Flynn Effect

Life History

individual differences in the pattern of bioenergetic trade-offs between the domains of mating, parenting and maintenance which allow organisms to adapt their fitness to the demands of either unstable or stable environment

Decline of IQ - explanations

• Changes in the population - more immigrants, hard to compare with previous. • There is a limit to how much environmental factors can improve intelligence.

Explanations:

-Duration of average schooling has increased steadily -Increased familiarity of the general population with tests and testing -More stimulating environment -Improvement of Nutrition -Today's average adult from an industrialized nation is taller than a comparable adult of a century ago. -Analogous increases of head size, and by an increase in the average size of the brain

Problem

Scholastic Aptidute Test (SAT) decreses. Non-IQ in SAT declines. Flynn on SAT and IQ: maybe media stimulate fluid abilities but not learning and knowledge.

Fertility and Intelligence

• Negative correlation. • There is a limit to how much environmental factors can improve intelligence. • Meisenberg has argued that both higher GDP and IQ independently reduce fertility. • The average IQ of the young world population would decline by 1.34 points per decade and the average per capita income would decline by 0.79% per year.

What is the Flynn Effect

• Substantial and long-sustained increase in intelligence test scores measured in many parts of the world from 1930 to the present day. • IQ tests are standarized to mean=100. • Flynn gathered raw data from many countries and observed the increase.

What is the increase of points in intelligence?

• The gain: 3 points per decade. • In comparison to modern norms, the average for people in 1932 would be 80. • Some researchers: it's only in the lower half of the distribution.

Decline of IQ

•Some recent data suggest decline of IQ. • Norwegian and Danish data: IQ raising stopped in mid 1990s and declined. • UK: teenagers' IQ dropped from 1980s 6 points

Fast Life History

•high mating effort, the reproduce ability is crucial. Have many children, less carrying. • Fast individuals need much more strongly integrated abilities in order to cope with unstable environments and unpredictable people.

Slow Life History

•not many children, high parenting and maintenance effort. • Slow individuals exhibit differentiated abilities and cognitive specialisms as an adaptation to intra-specific competition, which is characteristic of populations living at the carrying capacity of stable environments.