The Flynn Effect
Living in such competitive world nowadays, all we hope for is to be outstanding so that we may be distinguished among the huge crowds. Therefore, we hope we are really smart in order to live up to that goal. However, mostly we are not so smart, as a mater fact. Then the question is “ how to improve our intelligence quotient which is the so called IQ? ”
Taking this as my main point, you must doubt: how can this be possible? Hasn’t our gene already coded IQ at the moment the egg meet the bug? Remember one thing, even some say, 21st century are the era of the geno-technology, DNA is not the destiny. Environment takes half!
According to Flynn, an American intellectual psychologist, apparently one of the most potent ways to improve our IQ is simply to keep on living! Many researchers had informally noted a trend that was documented by Flynn and is now called the “ Flynn effect”. It mentions that in the western world, IQ scores have generally risen about 3 points every 10 years. This means that the average IQ today would be 15 points higher if the tests were scored the same way they were 50 years ago. There is even evidence that the Flynn effect is accelerating: between 1972 and 1982, IQ increased by an average of 8 points. And in Flynn’s report, such gains are mostly on tests that are free from cultural influence. The effect has even boosted IQ scores of people who have learning difficulties, and has done so to the same degree for people of different races and genders. It shows: whoever you are, the effect will never count you out. And if you do feel yourself dummy sometime, never be down. As long as you keep life going, the situation will be getting better. As time pass second by second, your IQ go up byte by byte. Someday you will feel like a genius.
By the way, as IQs have risen over time, general intelligence has accounted for progressively less of the variability in intelligence scores. That is, not only has IQ generally risen, but some specific abilities have gain more than others—and the particular abilities that have gained vary for different people.
You now must be wondering how come this happen. In order to explain the phenomena, another psychologist, Neisser in 1996 offer three points to reason the effect:
Reason 1, daily life today is more challenging than life in previous years, and the very act of coping with life’s complexities may have increased IQ.
Reason 2, nutrition is better. Researchers found that height has increased along with IQ, and characteristics that improve brain functioning might also have increased along with height.
Reason last but the least, perhaps intelligence itself has not risen, but the kind of reasoning ability that is useful in taking tests. For example, technology may have led people to become more comfortable with abstract thinking. And indeed, television shows such as The Millionaires and interactive computers help children and adults alike learn to pay attention to think more quickly, and also expose them to tasks similar to those on IQ tests.
Although no definitive explanation yet is presented for why real-world indicators of “intelligent behavior”, such as how many people play intellectual games and the level of scientific productivity, have risen along with IQ scores, the rising curve has already left us a message, the longer you live, the smarter you will be. So if everybody know this piece of news, there will be no more frustrated children commit suicide because of being scolded by their teachers or parents for making stupid mistake. Because keeping on living may really solve their problem. Good news, isn’t it? TME.
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