emotive at something he says. It is not intentional on his part but that emotions do not cloud his problem solving where it can clash with an emotive issues he comments on.

Hope that makes sense.

Well it makes perfect sense to me - so I'm either as clever, or stupid, as you

Also, certain illnesses can make you seem "less intelligent"
When my thyroid is playing up I seem more stupid! I am forgetful, cannot think of the right words etc etc

My son suffers terribly in the summer months due to hayfever - he gets really groggy - always wondered why they make xhildren sit exams in the hottest part of the year and when hayfever is rife??!

lol it does not make you stupid.
Just someone has more practical intelligence and you will have more emotional intelligence.
I actually share with you the later more emotive intelligence.
I can certainly problem solve, which is very much part of my job, but I can allow stress to get the better of me at times, which spills out onto other aspects. I am at my best with other people and their emotive issues, and yet blind to my own lol
Having knowledge is also different something many gain with age and experince.

ya can be as intelligent as you like....but if you aint got "common sense" ya neither use nor ornament......

Brasidas wrote:

eddie wrote:

Brasidas wrote:

Hi Eddie

I would agree with that and I also believe the more intelligent somebody is the less emotive they are.
This is not to say they do not love or feel emotions of this they still do, they just play less of a part in how they rationalize many things, where to many others emotions can hinder problem solving. I mean how easily do people get stressed over trying to resolve something?
I do not think reading situations would be more to do with being in touch more with emotions. This does not mean those who have this gift are stupid, far from it. Just the small differences in how we use our intelligence in problem solving has advanatages with emotions like relationships, where as it is a disavantage to pratical solving.
Well that is just an opinion which does seem to fit to me.

Evidence for this for example is a person like Richard Dawkins, he will rationalize a problem but fails at times to factor in the emotive point of view and why sometimes people are emotive at something he says. It is not intentional on his part but that emotions do not cloud his problem solving where it can clash with an emotive issues he comments on.

Hope that makes sense.

Well it makes perfect sense to me - so I'm either as clever, or stupid, as you

Also, certain illnesses can make you seem "less intelligent"
When my thyroid is playing up I seem more stupid! I am forgetful, cannot think of the right words etc etc

My son suffers terribly in the summer months due to hayfever - he gets really groggy - always wondered why they make xhildren sit exams in the hottest part of the year and when hayfever is rife??!

lol it does not make you stupid.
Just someone has more practical intelligence and you will have more emotional intelligence.
I actually share with you the later more emotive intelligence.
I can certainly problem solve, which is very much part of my job, but I can allow stress to get the better of me at times, which spills out onto other aspects. I am at my best with other people and their emotive issues, and yet blind to my own lol
Having knowledge is also different something many gain with age and experince.

Stress can play a very big role in decision making, absolutely! Also as I've said, illnesses can play a major role too.

darknessss wrote:ya can be as intelligent as you like....but if you aint got "common sense"  ya neither use nor ornament......

Too true Vic

Eilzel wrote:
I think it may seem to as education improves and opportunities for learning grow throughout the world. Nothing surprising in this, both biological and social evolution are factors.

Ditto...

Brasidas wrote:
By this I mean emotive intelligence which is different to what we call IQ intelligence.

OVER recent years, I have seen studies from Behavioural Psychology researchers, where they use several measures these days for studying comparative "Intelligence" across and between human populations ~ up to 8 or 10 in some cases...

AND WHERE Intelligence [I.Q.] and Emotiveness [E.Q.] are simply the starting points for those researchers ~ and not the 'be all and end all'.

No.

Ben_Reilly wrote:No.

With more education brings more with intelligence does it not Ben?
Education is ket for humans to become more intelligent.
How else do you learn anything unless you are taught are self taught through reading?

Lone Wolf wrote:

Brasidas wrote:
By this I mean emotive intelligence which is different to what we call IQ intelligence.

OVER recent years, I have seen studies from Behavioural Psychology researchers, where they use several measures these days for studying comparative "Intelligence" across and between human populations ~ up to 8 or 10 in some cases...

AND WHERE Intelligence [I.Q.] and Emotiveness [E.Q.] are simply the starting points for those researchers ~ and not the 'be all and end all'.

Agreed Bee

Brasidas wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:No.

With more education brings more with intelligence does it not Ben?
Education is ket for humans to become more intelligent.
How else do you learn anything unless you are taught are self taught through reading?

Just answering the question raised by the title.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Brasidas wrote:

With more education brings more with intelligence does it not Ben?
Education is ket for humans to become more intelligent.
How else do you learn anything unless you are taught are self taught through reading?

Just answering the question raised by the title.

Fair enough but you never stated as to why.
I think we are more intelligent because more and more societies have progressive laws that bring about equality Ben.
That to me is a sign of people being more intelligent, let alone all the advances in technology and sciences.

I think generally no, but there are more people so there are more individuals in the high intellect bracket but as a proportion I don't think so.
Really it highlights that the IQ measure is very faulty and is more related to education as opposed to intelligence.


@Brasadis
You Discover Invent Create Hypothesise.
how did the the knowledge first gets generated for someone to write it down for you to read?

the Vast majority of human achievement is completed by the few, everyone else is just 'pirating' someone else's realisations.. Freely copying ideas is the key to human success and why we have so many issues now is there are artificial barriers in place to restrict copying ideas. (for the benefit and the profit of a few)