Flynn effect

The Flynn effect is the continued year-on-year rise of IQ test scores, an effect seen in all parts of the world, although at greatly varying rates. It is named after New Zealand political scientist James R. Flynn, its discoverer. The average rate of rise seems to be around three IQ points per decade. Attempted explanations have included improved nutrition, a trend towards smaller families, better education, greater environmental complexity, and heterosis.

The Flynn effect is a perplexing phenomenon for those who believe that IQ tests represent a true measure of human intelligence, as it would suggest that people today are in general considerably more intelligent than those of previous generations. Flynn himself does not believe this to be the case. It is conceivable that something about modern society (the greater need for abstract thinking, presence of computers, more visually-oriented culture) is responsible.

Better nutrition has been proposed as a factor. However, there is evidence from Scandinavian countries that IQ scores rose even more, 20 points per generation, following the austerity of occupation during World War II. Another possible explanation is that people are maturing faster, so that, for example, a ten year old today may have the mental age that a twelve year old had sixty years ago, although this may also be ultimately due to nutrition.

In 2001, William T. Dickens and James R. Flynn presented a mechanism by which environmental effects on IQ may be magnified by feedback effects. The paper "Heritability Estimates Versus Large Environmental Effects: The IQ Paradox Resolved" was published in Psychological Review.

In 2004, Colom et al. (Colom, 2005) presented data supporting the nutrition hypothesis, which predicts that gains in IQ will predominantly occur at the low end of the distribution where nutritional deprivation is most severe. Two large samples of Spanish children were assessed with a 30-year gap. Comparison of the IQ distributions indicated that 1) the mean IQ had increased by 9.7 points (the Flynn effect), 2) the gains were concentrated in the lower half of the distribution and negligible in the top half, and 3) the gains gradually decreased from low to high IQ.

Possibly related to the Flynn effect is change in cranial vault size and shape during the last 150 years in the US. These changes must occur by early childhood because of the early development of the vault. [1][2][3][4]

In the end, a number of varied phenomena may be contributing to the Flynn effect.

Citations

• Ulric Neisser et al.: The Rising Curve: Long-Term Gains in IQ and Related Measures. American Psychological Association (APA), 1998, ISBN 1557985030. Discusses the Flynn effect, and its possible explanations and consequences.

• Colom, R., Lluis-Font, J.M., and Andrés-Pueyo, A. (2005) The generational intelligence gains are caused by decreasing variance in the lower half of the distribution: Supporting evidence for the nutrition hypothesis. Intelligence 33:83-91.

External links

• Marguerite Holloway, Flynn's effect, Scientific American, January 1999; online edition
• Increasing intelligence: the Flynn effect
• Flynn biography
• "An Explanation for the Flynn Effect"
• "Heritability Estimates Versus Large Environmental Effects: The IQ Paradox Resolved" - article by Dickens and Flynn