Study: Teenagers are less intelligent than a generation ago

[zengrifter]

Its the fluoride and the chemtrails. zg

Telegraph.co.uk

Teenagers are less intelligent than a generation ago, claims study
The number of exceptionally bright teenagers is significantly lower than a generation ago, a new study claims.

By Charlotte Bailey
Last Updated: 7:48AM GMT 27 Oct 2008

The most intelligent 14-year-old in 2008 is now only on a par with the brightest 12-year-old in 1976, according to the findings.

Researchers at King's College, London, asked 800 children aged 13 and 14 to take a series of tests which measured their understanding of abstract scientific concepts such as volume, density, quantity and weight.

The results were compared with a similar exercise in 1976.

In a test known as the pendulum test just over one in ten were found to have reached top grades which demanded a 'higher level of thinking', a significant drop from the 1976 result of one in four.

In a second test, which assessed mathematical thinking skills, one in five youngsters in 1976 had achieved high grades whereas the figure from the most recent study was only one in 20.

But average achievement was found to be similar in teenagers from both generations.

Professor Michael Shayar, who led the study, said: "The pendulum test does not require any knowledge of science at all. It looks at how people can deal with complex information and sort it out for themselves."

He believes that the decline in brainpower has happened over the last ten to 15 years and could be a result of national curriculum targets which drill children for tests as well as changes in children's leisure activities, such as an increase in computer games and television watching.

xxx

[bj bob]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

Its the fluoride and the chemtrails. zg

Telegraph.co.uk

Teenagers are less intelligent than a generation ago, claims study
The number of exceptionally bright teenagers is significantly lower than a generation ago, a new study claims.

By Charlotte Bailey
Last Updated: 7:48AM GMT 27 Oct 2008

The most intelligent 14-year-old in 2008 is now only on a par with the brightest 12-year-old in 1976, according to the findings.

Researchers at King's College, London, asked 800 children aged 13 and 14 ...
The results were compared with a similar exercise in 1976.

He believes that the decline in brainpower has happened over the last ten to 15 years and could be a result of national curriculum targets which drill children for tests as well as changes in children's leisure activities, such as an increase in computer games and television watching.

xxx

I concur completely with these findings Zg., as evidenced by the enormous cranial capacity of current casino management viz. H.E.T. et al.

[Guynoire]

The title seems very misleading. The article states that the average score is pretty much unchanged. Since when do we care about the right tail? IQ scores are pretty much normally distributed so by symmetry if the right tail disappears and the average remains the same the left tail also disappears. You could alternatively title this article. "Study Finds Decline in Idiots."

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by Guynoire

The title seems very misleading. The article states that the average score is pretty much unchanged. Since when do we care about the right tail? IQ scores are pretty much normally distributed so by symmetry if the right tail disappears and the average remains the same the left tail also disappears. You could alternatively title this article. "Study Finds Decline in Idiots."

I think the study means something. Kids don't have hobbies other than video games anymore, so ideas like "volume, density, quantity and weight" are just abstractions.

Also there's a lot of emphasis on getting kids into "special' educational programs, thus the researcher might not have had ready access to them this time around. I remember a day when getting ID'ed as "special" in any way meant you got your ass kicked in the schoolyard every day. So you were more likely to find exceptional kids in ordinary classrooms, laying low.

[aslan]

I wonder if there is any correlation with drug usage?

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by aslan

I wonder if there is any correlation with drug usage?

YES - fluoride, aspartame, mercury, vaccines, ritalin, chemtrails, etc. etc. zg

[callipygian]

Originally Posted by Guynoire

IQ scores are pretty much normally distributed

They are EXACTLY normally distributed. IQ scores are expressed as a percentile, so it's possible that someone with an IQ of 100 today is dumber than someone with an IQ of 100 in 1976.

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by callipygian

They are EXACTLY normally distributed. IQ scores are expressed as a percentile, so it's possible that someone with an IQ of 100 today is dumber than someone with an IQ of 100 in 1976.

No you are mixing two mathematical concepts. A person in the 99th percentile of a cohort of test-takers today might not have had the same result in 1976, but the classic IQ tests are not renormed every year to provide an average score of 100. The score is the score, while the percentile is dependent on who else is taking the test.

Also, the scores may not have a normal (Gaussian) distribution, and there is no reason to believe in the humanities that they ever would. You put a bunch of rocket scientists and a bunch of retardates in a room and give them all an IQ test and you will not see a normal distribution, and no one will have a score of 100.

[Guynoire]

Well if everyone is going to speculate on the cause of the results I'll do so too. The results could be explained by having a larger proportion of women in the sample. If you compare male and female IQ scores the mean is almost identical but males have a much larger variance than females. If the proportion of women in the sample today is higher than it was 40 years ago that would explain the similar mean but lower variance.

[callipygian]

Originally Posted by Automatic Monkey

the classic IQ tests are not renormed every year to provide an average score of 100

Not every year, but they are periodically renormalized.

For example:
WISC-R: 1974
WISC-III: 1991
WISC-IV: 2003

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect