Flashcards
The Flynn Effect - Short Answer
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- 1Describe the Flynn Effect.Since the early 1900s, the scores of new populations on older IQ tests have been increasing by approximately 1/3 to 2/3 of a point per year, yielding 3-5 points per decade, and thus about 9-15 points per generation.
This effect is very general, and has appeared across age ranges, countries, IQ tests, and ability levels. It is seen particularly in g-loaded measure of intelligence, showing increases in fluid (non-verbal) but not crystalised intelligence (content-based school subjects, e.g. math, vocabulary, general information).
This effect is particularly prominent in individuals in the lower end of the IQ distribution. - 2What are the challenges to the Flynn effect?The Flynn effect suggests that the grandparents of the current generation were very unintelligent, which cannot be true.
It is also paradoxical that SAT scores in the US, which are measured as a test of general knowledge, have been declining as IQ scores have been increasing.
While the Flynn effect calls into question the validity of IQ, IQ is still perhaps the best predictor of life outcomes than other variables, indicating that it is certainly valid, though its meaning may be ambiguous. - 3Describe the complexification explanation of the Flynn Effect.Flynn suggests that the recent complexification of Western culture has led populations to experience more abstract cognitive stimulation, such as the manipulation of visual stimulation and abstract thinking required for use of technology. This suggests that intelligence is environmentally-based, and that environmental changes have caused the brains of recent generation to adapt in favour of abstract skills. These skills are also what is tested on IQ tests, which may explain recent improvements on IQ scores. Thus, people are not becoming more intelligent, but rather more skilled in measured aspects of intelligence.
- 4Describe nutrition as the cause of the Flynn Effect.There is substantial evidence to indicate that nutrition can cause an increase in IQ> For example, vitamin supplements to make up for deficits have been seen to increase IQ. The lack of nutrition in Africa, coupled with increased disease, leaves children in worse physical shape, which may account for the decreased IQ found in these areas.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the rates of poverty have substantially decreased. Average wealth per person has increased, leaving recent populations better nourished, longer-lived, taller, and chubbier, with a larger skull and thus larger brain.
However, this effect is opposed by the lack of IQ deficit seen in the Netherlands following the famine induced by Nazi Germany's destruction of supply lines during WW2. In fact, during this time, celiac disease was discovered within Netherlands, leading fewer people to consume wheat, which had been seen to prelude a paradoxical increase in IQ.
It should also be noted that fluid intelligence, but not crystallised intelligence, has increased, suggesting the limited effect of nutrition. - 5Describe test-taking sophistication as the cause for the Flynn Effect.In the 20th Century, IQ tests became more common, leading people to have more experience taking these kids of tests. It is suggested that this practice has led to increased scores.
However, people are more commonly tested on crystallised intelligence through school, but this is not the type of intelligence which has increased. The pattern is therefore reversed. - 6Describe better child-rearing as the cause of the Flynn Effect.This explanation suggests that an improved childhood (e.g. having more stimulating toys) has led to the increase in IQ.
However, programs such as Head Start, which take an environmental explanation for IQ, posing an intense intervention on the educational lives of children have only been seen to cause a temporary increase in IQ, which fades after the program ends. While these programs do have further effects on the child's life outcomes, this is insufficient to explain a long-term increase in IQ. - 7What have the most recent observations of the Flynn effect suggested?Recently, the Flynn effect appears to have stopped, or perhaps even begun to reverse. This may be the result of a natural ceiling, or the result intelligent people being less likely to have children and carry the intelligence forward.
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- Individual Differences & Personality (Short Answer Tests) Flashcards on The Flynn Effect - Short Answer, created by Jamie Otten on 15/05/2018.
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