Two decades ago, James R. Flynn, a professor emeritus at the University of Otaga in New Zealand found that IQ test scores have been increasing over the years–a phenomenon known as the “Flynn Effect”. This is despite failing schools and stagnant standardized test scores. In his new book “What is Intelligence?”, he talks about the issue and was approached and talked about it with the Los Angeles Times. He says he doesn’t think children today have better brains but that they think better on their feet and can solve problems on the spot. On the other hand, they have no larger vocabularies and are no better at arithmetic than their predecessors.
So why are their IQ scores higher than their parents and grandparents? Flynn says its because the people who invented IQ testing saw the world through scientific eyes. They were interested in logical reasoning but were more utilitarian than today’s counterparts. Today’s youth are more insightful which allows them to do better on the test. This is particularly true when it comes to the part of the test that involves understanding similarities. The people who made the IQ test thought they were testing intelligence when what they were actually testing was intelligence plus the way a person sees the world. Gradually, people have learned to see things more technically and more scientifically, thus they do better on the test.