The Flynn Effect. Causes of Flynn Effect - Essay Example

? The Flynn Effect In the field of psychology, the most fascinating and controversial search has been the secular gains in mean IQ test scores, whichhas been measured from 1930 to the present day. The increase has been substantial and consistent all over the world, and is known as the Flynn effect. The average gain on standard broad-spectrum IQ tests has been three IQ points during every ten years between the years 1930 and 1960. The gain for verbal tests that reflect the traditional subjects taught in classroom has been 2 IQ points while for non-verbal tests i.e. fluid and visual tests, the gain has been 4 IQ points every ten years. The gain has been largest particularly in Raven’s Progressive Matrices, when average IQ test scores were calculated of military recruits. The gain has been 7 IQ points per decade. The difference of mean IQ test scores in different groups is a common factor and cannot be regarded as exceptions. Extensive research has proved that the average IQ level of black Americans is lower than white Americans by almost 18 IQ points. The reason behind this difference is a matter of controversy and there is single explanation for it. While some feel that the difference is caused by genetic factors, there are still others who feel that is it caused by environmental factors (Nijenhuis, 2012, p.1). Causes of Flynn effect Studies conducted across the world populations have proved that there has been substantial increase of IQ levels among children and adults over the last eight decades. The reasons behind this phenomenon, which is known as Flynn effect, has been controversial issues among researches. However, there are eight major causes that have been identified. The first one is improvement in education; this has been the most common theory accepted as it has been observed that during WWII, there was an all pervasive superior performance that can be contributed to education. Even in 2007, Flynn continued to support high education achievements as factor behind increased IQ level. The second cause is increased test sophistication, which means enhanced test designs and the frequency of the tests. The third cause is recent environment like access to television and computer games which act as stimulatory factor for high IQ levels. The fourth cause is improvement in child rearing; this indicates that educated parents can provide better environment for their children, which in turn affects the IQ levels of the children. The fifth cause is more confident test taking attitudes; it means liberalism promotes speed and guessing that enhance test results. The sixth cause includes individual multiplier and social multiplier; the former means every person has cognitive motivation, and the latter means the effect of social environment. The seventh cause is improvements in nutrition; it affects intelligence by increasing the height and brain size. The eightth reason which is genetics have been ruled out as it has been observed that in developed nations, there has been “an inverse relation between intelligence and fertility.” (Lynn, 2009, p.17) The education factor for Flynn effect has two problems; one is that cognitive skills acquired outside schools show more progress that cognitive skills acquired in schools, and the second is that in case of infants, there has been improvement in DQ (Development Quotients) although they have little education (Lynn, 2007, p.515). In case of infants, there has been improvement in DQ during the first 24 months, and the rate of improvement is same in IQ development of preschool children. For this, common factors have been considered which are qualities of “pre-natal and early post-natal nutritions” (Lynn, 2009, p.19). According to Jim Flynn, current generation can be considered more intelligent that previous generations because of the ability of the former to solver wider range of problems. He has talked about four trends: 1) children’s brain potential at conception has not increased, 2) current generation of people use their analytical prowess more than their previous generations to solve problems, and brain being a muscle develops with greater use of it, 3) for everyday problems, current generation is no better at solving them than previous generations, which means lower IQ scores did not make the latter retarted, and 4) the previous generations lacked at applying logic to abstract theories, thus making them less intelligent than current generation (Shaughnessy & Fulgham, 2012, p.37). Average IQ of Africans In the year 2007, Lynn and Vanhanen assembled the data of more than 50 published studies from Raven’s Progressive Matrices that confirmed that the average IQ test scores of the sub-Saharan Africans are lower than that of people across the world. This finding generated controversy which was triggered by the concern over Africa’s future. It has been observed that the IQ level of sub-Saharan Africans is below 70 as measured by UK regulations; this is almost equivalent to the fact that the cognitive ability of an adult African is equal to that of an 11 year old white America. The apparent absurdity raises doubt on whether the estimation of average Watson’s study has been flawless. It also raises questions on the method of deciphering IQ levels of Africans, and whether this result can be construed as potential for Africa’s dark future. To increase the accuracy of the result, published articles that included small convenience samples and large representative samples, were used for the research (Wicherts, et al, pp.135-136). Since IQ tests are devoid of accuracy, the level of g (general intelligence) cannot be correctly estimated. Moreover, in Africa, tests were conducted in unfavorable venues and under harsh climates, which in general lowers the performances of the participants. Also, the tests had other cultural formats like recognizing geometric shapes and multiple choice questions that were unknown to the Africans, thus such tests did not provide valid cognitive ability. Then there is also the fact that sub-Saharan Africans are among the poorest populations with their children suffering from severe deprivation and lack of nutritious food that and also lack of education contribute towards their poor physical and intellectual development. Many factors that determine Flynn effect need improvement in the sub-Saharan African regions, and as such it can be concluded that with circumstantial improvement in these regions may reduce the different between IQ levels of western samples and African samples (Wicherts, et al, p.141). Flynn effect in reverse It was in the year 1984 that Flynn for the first time in a seminal review focused on the rising IQ test scores of the American population in the preceding decades. In another review he concluded from available relevant data that a similar effect of this phenomenon known as Flynn effect is found in other developed nations. Although the various studies were conducted in different time periods and in different places, nonetheless Flynn effect could be summarized to be almost 3-5 IQ points in each decade. The effect is more apparent in Raven’s Progressive Matrices that include fluid tests of intelligence which are “tests requiring educative reasoning to a logical conclusion from given, usually abstract, information.” (Teasdale & Owen, 2005, p.838). A study conducted on 50,000 young men from Denmark between the years 1959 to 2004 showed that the Flynn effect was at its maximum in the late 1990s, and since then it has been on the decline (Teasdale & Owen, 2005, p.837). The participants were all men of 18 years of age, and who appeared before the Draft Board to have their military service suitability accessed. The tests were conducted over many years on conscripts of similar age group. The limitation of this study is that it was conducted only on men, and as such it is yet to be concluded whether similar tests will show identical Flynn effect on women (Teasdale & Owen, 2005, p.841). Data collected by Flynn from studies conducted in three decades show that IQ test scores have been increasing in during the last decades of the twentieth century. Results from same tests conducted on populations across the world in different time periods show that later generation display higher IQ levels than previous generations. However, there are several limitations in the studies, the first being comparison of mean scores which cannot distinguish changes in different levels of ability. Second limitation is that as same tests were conducted on different generations, performance difference could not be clearly attributed to a simple linear increase over two decades. The third limitation is that comparative results between studies conducted in present and past decades cannot be taken as evidence of Flynn effect consistency. Data collected from studies conducted on young adult males in Denmark show a rising IQ level in the decade between 1988-1998, but reports from same tests conducted between 1998 and 2003/04 showed a decline of IQ level among men whether or not following higher education (Teasdale & Owen, 2008, pp.121-122). Therefore, it can be concluded that despite a consistent rise of cognitive performance in past decades among the young Danish, it has declined in the beginning of the current century. These findings also agree with tests conducted on Norway population; two countries which share similar social and cultural characteristics. However, it must be mentioned here that although Flynn effect has come to a standstill in developed countries like Denmark and Norway, the effect can still be seen in developing countries because of the continuous improvement of the circumstantial factors contributing towards Flynn effect (Teasdale & Owen, 2008, p.125). The tests that are conducted on Norwegian conscripts reflect the regular subtests which are of three types including arithmetic, vocabulary and figures. The results explicitly prove that changing patterns in fertility must be considered for assessing Flynn effect. This is because growth of small families at the cost of bigger ones form a part of Flynn effect both in General Ability and the subtests. The question is “whether the mean changes due to proportion changes should be considered a cause of the Flynn effect, or whether they should be considered as aggregation artifacts.” (Sundet, et. al, 2008, p.188) In the industrialized nations, there has been a growing tendency of families to become smaller in size, and this provides for Flynn effect. It now can be supposed that the similar trend of small families in non-industrialized countries like Kenya will also contribute towards Flynn effect (Sundet, et. al, 2008, p.188). In Norway, military service is compulsory for all young men. For this purpose, their medical, psychological and intellectual prowesses are accessed between the ages of 18 and 21 (Sundet, et. al, 2010, p.38). The purpose of this particular study is “to investigate the relationship between the Flynn effect and the effects of age differences between siblings on the intelligence difference between them.” (Sundet, et. al, 2010, p.40) Because of the variable intelligence-test scores in Norway, three periods are identified for this purpose. The first period included birth cohorts between 1950 to 1956, where there was increase of mean intelligence. The second period included birth cohorts between 1976 to 1983, where there was reduction of mean intelligence. Then the final period included birth cohorts between 1960 to 1965, where there was no significant Flynn effect (Sundet, et. al, 2010, p.40). The results show that there is an effect of age disparity of brothers on their dissimilarity in intelligence level. The results, however, do not match with the results acquired from similar tests conducted on Dutch young men, thus proving that cultural difference also affect the Flynn effect (Sundet, et. al, 2010, p.42). Studies conducted on Norwegian males report “secular trends in the mean scores of a language, mathematics, and a Raven-like test together with a combined general ability (GA).” Studies were conducted on Norwegian males from mid 1950s to 2002, and they were born between 1935 to 1984. The effect of their standing height was also investigated as it implied nutritional strength and improved health care, and these are regarded as casual factors of Flynn effect. There was significant increase in GA from 1950s to early 1970s. It was followed a reducing trend of GA, and finally GA became stable from mid 1990s. One main reason behind the increasing trend of GA was the diminishing frequency of low scorers. Thus, it can be concluded that Flynn effect on Norway came to a standstill from mid 1990s (Sundet, et. al, 2004, pp.349-350). This particular set of results demonstrates that the secular trends of GA in Norway were more probably unequally distributed according to varying levels of ability. The effect is more prominent on verbal tests, “where the mean increase below the median score from the 1957-1959 to the 1993-2002 draft cohorts was about three times the increase above the median score.” The results derived from mathematical tests show lower occurrence of both low and high scorers (Sundet, et. al, 2004, p.359). Conclusion Flynn effect is caused by various factors ranging from education, nutrition and environment. Further knowledge can be gained about the factors behind Flynn effect by studying accepted causes in nations where secular gains are in different phases. The potential candidates may be connected to factors like improved lifestyles, smaller family size, and more access to computer games and television. It can be of major importance to learn the cognitive competencies in different tests, and in addition, studies conducted for accessing potential factors for changing cognitive abilities can be enlightening. References Lynn, R. (2007). Book Review: What is Intelligence? Beyond the Flynn Effect, Intelligence, 35(5), 515-516 Lynn, R. (2009). What has caused the Flynn effect? Secular increases in the Development Quotients of infants. Intelligence, 37(1), 16-24 Nijenhuis, J.T. (2012). The Flynn effect, group differences, and g loadings, Personality and Individual Differences, doi:10.1016, 1-5 Shaughnessy, M.F. & S.W. Fulgham. (2012) An Interview with Jim Flynn about the Flynn Effect. North American Journal of Psychology, 14(1), 25-38 Sundet, J.M., Barlaug, D.G. & T.M. Torjussen. (2004) The end of the Flynn effect? A study of secular trends in mean intelligence test scores of Norwegian conscripts during half a century. Intelligence, 32(4), 349-362 Sundet, J.M., Borren, I. & K. Tambs. (2008) The Flynn effect is partly caused by changing fertility patterns. Intelligence, 36(3), 183-191 Sundet, J.M., Erikson, W., Borren, I. & K. Tambs. (2010) The Flynn effect in sibships: Investigating the role of age differences between siblings. Intelligence, 38(1), 38-44 Teasdale, T.W. & D.R. Owen. (2005). A long-term rise and recent decline in intelligence test performance: The Flynn Effect in reverse. Personality & Individual Differences, 39(4), 837-843 Teasdale, T.W. & D.R. Owen. (2008). Secular declines in cognitive test scores: A reversal of the Flynn Effect. Intelligence, 36(2), 121-126 Wicherts, J.M. et.al. (2010). Raven’s test performance of sub-Saharan Africans: Average performance, psychometric properties, and the Flynn Effect. Learning & Individual Differences, 20(3), 135-151 Read More