The Flynn Effect: Why We’re Getting Smarter

In the 1980s, researchers began to examine the reasons behind the Flynn Effect. Astonishingly, average IQ has steadily been increasing for decades. Discussed in this episode: Possible causes of the Flynn effect (improvements in education, increase in GDP, increased exposure to technology, reduced blood lead levels, better nutrition, medical advances, reduction in exposure to pathogens, decreased life history speed, and decreasing family size), recent curtailing of the Flynn effect, and limitations and implications of Flynn effect research.

 

Related reading: Pietschnig, J., & Voracek, M. (2015). One Century of Global IQ Gains: A Formal Meta-Analysis of the Flynn Effect. Perspect Psychol Psy, 10(3), 282–306; Williams, R.L. (2013). Overview of the Flynn Effect. Intelligence, 41, 753 - 764.

 

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