An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from standardised tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. IQ was coined by the psychologist William Stern to represent his German term Intelligenzquotient, a method he advocated in his 1912 book for evaluating intelligence tests at the University of Breslau.
According to a new study, IQ scores have been steadily falling for the past few decades, and environmental factors are to blame. However, according to research, genes do not affect IQ scores.
Since Decades, IQ Scores Have Been Falling: Check Out Why
In the 20th century, scientists observed that human IQ was increasing. Humans were becoming more intelligent and more innovative all the time. This increase in average IQ scores became known as the Flynn Effect.
As a result of the Flynn Effect, the average measured intelligence increased by approximately three points per decade during the 20th century. The Flynn Effect was believed to have been caused by improved education, nutrition, and better health care. However, this new study finds the Flynn Effect has been discredited.
Researchers at Norway’s Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research analysed 230,000 IQ scores of men who joined the national service between 1970 and 2009. The researchers found that each generation’s average score dropped by about seven points.
The trends are not due to a changing composition of families, and explanations involving genes such as immigration and environmental factors fixed mainly within families such as parental education, socialisation effects of low-ability parents, and family size play only a minor role in explaining these trends. Moreover, their influence is negligible compared to other environmental factors.
According to scientists, declining IQs are not genetically determined. Instead, IQs are dropping everywhere across the family spectrum, which indicates that it is more of nature than nurture issue.
Even though the results of the Norwegian study do not necessarily indicate that we are becoming dumber, many experts have found them to be highly troubling.
“This is the most convincing evidence of a reversal of the Flynn effect. If you assume their model is correct, the results are impressive and pretty worrying,’ said one expert. In contrast, the other said, “We are becoming stupider. This is happening. It’s not going to go away, and we have to try to think about what we’re going to do about it”
On A Final Note…
Researchers across the globe have expressed concern about this decline in IQ levels, despite the limitation of the study that it is specified to Norway. Additionally, the researchers highlighted the age of the IQ tests, highlighting that they could be outdated. They measure crystallised intelligence- everything we have been taught and remember. Education has evolved so that it does not emphasise memorisation as much as it used to. Scientists are still investigating the exact reason for this.
By Amritha K Boldsky
