Monday, May 6, 2024

It's Confirmed: You Are Surrounded By Idiots

From the Daily Mail, May 3:

As research warns IQ is falling for first time EVER.... our map reveals average scores in every US state

  • Average IQ levels in the US dropped to 98, falling below the national standards
  • Experts believe the drop in IQ levels is due to increasing technology use

Human intelligence scores are dropping across the US for the first time, research suggests, and experts warn technology could be to blame.

Since 1905, there's been a 30-point increase based on scores in logic, vocabulary, spatial reasoning and visual and mathematical problem-solving skills.

But there are signs that IQ may have dipped, according to a study last year. It found the average IQ score in the US fell from 100 to 98 last year - the first time rates have fallen since we began tracking them.

Now, separate data shows there is a gap of about eight points between states, with New Hampshire ranking first with an average IQ of 103.2.

Those aged 18-22 saw the the biggest drop in IQ tests between 2006 and 2018, the study found....

....MUCH MORE

If interested see also:

Well, It Looks Like You Were Right, You Are Surrounded By Idiots

From the journal Intelligence via ScienceDirect, May - June 2023 Issue:

....1. Introduction
Labeled the Flynn effect (Herrnstein and Murray, 2010), intelligence quotient (IQ) scores substantially increased since 1932 and through the twentieth century, with differences ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 IQ points (0.20 to 0.33 SD) per decade (Flynn, 1984, Flynn, 1987, Flynn, 2007). These findings imply younger generations are expected to have higher IQ scores than the previous cohort. For example, if we tested a sample of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) when they were 20 years old and compared their scores on the same test to a sample of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) tested at age 20, we would expect the latter group's IQ scores to be between 0.66 and 1.1 SD higher. This isn't to say that the sample of Millennials are smarter or more able than the group of Baby Boomers, but that a difference in scores exists favoring the younger generation. These results, however, should prompt other important questions – what demographic factors are contributing to the difference? Do these results generalize across adulthood? How long should the trend of increasing scores be expected to persist? Does this trend still exist in the United States?....

....Highlights

A reverse Flynn effect was found for composite ability scores with large US adult sample from 2006 to 2018 and 2011 to 2018.

Domain scores of matrix reasoning, letter and number series, verbal reasoning showed evidence of declining scores.

Three-dimensional rotation scores generally increased from 2011 to 2018.

Differences in ability scores were present regardless of age, education, or gender.

The steepest slopes occurred for ages 18–22 and lower levels of education.

Although it is possible I read more into the study than was actually there, the headline will remain until we see evidence of a resumption of the Flynn Effect.
Previously:
"Norwegians getting dumber"
It's not just Norwegians, that's simply the group that was studied.
We've looked at this before.

Although six months old we're only getting to this because I just heard Professor Flynn was still alive.
(sorry Prof.)
From Norway Today, Dec. 28, 2017....

August 2014
Thanks, I think, to a reader.
"I would be willing to wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companions. We would be surprised by our time-visitor’s memory, broad range of ideas and clear-sighted view of important issues. I would also guess that he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and colleagues."...
November 2012
"New findings suggest scientists not getting smarter"
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