WHATEVER it is that IQ tests measure, we’ve been getting progressively better
at doing them for several decades. Political scientist James Flynn identified
the trend in the 1980s, and since then the evidence for rising IQs has grown as
relentlessly as the test scores themselves. Alas, nothing lasts forever. This
week we report the first evidence that the era of booming IQ growth is over
(see “Brain gain”).
Indeed, a pessimist scanning the latest figures from Denmark, a country
noted for its detailed IQ records, might conclude that average IQs have not just
peaked but are heading back down…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 91av
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Mind
Five tests will help you understand the full scope of your imagination
Features
Mind
The four types of imagination and how they create our worlds
Features
Technology
People prefer AI-generated poems to Shakespeare and Dickinson
News
Humans
The fascinating truth about why common sense isn't really that common
Features
Popular articles
Trending 91av articles
1
Red-light therapy does have health benefits but not the ones you think
2
Woman in cancer remission without treatment in highly unusual case
3
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
4
Man destined for Alzheimer's may have been saved by accidental therapy
5
PCOS postpones perimenopause and allows pregnancies at older ages
6
Where has the deadly hantavirus come from and how does it spread?
7
300-year-old experiment could become world's best dark matter detector
8
Hantavirus outbreak will not cause a covid-style pandemic, says WHO
9
Your oral microbiome could affect your weight, liver and diabetes risk
10
Pressure from individual particles measured for the first time
