Flynn effect
The Flynn effect refers to the observed phenomenon of rising IQ test scores across generations, first identified by researcher James Flynn in the 1980s. His analysis of IQ tests, particularly among children in various countries, revealed significant increases in scores over time. However, Flynn concluded that these increases do not necessarily indicate a rise in overall intelligence but rather a shift in the way people think due to changes in societal conditions and technology. For instance, educational practices have evolved, leading to longer school attendance and a greater emphasis on abstract thinking.
Flynn noted that earlier generations tended to think more concretely, while contemporary individuals are more adept at understanding abstract concepts and symbols. This shift in cognitive style is thought to influence performance on IQ tests, rather than reflecting a genuine increase in intelligence. While many agree with Flynn's perspective, some researchers propose other contributing factors, such as improved nutrition and environmental stimulation. There is also ongoing debate about whether the Flynn effect has peaked, with some studies suggesting a plateau or decline in average IQ scores in recent years. Understanding the Flynn effect provides insight into the complexities of measuring intelligence and the impact of cultural and environmental changes on cognitive abilities.
Flynn effect
The Flynn effect is the name for a phenomenon that shows scores from IQ tests have steadily increased with each generation since the early 1900s. Researcher James Flynn first identified the phenomenon in the 1980s. He noticed the same trend on IQ tests in many parts of the world. Through his research, Flynn concluded that populations were not necessarily getting smarter over time. Rather, the way people think has changed because of new social environments and technology.
Discovery of the Flynn Effect
In the 1980s, Flynn, a social scientist working in New Zealand, reviewed IQ tests taken by Dutch children. One group of children had taken the tests in the 1950s, and another group took the tests in the 1980s. Flynn noticed tremendous gains in the IQ scores of the children tested in the 1980s. The data intrigued him, and he began researching other IQ tests taken in the twentieth century around the world.
To his surprise, Flynn found that many countries had similar gains in IQ scores during the mid-twentieth century. After conducting his research, Flynn believed that one of two things was true: He thought that either children were becoming more intelligent with every generation, or the IQ test was in some way not as useful as it once had been in determining intelligence.
Questions About the Flynn Effect
Flynn's findings were puzzling for a number of reasons. Given the Flynn effect, Americans living in the 1900s likely would have scored between 50 and 70, which—according to today's standards—would indicate most people of that time had very low intelligence. Since Flynn knew this idea was absurd, he realized that something else had to be causing the increase in IQ scores over the generations.
If one generation of children was clearly smarter than their parents, the parents would most likely have noticed the difference in their children. In the same way, the children would most likely notice if their parents were significantly less intelligent. This is another reason why Flynn believed the changing scores were not actually an indication that people were becoming smarter overall.
Another problem with the Flynn effect was that the IQ tests indicated people's intelligence seemed to increase in some ways but not in others. One of the tests that Flynn studied was the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), which consisted of several subtests. One of the subtests asks children to find the similarities between two objects. The "similarities" section had a huge increase in scores over the decades. However, the arithmetic subtest had much smaller gains through the years. These findings made Flynn and other researchers believe that the increase in IQ scores could be due to changes in the way people think rather than an increase in overall intelligence. This, in turn, led many to question whether intelligence testing was really measuring absolute values or if such tests are vulnerable to social, cultural, or other factors.
The Flynn Effect and Changes in Thinking
After finding the increase in scores and identifying the problems with the idea that people's overall intelligence increased with each generation, Flynn wanted to determine another reason for the IQ increases. He conducted research and reviewed the findings of others. Flynn never administered any IQ tests, but he reviewed the results of other people's testing.
Flynn realized that life had changed in many ways between the beginning and end of the twentieth century, and he believed some of those changes must have influenced the changes in the IQ scores. Flynn pointed out that people started staying in school longer in the middle and end of the twentieth century.
Another huge difference between the beginning and end of the twentieth century was the way people thought about the world around them. At the beginning of the twentieth century, people thought mostly about concrete ideas. People thought about objects in the ways they used them. They did not generally think about abstract ideas. Consider this question: What do dogs and rabbits have in common? A person living in 1900 might have said that a dog helps hunt a rabbit. A person in the 1990s would most likely say they are animals or mammals. Flynn noted that people today are more likely to categorize objects into abstract groups than people did in the past.
Flynn also suggested that people living in the early 1900s most likely did not see many symbols in everyday life. The only symbols people used may have been music notes or variables in math. Today, however, people see symbols everywhere. Symbols are on keyboards, road signs, and computer screens. People today can interpret those symbols easily and understand that the symbols represent other ideas or things. People living in the early 1900s did not use symbols regularly, so they did not think in the same way people think today. Flynn concluded that these changes in thinking were one of the main reasons that IQ scores have changed over the years.
Authors of a 2014 paper printed in the journal Learning and Individual Differences agreed with many of Flynn's ideas about the Flynn effect. The authors claimed that the Flynn effect mostly occurs because people have become used to taking tests and doing similar cognitive tasks. The authors also pointed out that people are thinking in more abstract ways. Just like Flynn, the authors stated that the IQ test scores have changed because the way people think has changed, not because people have become more intelligent.
Despite the consensus that it is the way of thinking rather than raw intelligence that has shifted with society, there is still dispute as to the exact cause or causes of the Flynn effect. Various researchers have proposed that factors such as improved nutrition, an overall increase in general environmental stimulation, or decreased likelihood of suffering from infectious diseases may explain the effect. Some research in the early twenty-first century, including by Flynn and others, has also suggested that the Flynn effect may have peaked or ended, with average intelligence scores plateauing or declining since the 1990s or earlier.
Bibliography
Dworak, Elizabeth M., William Revelle, and David M. Condon. "Looking for Flynn Effects in a Recent Online US Adult Sample: Examining Shifts within the SAPA Project." Intelligence, vol. 98, May-June 2023, doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2023.101734. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Flynn, James R. "Beyond the Flynn Effect, a Lecture by Professor James Flynn." University of Cambridge Psychometrics Centre. University of Cambridge. 15 Dec. 2006, www.psychometrics.cam.ac.uk/about-us/directory/beyond-the-flynn-effect. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Gladwell, Malcolm. "None of the Above." New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2015, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/17/none-of-the-above. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Gambino, Megan. "Are You Smarter Than Your Grandfather? Probably Not." Smithsonian, 3 Dec. 2012, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/are-you-smarter-than-your-grandfather-probably-not-150402883/?no-ist. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Robb, Alice. "Our IQs Are Climbing, but We’re Not Getting Smarter." New Republic, 2 Dec. 2013, www.newrepublic.com/article/115787/rising-iq-scores-dont-mean-greater-intelligence. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.