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Uncategorized Wednesday, October 19th 2011 at 3:13 pm

IQ Still Malleable In Teenage Years, Contrary to Popular Belief

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There’s a pretty common misconception that IQ is something that is innate, or even that it’s something established early on in life and then doesn’t change. There’s also the common misconception that IQ is a consistent, established, and testable unit of measurement, but that’s a whole different can of worms. Cathy Price of University College London and her team conducted a study to try and dig into the real story behind IQ. What they found was that, however you measure it, it’s a number that’s in flux well into the teenage years.

The study involved testing 33 teenagers between the ages of 12-14 in 2004 and the same 33 again in 2008 when they were 16-20. Along side standard IQ tests measuring verbal and non-verbal intelligence, the researchers took MRI images of the kids’ brains during the tests in order to get deeper results. What they found was that the teens could drop or rise up 20 points, and not just in a specific area, but in all areas or any combination thereof.

This wasn’t some sort of arbitrary “it’s the test’s fault” fluke either. When the researchers compaired the retest brain scans with the originals, they reflected the change in IQ, a change in wiring. Obviously this flies in the face of standard thinking on the subject.

Of course, like any study, this one raised a few more questions than it did answers. Sure, teenage IQ is malleable, but what does that mean? What affects it? Is it only teens? At what point does it become malleable? When does it stop? Does it ever stop? Well, this study isn’t going help clear any of that up. It has, however, blown the lid off of traditional IQ thinking and given other researchers some really good reasons to start looking into that kind of stuff. Who knows what they’ll turn up, but I’m kind of wary about too much information on this subject myself. I’m not sure I want to know all the things I’m doing that could hurt my IQ or the things I did that hurt it in the past. Ignorance is bliss, and may or may not affect your IQ.

(via Science)

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  • http://twitter.com/metavitae metavitae

    It’s changeable. And neurogenesis is possible.

    Go crazy bootcamp in math, chess or high-speed improv modal jazz 7-string guitar or piano.

    New & Different, Beginner’s Mind

    I’ve taken the test several times & my score HAS varied. 

    That being said, I know a couple guys above 140, and they are both only good at 1 thing, and couldn’t think their way out of a wet paper bag if you didn’t com back/forth in Excel-spreadsheet-format.

    I am in complete agreement with the passages in “Outliers” on this.

  • K-Bert

    To gain 140 and maintain… Fear and loathing in the great American (Insert other Country) dream and look west, for that wave… It’s coming… It’s coming… It’s coming.

  • Mathilda

     

    NO, NO ONE NEVER THOUGHT IQ SCORES WERE STABLE THROUGH LIFE.It’s
    been known for decades that it varies, and that it becomes more down to
    genes and less to environment with age. What this study shows is genes
    kicking in in the teen years.A chart for the heritability of IQ by age below. Notice the vast difference between age ten and eighteen.Age Heritability 5 .22
    7 .40
    10 .54
    12 .85
    16 .62
    18 .82
    26 .88Also a quote from the same paper (which is by no means unusual in it’s conclusions)….Twin Studies: Correlation of Intelligence and GeneticsThe
    more conventional methods of investigating intelligence also make use
    of twin and adoption studies, though most use correlational research.
    After studying 10,000 pairs of identical and fraternal twins, one study
    found the correlation between identical twins’ intelligences to be 0.86
    compared to the correlation of .60 when comparing the intelligences of
    fraternal twins (Plomin & Spinath, 2004). A different study found
    the correlation of intelligence between identical twins raised in
    separate environments to be 0.72 (Toga & Thompson, 2005). Such
    strong correlations show that intelligence may be strongly linked to
    genetics. There have also been studies that show the increasing
    influence that genetics has on intelligence as an individual ages. One
    such study tested the intelligence of a large group of identical twins
    reared apart at several ages (see Figure 1 for results). This trend can
    be explained by several hypotheses. Plomin (& Spinath, 2004)
    suggests that people seek out and choose situations that complement
    their genetic tendencies. Because the previously unobservable genetic
    differences are theorized to be conveyed through the actions of people,
    they make the differences between individuals become more apparent (Toga
    & Thompson, 2005). A similar idea is that seemingly minor genetic
    traits become increasingly important and more observable as people
    select environments that support their genetic inclinations. A different
    hypothesis as to why this trend occurs is that new genes begin to
    function as cognitive processes change and become more complex (Plomin
    & Spinath, 2004). IQ has been shown to be
    strongly heritable in adulthood. You can’t take any random child and
    program it to be a genius, or even bright. Masses of twin studies have
    shown adoptive children have only a slight effect in adulthood from
    their rearing environment, being most like the birth parents they never
    met. IQ tests are strongly predictive of life outcome, and they have a
    very real relationship with the size of your brain and your material
    sucess, independent of SES status and education. Look up the work of
    Linda Gottfriedson, as well as one recent Polish study on IQ and life
    outcome. Same conclusion from both.Human potential is set in DNA.
    We know at least two genetically caused medical conditions that significantly raise
    intelligence as well as a multitude that lower it. Your environment will
    dictate how far you can fulfill your potential. Most of us can’t be
    geniuses, no matter how hard our parents and teachers try to hothouse
    us.Nice to see the myth of the human tabula rasa is still
    as dearly held as ever by the world at large.