Are We Really Getting Smarter?

In this week's AP Psychology class, we began to discuss Unit 11, the chapter on intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations. We assessed the theories of the generalists, who believe that there is a certain underlying factor, the "g factor," which underlies all specific abilities of intelligence, and the multiples, who believe that intelligence should be divided into various areas of aptitude and talent. The generalists, who include Charles Spearman, L.L. Thurstone, and Raymond Cattell, maintain that intelligence is an inherent mental capacity that is specific to the realm of mathematical and verbal abilities. There is a single overall ability that is measured using psychometric testing and factor analysis, and small numbers of dimensions, clusters, or factors exist within a larger set of dependent variables. One can determine a statistical relationship between different measures of ability.

As I was browsing the interweb, I stumbled upon an article entitled, "Are We Really Getting Smarter?" Interestingly enough, this article was written by James R. Flynn, for whom the "Flynn Effect" is named. The question posed by the article is quite self explanatory: As time has elapsed throughout the centuries, have we actually "gotten smarter?" In advanced countries like the United States, there has been a significant increase in IQ scores over time.  From the early 1900s to today, Americans have scored three additional IQ points per decade on both the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales.

In 1910, scored against today's standard, earlier generations would have had an average IQ of 70. This has ignited some criticism against IQ, as our ancestors had the same practical intelligence and capabilities to cope with the everyday world as we do now. However, what these IQ scores do express is that education has altered the human mind and distinguished us from those who lived in past centuries, who often had no formal education past the sixth grade.

"Modern people" perform better on the aforementioned intelligence tests because we are exposed to a world influenced by categories and ideas, nonverbal symbols, abstract concepts, and visuals that create unusual or alternative realities. We have adapted to deal with a world that would have been completely foreign to previous generations. Our minds now incline towards using logic to solve hypothetical concepts, and discovering relationships between these objects.

Also, the exam questions posed by tests were different, with the earlier exams being about "socially valuable information" and the later tests concerned with relationships. Our lives are also a subject of contrast, with new information dominating our minds. This increasing amount of information available at our fingertips has allowed our mental abilities to expand, thus benefitting both society and our brains.

What do you think of this article? Do you think we're actually smarter than previous generations? If so, how? If not, which aspects of intelligence are more prevalent in these earlier generations? In terms of the future, do you think this trend will continue? 

Link to the article:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444032404578006612858486012