Why Are Younger Generations Scoring Lower on IQ Tests?
An in-depth look at the reverse Flynn effect research and how modern brain skills are shifting in the digital age.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Human IQ scores consistently rose by an average of 3 points every decade starting from the 1930s.
- University research analyzing nearly 400,000 Americans reveals a modern reverse Flynn effect.
- Spatial visualization skills among younger generations have surged despite declines in other logical areas.
- This downward trend in standard testing began prior to the smartphone boom and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over a century ago, intelligence testing originated in France with the creation of the Binet IQ Test before rapidly expanding to the United States to assess students, medical professionals, and arriving immigrants. A fascinating turning point occurred around the 1930s when human intelligence scores began a steady upward trajectory. Younger generations consistently outperformed their parents, with cognitive scores climbing by an average of three points every ten years regardless of testing modifications.
This gradual accumulation across multiple generations created a dramatic leap in intelligence standards. Consequently, ancestors from past eras who were once celebrated as geniuses would likely be classified as merely average under contemporary measurement standards. This persistent upward trend was formally named the Flynn Effect, honoring James Flynn, the educator who discovered and published these findings in 1984.
Researchers previously proposed numerous hypotheses to explain this phenomenon, ranging from improved nutrition and smaller family sizes enabling better parental care, to earlier schooling, increasingly complex environments that stimulate cognitive growth, and genetics. However, genetic makeup changes very little over just a few generations. Society firmly believed humanity would continue growing indefinitely smarter until unexpected drops in standardized test scores began appearing across several European nations.
To determine if a similar trend was unfolding in the United States, social science researcher Elizabeth Dworak from Northwestern University pursued the topic for her master's thesis. Collaborating with her team, she analyzed cognitive test data from 398,844 American adults aged 18 to 90, gathered between 2006 and 2018 through the SAPA online research project utilizing standard international ICAR questions.
Source: Techsauce
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