Rise in IQ Scores During the Past Century Attributed to More Schooling
Rise in IQ Scores in During the Past Century Attributed to More Schooling – Researchers have been trying to figure out how IQ scored increased dramatically in the 20th century in developed and now in developing countries.
The average IQ test scores for American adults have increased by 25 points over the past century. The rise in IQ scores, referred to as the Flynn Effect, have been attributed to many different factors, including genetics and nutrition, and all of them have failed.
Research shows that as school enrollment increased with each generation, IQ scores also increased. Learning also changed from memorization to lessons based on problem-solving and abstract thinking skills. According to lead researcher David Baker, professor of sociology and education, Penn State University, contrary to common perception that schools have “dumbed down”, schools continued to develop more challenging lessons which exercise and develop students’ mental muscles.
“Certain kinds of activities—like solving problems, or reading—stimulate the parts of the brain that we know are responsible for fluid intelligence,” said Baker. “And these types of activities are done over and over in today’s schools, so that you would expect these students to have higher development than populations of people who had no access to schooling.”
After conducting three studies from neurological, cognitive and demographic perspectives, researchers found that intelligence is a combination of both genetics and environment.
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