EVANSTON, Ill. — IQ scores significantly increased from 1932 through the 20th century all over the world, with differences ranging from roughly three to five IQ points per decade. This phenomenon is known as the “Flynn Effect.” Now, however, a new study out Northwestern University suggests a “reverse-Flynn Effect” of sorts may be taking place in the United States.
This reverse-Flynn Effect was present across a large U.S. sample covering between 2006 and 2018 in every category — except one. Still, there were consistent negative slopes among three out of four cognitive domains.
Ability scores pertaining to verbal reasoning (logic, vocabulary), matrix reasoning (visual problem solving, analogies), and letter and number series (computational/mathematical) all dropped over the course of the study period. However, scores of 3D rotation (spatial reasoning) generally increased between 2011 to 2018.
Composite ability scores (single scores derived from multiple pieces of information) were also lower across the more recent samples. These score differences persisted regardless of age, education, or gender.
Sugarcoating the findings?
Despite the observed decline in IQ scores, corresponding study author Elizabeth Dworak posits people shouldn’t read these findings and think, “Americans are getting less intelligent.
“It doesn’t mean their mental ability is lower or higher; it’s just a difference in scores that are favoring older or newer samples,” explains Dworak, a research assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in a media release. “It could just be that they’re getting worse at taking tests or specifically worse at taking these kinds of tests.”
Study authors used the Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment (SAPA) Project, a free survey-based online personality test that gives test-takers feedback focusing on 27 temperament traits (adaptability, impulsivity, anxiety, humor), in addition to their ability scores.
Survey responses were analyzed from 394,378 Americans collected between 2006 to 2018 in an attempt to examine if cognitive ability scores changed over those 13 years. A smaller cohort of individuals (303,540) was also recruited between 2011 and 2018. The 3D rotation data, though, only exists for subjects who took the survey between 2011 and 2018.
More IQ scores needed
This project did not attempt to determine the reason for the decline in IQ scores. That being said, researchers add there is no shortage of possible explanations and theories in the scientific community, ranging from poor nutrition, and worsening health to media exposures and changes to education. “There’s debate about what’s causing it, but not every domain is going down; one of them is going up,” Prof. Dworak notes. “If all the scores were going in the same direction, you could make a nice little narrative about it, but that’s not the case. We need to do more to dig into it.”
To that end, Prof. Dworak and her colleagues are now attempting to access a dataset containing 40 years worth of data in order to conduct a follow-up study.
A change in societal values may have also affected IQ scores, Prof. Dworak adds. “If you’re thinking about what society cares about and what it’s emphasizing and reinforcing every day, there’s a possibility of that being reflected in performance on an ability test,” she continues.
For example, there’s been more emphasis on STEM education in recent decades. So, does that mean other academic areas, like abstract reasoning, are receiving less attention in schools?
Yet another factor could be a drop off in motivation. Since the SAPA Project is advertised as a personality survey, individuals who enrolled may have been more engaged with sections related to the measurement of temperament and less engaged with sections seemingly unrelated to personality.
And yes, there’s some tongue-in-cheek wordplay up there in the headline.
The study is published in Intelligence.
Well, that explains all the Trump supporters.
No Guido, it totally explains your liberals and their policies. Just look at many major American cities and tell us they’re run by your fantasy evil enemies. Obtuse and pretending they all just can’t see the shreds of human debris doing drugs in their faces, all the while paying through their noses to ensure their progressive pals remain in office. Living your dream in Seattle. Identity and gender politics are ruining our once fair country.
Scott sorry bud but the cities are not hellscapes like you FoxNews throws in your face every night to make you feel good about yourself. However I have lived in many a rural conservative town where drugs are destroying the youth because there is nothing for them in town and no one to help them. The Republican party is full of the least educated people in the world.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that Democrats are the best educated. And they are the best educated in History, Sociology, Art History, Fine Arts, History of English Literature, English Literature in the eighteenth century, French Literature and my favorite, Italian Literature in the 1800’s. So the Democrats are “well educated” but Democrats aren’t educated in useful fields and hence don’t come with useful skills. So the “best educated” among us screw up government at every level because they don’t know what they are doing. The alternative is they know exactly what they are doing and are screwing things up intentionally.
Uh, you obviously don’t live in a West Coast city. I do there are loads of hellscapes. Stop the misinformation and fact denial
Indoctrination is not education, Cletus.
Where are people moving to? Florida, Texas, Idaho…the tax base is fleeing California by the day, as demonstrated by the rates for U-Haul (maxed out leaving, dirt cheap coming). Of course the Open Borders insaniacs will fix everything by importing the 3rd-World-Going-On-4th to replace them. Do you have any idea what the “Darien Gap” is? A SEAL vet, Michael Yon dared to go there and show what the mediot scammers won’t (every MSM report from the area is Lies of Omission) China runs waystations to facilitate the invasion and the UN and DHS pay people cash to help them get here. And the indigenous are dying of the diseases of all nations, it’s like a re-run of the original Conquistadore genocide-by-germs. Yon has a website. He guests on John B Wells CaravanToMidnight, some of the only unfiltered reality you can find these days.
Actually, Republicans consistently score somewhat higher on IQ tests than Democrats. About 3 points higher on average.
This is well documented.
Cities are dumps, stop lying.
You forget: Democrats are never “responsible” for anything. Just ask them.
The dems’ most reliable block of voters (95% of them voted for Kidsniffer Joe) has an average IQ of 85. Try again.
Well its nice to see you support a man that cannot put together a complete coherent sentence, doesn’t know where he is 90% of the time, cannot walk Up a flight of steps without falling, allows a giant spy balloon to casually float across our country and basically his response was “Oh look at the pretty balloon”. Seriously you might want to quit even though you aren’t ahead.
Speak for yourself, libturd.
YOUR Party in Baltimore controlled for SIX DECADES by the Demogogue Party!
Damning report finds there are 23 public schools in Baltimore where…..
NONE of the children understand basic math……
As parents blame Dem-led city’s ‘fraud and corruption’
Stugotz to you, too, Bucko.
funny how there isn’t a democrat on earth who realizes that you just spewed bigoted stereotyping malice. you certainly don’t realize it.
tee hee! can’t be true, can it? because you’re so smart. why, you’ve been told exactly what to think!
I wish I was a democrat. then I could be a real ignorant group-thinking hateful bigot. like you.
Biden is the president, and he is dividing and destroying the country, and you accuse Trump supporters of having a low IQ. You’re delusional…
Wha? No be smartie skors is be down go ismns not.
Be its all comuniz propaganzasing.
I play x-box so me keeps smard.
“More” dumber?
That explains the Biden voters. You would have to have below average intelligence to vote for a person with the personal characteristics of Joe Biden, combined with the national goals of the Democratic party. Would an intelligent person vote for people/policies that will OBVIOUSLY destroy the country?
Biden really wasn’t their dream candidate. As an old white cis male, he’s lacking the core diversity requirements that got people like Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot elected.
Yes, they would. Do not be deceived. Democrats are not stupid. They are not incompetent. Apart from the masses of useful low IQ voters they give speeches and our tax dollars to, what they are is completely sociopathic – and they perceive personal benefit in fundamentally and maliciously transforming this country into another Venezuela.
The more democrats we have the more the IQ goes down…..
More dumber? A double comparative in the title of an article supposedly written by a professional writer? Yes Americans are getting less intelligent.
It would behoove you to read the article completely before you comment. Specifically, the last sentence.
Eric you stole his moment in the sun.
What? What! read beyond the headline? All of those words? We need more pictures, less words.
Doesn’t say much for your attention span.
“Dumber” – the singular form of “dumberer.”
I can’t tell if the grammatical mistake in the headline is ironically intentional or ironically unintentional.
Read the last sentence in the article.
I hope the “more dumber” headline was a joke. An intentional one, anyway.
Read the last sentence in the article.
I’m reading this for the first time a fortnight on, and it is hilarious how many times you had to state this. I feel bad for both you and the reader.
Study findings affirmed.
One quick peek at the comments here is all the evidence you need.
When schools and such keep lowering the bar to placate 13% of the population, this is what you get.
I think researchers will find an inverse trend line relationship between average IQ and the number of active TikTok users.
The US has lagged behind much of the world in overall academics for a very long time. I see the current trend of allowing the use of internet searches and, now, AI writing sources to complete the required work as forces that diminishes personal abstract thinking. Also I’ve noticed a lapse of good writing structure and grammar in more and more pieces that I read posted on the internet. It’s becoming pervasive and to me very telling and sad.
The elephants in the room for the USA: changing community values and demographics.
Well duh- look whose running the country! You’ve got doddering old slobber speech and Giggling Heels at the top…..
Diversity is our strength.
There is strength in unity. Diversity is weakness
“more dumber?”
It’s more dumb
or just dumber
dummy
someone obviously only read the headline and wasn’t able to make it all the way to the end (it’s you).
“And yes, there’s some tongue-in-cheek wordplay up there in the headline.”
dummy.
“More dumber”??? Seriously?
Either “dumber,” or “more dumb.”🤦🏻♀️
Isolation, poor instruction, a public that seems to generally not appreciate education, genetics, political interference in education All these and more are contributors
China has as many intellectually gifted kids as we have enrolled in elementary schools. In competition we lag
About 95% of Chinese population are of one ethnicity: Han. And China is not allowing much immigration of third world peoples.
In China the school children speak perfect english by age 10. We are so fooked.
It must be climate change. Climate change is always the answer. We need more money for climate change. More climate change studies. Shut down America. Lead by example. Climate change is making us dumber.
Concerning the title, it’s either “dumber” or “more dumb”. Is grammer the canary in the IQ coal mine?
“Is grammer the canary in the IQ coal mine?”
It might be grammar, but I hope it isn’t spelling.
maybe read further than just the headline??
“And yes, there’s some tongue-in-cheek wordplay up there in the headline.”
and yikes to your attempt to correct the author when you misspelled “grammar”
Yep.81 million voters……