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Slate | As teens get older, they may not only get wiser, but also smarter, a new study suggests. Or, well, less smart.
The study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that a teen’s IQ scores can fluctuate significantly over a period of a few years. That contradicts the long-held belief that IQ scores remain essentially fixed throughout a person’s life.
The research team from University College London tested 33 teenagers in 2004, when they were between 12 and 16 years old, and again in 2008, when they were 15 to 20. They found that individual subjects’ scores rose or fell by as much as 20 points. That means a child with a score of 110, which is in the average range, could move to 130, classified as “gifted,” USA Today points out.
And MRI scans showed that the changes in scores are reflected in the teens’ brains. For those whose verbal IQ scores improved, grey matter density increased in a part of the brain activated by speech. For those whose nonverbal scores rose, grey matter changed in a brain region activated by finger movements.
To say the teens got smarter or dumber is a simplification, of course. As Science magazine points out, IQ may stand for intelligence quotient, but what it actually measures is open to debate. And the Nature study doesn’t tackle the question of what causes the changes in score.
Still, the findings may be empowering for parents and teens, said Cathy Price, senior author of the study. “People's attitude is to decide early on that this is a clever kid, and this is not a clever kid—but this suggests you can't make that assessment in the teenage years,” she told Science.
The study didn’t look at adults but left open the possibility that some variability in IQ may continue beyond the teenage years.
The study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that a teen’s IQ scores can fluctuate significantly over a period of a few years. That contradicts the long-held belief that IQ scores remain essentially fixed throughout a person’s life.
The research team from University College London tested 33 teenagers in 2004, when they were between 12 and 16 years old, and again in 2008, when they were 15 to 20. They found that individual subjects’ scores rose or fell by as much as 20 points. That means a child with a score of 110, which is in the average range, could move to 130, classified as “gifted,” USA Today points out.
And MRI scans showed that the changes in scores are reflected in the teens’ brains. For those whose verbal IQ scores improved, grey matter density increased in a part of the brain activated by speech. For those whose nonverbal scores rose, grey matter changed in a brain region activated by finger movements.
To say the teens got smarter or dumber is a simplification, of course. As Science magazine points out, IQ may stand for intelligence quotient, but what it actually measures is open to debate. And the Nature study doesn’t tackle the question of what causes the changes in score.
Still, the findings may be empowering for parents and teens, said Cathy Price, senior author of the study. “People's attitude is to decide early on that this is a clever kid, and this is not a clever kid—but this suggests you can't make that assessment in the teenage years,” she told Science.
The study didn’t look at adults but left open the possibility that some variability in IQ may continue beyond the teenage years.
5 comments:
Straight scoop - you can take this to the bank: Maximum IQ potential is cast in stone at conception, whether or not it is achieved is determined by environment after that. Proof: Downs, Williams, Batten, Rett, Fragile_X syndromes, for example (inherited disorders), will never develop into Einsteins. All heritage has its cognitive upper limit potential, and it is not equal for all...
But [b]how does anyone know[/b] what any individuals maximum IQ potential is? It may be that these cheap computers present the first opportunity to begin finding that out. What happens when we have interactive educational software for 3-year olds?
A computer can give a kid 100% of its attention. Parents can't do that 24/7. Teachers with 30 kids in a class can't do that. So if the software can track the kids curiosity and present interactive graphics which stimulate and satisfy that curiosity who knows what the effect will be. Maybe average IQ could be raised 30 points.
I find it so strange that this country does not even have a National Recommended Reading List. And most people don't seem enthusiastic about the idea. Lots of people want other people kept ignorant.
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Max IQ potentials cannot currently be known. But it needs to be recognized that the IQ bell curve originates primarily from distribution of genes, not environment. Even high-genetic-potential folks with bad nurturing & poor nutrition tend to do all right as long as they, for example, avoid mind-blowing substance abuse (drugs & heavy alcohol) and/or bad accidents (brain injuries). No amount of educational or other nurturing provides much help for low-genetic-potential folks, as anyone who has ever tried to teach a retarded child something can readily knows, BTDT. NCLB and other efforts to equalize outcomes are pretty much a waste of resources, and suppress the student body to the lowest common denominator, i.e. *dumb*...
But it needs to be recognized that the IQ bell curve originates primarily from distribution of genes, not environment.
rotflmbao...,
Mebbe if your squeeze your palms ever more tightly against your ears, grind them into your eyes, mebbe, just mebbe the data whic h just blew a hole bigger than the broad side of a barnin your faith-based system of belief - will suddenly disappear.
Alternatively, mebbe if you just squeeze your head melon hard enough, you'll pass that rotting lump that Screamin Jay try'na tell you about.
let it go, let it go, and you'll feel alright...,
*You* let it go, let it go, and *you'll* feel alright... Today's hot PRR http://www.student-direct.co.uk/2011/10/genetic-link-to-intelligence-found/
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