The IQ controversy

Introduction

Intelligence Quotient : named by

William Stern, 1912

The median raw score of the norming sample is defined as IQ 100 (15 points SD).

In order to measure IQ there are several tests taken all over the world which include questions on algebra, logic, math, general information, etc.

It is observed that the average of IQ is increasing by 3 points per decade (The Flynn effect)

A Second Introduction:

The issue of Nature and Nurture

Factors influencing us

GenesHealth

NeuroscienceBrain anatomy

Skills

Family and environment

Questions and Criticisms

• Does IQ have a precise origin? Can it be evaluated as something independent from our genes or the environment we live in?

• Regarding the Flynn effect, does the increase in IQ average mean we are getting smarterthrough generations?

• Regarding the Flynn effect, how are the IQ tests responsible for the results? What do they measure?

Studies show that…

• Neither does IQ have a specific location in the brain, nor an exact origin (found by psychological experiments).

• A research done in 2013 showed that IQ does not measure intelligence. What it measures is the capacity of teachable skills. So the changes in scores in each decade is the change in knowledge not in the intelligence quality.

• The Flynn effect does not mean that we are evolving into more intelligent people, it simply means that people have gained a type of abstract knowledge they didn’t have 50 years ago.

• People whose brains are in the typical range don’t differ very much in mental abilities. What IQ tests measure as “Intelligence” is mostly environment and experience.

• Intelligence cannot be looked at as something separate from culture; nor from the genotype. Therefore it can be concluded that both the environment and the genes affect the IQ point.