tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/iq-1716/articlesIQ – The Conversation2024-02-28T22:42:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242162024-02-28T22:42:24Z2024-02-28T22:42:24ZMounting research shows that COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain, including with significant drops in IQ scores<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577796/original/file-20240226-16-yg36tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4985%2C3585&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows that even mild COVID-19 can lead to the equivalent of seven years of brain aging.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/brain-fog-conceptual-illustration-royalty-free-illustration/1740384064?phrase=brain+fog&adppopup=true">Victor Habbick Visions/Science Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From the very early days of the pandemic, <a href="https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/brain-fog/guide/">brain fog</a> <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-covid-19-brain-fog-and-how-can-you-clear-it-2021030822076">emerged as a significant health condition</a> that many experience after COVID-19. </p>
<p>Brain fog is a colloquial term that describes a state of mental sluggishness or lack of clarity and haziness that makes it difficult to concentrate, remember things and think clearly.</p>
<p>Fast-forward four years and there is now abundant evidence that being infected with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02001-z">can affect brain health in many ways</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to brain fog, COVID-19 can lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02521-2">an array of problems</a>, including headaches, seizure disorders, strokes, sleep problems, and tingling and paralysis of the nerves, as well as <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-068993">several mental health disorders</a>. </p>
<p>A large and growing body of evidence amassed throughout the pandemic details the many ways that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0867">COVID-19 leaves an indelible mark</a> on the brain. But the specific pathways by which the virus does so are still being elucidated, and curative treatments are nonexistent.</p>
<p>Now, two new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine shed further light on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMe2400189">profound toll of COVID-19 on cognitive health</a>. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DtuRVcUAAAAJ">physician scientist</a>, and I have been devoted to studying <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html">long COVID</a> since early patient reports about this condition – even before the term “long COVID” was coined. I have testified before the U.S. Senate as <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/addressing-long-covid-advancing-research-and-improving-patient-care">an expert witness on long COVID</a> and have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=search_authors&hl=en&mauthors=label:long_covid">published extensively</a> on this topic.</p>
<h2>How COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain</h2>
<p>Here are some of the most important studies to date documenting how COVID-19 affects brain health: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Large epidemiological analyses showed that people who had COVID-19 were at an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02001-z">increased risk of cognitive deficits</a>, such as memory problems.</p></li>
<li><p>Imaging studies done in people before and after their COVID-19 infections show <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04569-5">shrinkage of brain volume</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-mild-cases-of-covid-19-can-leave-a-mark-on-the-brain-such-as-reductions-in-gray-matter-a-neuroscientist-explains-emerging-research-178499">altered brain structure after infection</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>A study of people with mild to moderate COVID-19 showed significant prolonged inflammation of the brain and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2217232120">changes that are commensurate with seven years of brain aging</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Severe COVID-19 that requires hospitalization or intensive care may result in cognitive deficits and other brain damage that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3818580/v1">equivalent to 20 years of aging</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Laboratory experiments in human and mouse brain <a href="https://hsci.harvard.edu/organoids">organoids</a> designed to emulate changes in the human brain showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg2248">fusion of brain cells</a>. This effectively short-circuits brain electrical activity and compromises function. </p></li>
<li><p>Autopsy studies of people who had severe COVID-19 but died months later from other causes showed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05542-y">the virus was still present in brain tissue</a>. This provides evidence that contrary to its name, SARS-CoV-2 is not only a respiratory virus, but it can also enter the brain in some individuals. But whether the persistence of the virus in brain tissue is driving some of the brain problems seen in people who have had COVID-19 is not yet clear.</p></li>
<li><p>Studies show that even when the virus is mild and exclusively confined to the lungs, it can still provoke inflammation in the brain and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.06.008">impair brain cells’ ability to regenerate</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>COVID-19 can also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01576-9">disrupt the blood brain barrier</a>, the shield that protects the nervous system – which is the control and command center of our bodies – making it “leaky.” Studies using imaging to assess the brains of people hospitalized with COVID-19 showed disrupted or leaky blood brain barriers in those who experienced brain fog.</p></li>
<li><p>A large preliminary analysis pooling together data from 11 studies encompassing almost 1 million people with COVID-19 and more than 6 million uninfected individuals showed that COVID-19 <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4716751">increased the risk of development of new-onset dementia</a> in people older than 60 years of age.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Autopsies have revealed devastating damage in the brains of people who died with COVID-19.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Drops in IQ</h2>
<p>Most recently, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330">assessed cognitive abilities</a> such as memory, planning and spatial reasoning in nearly 113,000 people who had previously had COVID-19. The researchers found that those who had been infected had significant deficits in memory and executive task performance. </p>
<p>This decline was evident among those infected in the early phase of the pandemic and <a href="https://theconversation.com/delta-variant-makes-it-even-more-important-to-get-a-covid-19-vaccine-even-if-youve-already-had-the-coronavirus-164203">those infected when the delta</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-omicron-the-new-coronavirus-variant-of-concern-be-more-contagious-than-delta-a-virus-evolution-expert-explains-what-researchers-know-and-what-they-dont-169020">omicron variants</a> were dominant. These findings show that the risk of cognitive decline did not abate as the pandemic virus evolved from the ancestral strain to omicron.</p>
<p>In the same study, those who had mild and resolved COVID-19 showed cognitive decline equivalent to a three-point loss of IQ. In comparison, those with unresolved persistent symptoms, such as people with persistent shortness of breath or fatigue, had a six-point loss in IQ. Those who had been admitted to the intensive care unit for COVID-19 had a nine-point loss in IQ. Reinfection with the virus contributed an additional two-point loss in IQ, as compared with no reinfection.</p>
<p>Generally the average IQ is about 100. An IQ above 130 indicates a highly gifted individual, while an IQ below 70 generally indicates a level of intellectual disability that may require significant societal support.</p>
<p>To put the finding of the New England Journal of Medicine study into perspective, I estimate that a three-point downward shift in IQ would increase the number of U.S. adults with an IQ less than 70 from 4.7 million to 7.5 million – an increase of 2.8 million adults with a level of cognitive impairment that requires significant societal support.</p>
<p>Another study in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine involved more than 100,000 Norwegians between March 2020 and April 2023. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2311200">documented worse memory function</a> at several time points up to 36 months following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. </p>
<h2>Parsing the implications</h2>
<p>Taken together, these studies show that COVID-19 poses a serious risk to brain health, even in mild cases, and the effects are now being revealed at the population level. </p>
<p>A recent analysis of the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps.html">U.S. Current Population Survey</a> showed that after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/13/upshot/long-covid-disability.html">additional 1 million working-age Americans</a> reported having “serious difficulty” remembering, concentrating or making decisions than at any time in the preceding 15 years. Most disconcertingly, this was mostly driven by younger adults between the ages of 18 to 44. </p>
<p>Data from the European Union shows a similar trend – in 2022, 15% of people in the EU <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20240129-1">reported memory and concentration issues</a>.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, it will be critical to identify who is most at risk. A better understanding is also needed of how these trends might affect the educational attainment of children and young adults and the economic productivity of working-age adults. And the extent to which these shifts will influence the epidemiology of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is also not clear. </p>
<p>The growing body of research now confirms that COVID-19 should be considered a virus with a significant impact on the brain. The implications are far-reaching, from individuals experiencing cognitive struggles to the potential impact on populations and the economy. </p>
<p>Lifting the fog on the true causes behind these cognitive impairments, including brain fog, will require years if not decades of concerted efforts by researchers across the globe. And unfortunately, nearly everyone is a test case in this unprecedented global undertaking.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ziyad Al-Aly receives funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. </span></em></p>Two new high-profile studies add to the increasingly worrisome picture of how even mild cases of COVID-19 can have detrimental effects on brain health.Ziyad Al-Aly, Chief of Research and Development, VA St. Louis Health Care System. Clinical Epidemiologist, Washington University in St. LouisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2088072023-06-30T00:45:28Z2023-06-30T00:45:28ZA 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding affirmative action planted the seeds of its overturning, as justices then and now thought racism an easily solved problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534883/original/file-20230629-21-kbgai2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8267%2C5366&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Supreme Court issued a decision on June 29, 2023, that ends affirmative action in college admissions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-u-s-supreme-court-is-shown-at-dusk-on-june-28-2023-in-news-photo/1260960662?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/politics/affirmative-action-supreme-court-ruling/index.html">an anticipated but nonetheless stunning decision</a> expected to have widespread implications on college campuses and workplaces across the country, the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2023, outlawed affirmative action programs that were designed to correct centuries of racist disenfranchisement in higher education. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23864004-students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college">the majority opinion</a> about the constitutionality of admissions programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Harvard’s and UNC’s race-based admission guidelines “cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause.”</p>
<p>“College admissions are zero sum, and a benefit provided to some applicants but not to others necessarily advantages the former at the expense of the latter,” Roberts wrote. </p>
<p>Though not a surprise, <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23864004-students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college">the decision</a> in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/us/politics/supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard-unc.html">Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard</a> and <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-university-of-north-carolina/">Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina</a> drew widespread <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/key-civil-rights-groups-blast-supreme-court-sharply-curtailing-affirma-rcna91829">condemnation from civil rights groups</a> and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2023-06-29/republican-presidential-hopefuls-celebrate-supreme-court-ruling-on-affirmative-action">praise from conservative politicians</a>. </p>
<p>In my view as a <a href="https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/shrop/">race and equity legal scholar focused on business</a>, the court had subtly established an affirmative action <a href="https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/can-critical-race-theory-save-pro-sports/">expiration date</a> in its 2003 <a href="https://casetext.com/case/grutter-v-bollinger-et-al">Grutter v. Bollinger</a> decision. </p>
<p>In that case, Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in her majority opinion that “race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time,” adding that the “Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.” </p>
<p>In this opinion, the court moved that deadline to the forefront, and it is no longer the throwaway line that some believed at the time.</p>
<p>What the court’s decision in these 2023 cases means for college admissions officers is that the mere mention of using race to address racial and arguably gender disparities is unconstitutional. By their very nature, academia and corporations are conservative, and general counsels at these entities are likely to caution against any program targeting historically underrepresented people.</p>
<p>At the most optimistic, this ruling forces higher learning institutions to revise programs and look to remedy past wrongs on a case-by-case basis. </p>
<p>But its my belief that O'Connor’s deadline was one of desire and not reality. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/">vestiges of past discrimination</a> and the unfortunate existence of ongoing discrimination continue. No deadline has made these wrongs and their impact disappear.</p>
<p><a href="https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Jackson-dissent.pdf">In her dissent</a> in the UNC case, Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson details the reality: </p>
<p>“With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life. And having so detached itself from this country’s actual past and present experiences, the Court has now been lured into interfering with the crucial work that UNC and other institutions of higher learning are doing to solve America’s real-world problems.”</p>
<h2>The court’s opposition grew slowly</h2>
<p>In their lawsuits against North Carolina and Harvard, the anti-affirmative action organization <a href="https://studentsforfairadmissions.org/">Students for Fair Admissions</a> argued that the schools’ race-conscious admissions process was unconstitutional and discriminated against high-achieving Asian American students in favor of traditionally underrepresented Blacks and Hispanics who may not have earned the same grades or standardized test scores as other applicants.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five men and four women are wearing black robes as they pose for a portrait." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508673/original/file-20230207-29-owvlbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Supreme Court, from left in front row: Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan; and from left in back row: Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/united-states-supreme-court-associate-justice-sonia-news-photo/1431388794?phrase=us%20supreme%20clarence%20thomas&adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The primary Supreme Court-level battle over affirmative action started during the 1970s when a legal challenge reached the Supreme Court in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/regents_of_the_university_of_california_v_bakke_(1978)#:%7E:text=Primary%20tabs-,Regents%20of%20the%20University%20of%20California%20v.,Civil%20Rights%20Act%20of%201964">Regents of the University of California v. Bakke</a>. </p>
<p>In that 1978 case, Allan Bakke, a white man, had been denied admission to University of California at Davis’ medical school. Though ruling that a separate admissions process for minority medical students was unconstitutional, Associate Justice Lewis Powell wrote that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/10/how-lewis-powell-changed-affirmative-action/572938/">race can still be one of several factors</a> in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Since then, the Supreme Court has issued different rulings on whether race could be used in college admissions.</p>
<p>In the 2003 <a href="https://casetext.com/case/grutter-v-bollinger-et-al">Grutter v. Bollinger</a> case, O’Connor wrote the <a href="https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep539/usrep539306/usrep539306.pdf">majority opinion</a> that endorsed the University of Michigan’s “highly individualized, holistic review” that included race as a factor and had been legally challenged. </p>
<p>Most recently, in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-981_4g15.PDF">Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin</a> in 2016, the court reaffirmed its belief in schools that “train students to appreciate diverse viewpoints, to see one another as more than mere stereotypes, and to develop the capacity to live and work together as equal members of a common community.”</p>
<h2>A colorblind society?</h2>
<p>The ruling is not a complete loss for supporters of diversity efforts. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23864004-students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college">Roberts wrote</a> that prospective students should be evaluated “as an individual — not on the basis of race,” although universities can still consider “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A Black man wearing a robe poses for a portrait." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1138%2C97%2C2678%2C2443&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508683/original/file-20230207-27-bavjpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas opposes all race-conscious college admissions policies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/united-states-supreme-court-associate-justice-clarence-news-photo/1431382313?phrase=us%20supreme%20clarence%20thomas&adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Applicants then are still able to explain their background in their essays submitted for college admissions. But even that is fraught with problems. </p>
<p>As novelist <a href="https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/g32842156/james-baldwin-quotes/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=arb_ga_opr_m_bm_prog_org_us_g32842156&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo5CX_-Po_wIVbs_jBx243Aw3EAAYASAAEgJ8DvD_BwE">James Baldwin once asked</a>: How does one articulate the constant presence of race to someone who is not experiencing it? </p>
<p>For governmental entities, like public schools or those receiving substantial state funding, the ruling forces them to detail not only how using race will further compel government interests but also whether such a program is necessary to achieve that interest. </p>
<p>As Jackson explains <a href="https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Jackson-dissent.pdf">in her dissent</a>:</p>
<p>“The only way out of this morass – for all of us – is to stare at racial disparity unblinkingly, and then do what evidence and experts tell us is required to level the playing field. It is no small irony that the judgment the majority hands down today will forestall the end of race-based disparities in this country, making the colorblind world the majority wistfully touts much more difficult to accomplish.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208807/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kenneth L. Shropshire does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate affirmative action programs sent shock waves across the US and is expected to impact racial diversity throughout society.Kenneth L. Shropshire, Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies and Business Ethics; Faculty Director, Wharton Coalition for Equity & Opportunity, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2056942023-06-01T14:11:44Z2023-06-01T14:11:44ZAre rich people more intelligent? Here’s what the science says<p>From <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13406094/">White Lotus</a> to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/">Succession</a>, there’s high demand for television dramas about the super rich. The characters on these shows are typically portrayed as entitled, hollow and sad. But they aren’t necessarily depicted as unintelligent. So are rich people rich because they are smart? </p>
<p>In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, this question goes beyond scientific curiosity and touches something deeper.</p>
<p>If people’s net worth were only the consequence of their intelligence, the gigantic <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/economy-99">wealth gap</a> we see in our society might be perceived as less intolerable – at least by some. Inequality would be the price to pay for having the smartest lead us all to a better future.</p>
<p>There is little doubt that intelligence contributes to one’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289613000263#bb0060">economic and professional success</a>. Take self-made billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Ray Dalio, just to name a few. It would be surprising if top innovators in advanced fields such as tech and finance turned out to be average. </p>
<p>In fact, intelligence is the best predictor of both <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289606000171">educational achievement</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2003-11198-011">work performance</a>. And academic and professional success is, in turn, a fairly good forecaster of income. But that’s not the whole story.</p>
<p>Not all highly intelligent people are primarily driven by a desire for wealth – they <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656612001572">often have a thirst for knowledge</a>. Some may instead opt for comparatively less well paying jobs that are more intellectually rewarding, such as architecture, engineering or research. A recent Swedish study showed that cognitive test scores of the top 1% of earners <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/esr/jcac076/7008955?login=false">were not significantly different</a> to the scores obtained by those who earned slightly less. </p>
<p>But to what extent does intelligence boost wealth? Before diving into the evidence, we must clarify what researchers mean by “intelligence”. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2019-01683-001.html">Intelligence</a> can be defined as the ability to perform a wide range of cognitive tests successfully. And these seem to be linked. If someone is good at resolving a particular cognitive test, they will probably perform well in other cognitive tests too.</p>
<p>Intelligence is not a monolithic trait, though. In fact, it consists of at least two broad constructs: <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/fluid-crystallized-intelligence.html">fluid intelligence and crystallised intelligence</a>. Fluid intelligence taps into core cognitive mechanisms, such as the speed of processing stimuli, memory capacity and abstract reasoning. Conversely, crystallised intelligence refers to those skills developed in a social environment, such as literacy, numeracy and knowledge about specific topics.</p>
<p>This distinction matters because these two types of intelligence develop <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09567976231156793">in different ways</a>. Fluid intelligence can be <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1980.tb00809.x">inherited</a>, <a href="https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/102168/1/Cognitive_Training_Does_Not_Enhance_General_Cognition_FINAL.pdf">cannot be boosted</a> and decreases fairly quickly with age. By contrast, crystallised intelligence <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1529100620920576">increases throughout most adulthood</a> and starts declining only after about 65 years.</p>
<p>But fluid intelligence helps build up crystallised intelligence. Fluid intelligence represents the brain’s capacity of acquiring and elaborating information. Crystallised intelligence is, to a large extent, acquired information.</p>
<p>This means that if your reasoning skills are sharp, then you will process new information quickly. You will integrate novel information with old information accurately. Ultimately, this will speed up learning of any discipline and contribute to your academic and financial success.</p>
<h2>Education is a factor</h2>
<p>That said, innate capabilities are not the only thing that matters. Another significant factor is education.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0956797618774253?casa_token=nOeXqIgTR84AAAAA:nTPBsRJuKNWtCO3F2vNoK0t2m-N1BQZ_5wm4EHp0pg0qN_dDqDXbn3dOgohDyKFwhRMMYMkZmsKUOko">quantitative review</a> has established that the more years of schooling, the higher students’ intelligence scores. Crucially, these improvements stem from training in <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2015-11424-001.html">specific skills</a> rather than enhancing general intellectual ability. So school teaches you useful stuff for both professional success and performing intelligence tests. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, education in turn is affected by family socioeconomic status. For example, expensive schools and private tutors provide the student highly efficient <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem">personalised instruction</a>. Access to top quality education may therefore make a huge difference in future income.</p>
<p>Of course, the influence of family socioeconomic status on wealth does not operate solely through education. Inheritance and networks are among the most obvious mechanisms. This is particularly true for entrepreneurs, whose investing potential and connections are fundamental for business success.</p>
<h2>The role of luck</h2>
<p>So intelligence, education and socioeconomic status all affect one’s income. However, these factors alone are unlikely to fully account for the individual differences in wealth. In fact, a <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.07068">recent study</a> suggests that luck exerts a significant impact.</p>
<p>This study highlights that the statistical distribution of wealth differs from the distribution of intelligence. Intelligence is “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/normal-distribution">normally distributed</a>”, with most individuals being around average. By contrast, wealth follows a “<a href="https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ParetoDistribution.html">pareto distribution</a>”, a formula which shows that 80% of a country’s wealth is in the hands of only 20% of the population. </p>
<p><strong>Intelligence versus wealth distribution</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing the distribution of intelligence (left panel) and wealth (right panel; values in log scale)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528684/original/file-20230527-69553-pgqw7o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The distribution of intelligence (left panel) and wealth (right panel; values in log scale). The data are simulated and are shown only for exposition purposes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This means intellect alone cannot account for the disproportionate disparities between rich and poor in our society.</p>
<p>The study does not downplay the role of intelligence (or talent in general). A fine intellectual ability improves the chances of getting rich. Nonetheless, intelligence is no guarantee of getting rich. Furthermore, a series of fortunate events can clearly turn unremarkable individuals into high earners.</p>
<p>That is, when it comes to getting rich, intelligence is neither sufficient nor necessary. But it does help.</p>
<p>“I’d rather be lucky than good,” says the character Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) in Woody Allen’s film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416320/">Match Point</a>. In the light of the evidence we have just reviewed, he may be right. </p>
<p>Being born into a wealthy and highly educated family is a fortunate event. Likewise, random strokes of luck (like winning the lottery) do not come from years of hard work. We may even push the argument a bit further and conclude that being intelligent is a form of luck itself. </p>
<p>Many things that contribute to achieving financial success are beyond our control. Most, if not all, extremely wealthy people have been blessed by Lady Luck somehow. </p>
<p>Conversely, making the most of what luck brings us certainly matters. Granted, a good deal of individuals merely cash in the benefits of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-meritocracy-is-a-smokescreen-for-inherited-privilege-70948">inherited privilege</a>. </p>
<p>Regardless, many small and big fortunes stem from an intelligent use of the resources we are lucky to have been gifted with – whether they are intellectual, educational or socioeconomic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205694/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Education, contacts and luck can play a considerable role when it comes to building up wealth.Giovanni Sala, Lecturer in Psychology, University of LiverpoolFernand Gobet, Professorial Research Fellow of Psychology, London School of Economics and Political ScienceLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1829502022-05-12T13:20:11Z2022-05-12T13:20:11ZVideo games: our study suggests they boost intelligence in children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462712/original/file-20220512-12-u2y00s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C143%2C6489%2C4726&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Good news for parents...</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-glasses-kids-playing-computer-game-622076333">PR Image Factory/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many parents feel guilty when their children play video games for hours on end. Some even worry it could make their children less clever. And, indeed, that’s a topic scientists have clashed over for years.</p>
<p>In our new study, we investigated how video games affect the minds of children, interviewing and testing more than 5,000 children aged ten to 12. And the results, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11341-2">published in Scientific Reports</a>, will be surprising to some. </p>
<p>Children were asked how many hours a day they spent on social media, watching videos or TV, and playing video games. The answer was: a lot of hours. On average, children spent two and a half hours a day watching online videos or TV programmes, half an hour socialising online, and one hour playing video games. </p>
<p>In total, that’s four hours a day for the average child and six hours for the top 25% – a large portion of a child’s free time. And other reports found that this <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/research-publications/childrens/children-parents-nov-15/">has increased dramatically</a> over the decades. Screens were around in previous generations, but now they truly define childhood.</p>
<p>Is that a bad thing? Well, it’s complicated. There could be <a href="https://www.publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-split/138/5/e20162593/60349/Children-and-Adolescents-and-Digital-Media">both benefits and drawbacks</a> for the developing minds of children. And these might depend on the outcome you are looking at. For our study, we were specifically interested in the effect of screen time on intelligence – the ability to learn effectively, think rationally, understand complex ideas, and adapt to new situations.</p>
<p>Intelligence is an important trait in our lives and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01027-y">highly predictive</a> of a child’s future income, happiness and longevity. In research, it’s often measured as performance on a wide range of cognitive tests. For our study, we created an intelligence index from five tasks: two on reading comprehension and vocabulary, one on attention and executive function (which includes working memory, flexible thinking and self-control), one assessing visual-spatial processing (such as rotating objects in your mind), and one on learning ability over multiple trials.</p>
<p>This is not the first time someone has studied the effect of screens on intelligence, but research, so far, has <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0273229717300011">produced</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395621001473">mixed</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563220300662">results</a>. So, what’s special this time? The novelty of our study is that we took genes and socioeconomic backgrounds into account. Only a few studies so far have considered socioeconomic status (household income, parental education and neighbourhood quality), and no study had accounted for genetic effects.</p>
<p>Genes matter because intelligence <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01027-y">is highly heritable</a>. If unaccounted for, these factors could mask the true effect of screen time on children’s intelligence. For example, children born with certain genes might be more prone to watch TV and, independently, have learning issues. The lottery of genetics is a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-0862-5">major confounder</a> in any psychological process, but until recently this has been hard to account for in scientific studies due to the heavy costs of genome analysis and technological limitations. </p>
<p>The data we used for our study is part of a massive data collection effort in the US to better understand childhood development: the <a href="https://abcdstudy.org/">Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development</a> project. Our sample was representative of the US in terms of sex, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. </p>
<h2>The results</h2>
<p>We found that when we first asked the child at age ten how much they played, both watching videos and socialising online were linked to below-average intelligence. Meanwhile, gaming wasn’t linked with intelligence at all. These results of screen time are mostly in line with previous research. But when we followed up at a later date, we found that gaming had a positive and meaningful effect on intelligence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="image of a father and son gaming." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=457%2C16%2C4300%2C3538&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462710/original/file-20220512-24-vp47q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gaming definitely won’t make your kid less clever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-son-sitting-on-sofa-lounge-670592221">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While children who played more video games at ten years were on average no more intelligent than children who didn’t game, they showed the most gains in intelligence after two years, in both boys and girls. For example, a child who was in the top 17% in terms of hours spent gaming increased their IQ about 2.5 points more than the average child over two years. </p>
<p>This is evidence of a beneficial, causal effect of video games on intelligence. This result fits with <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0037556">previous, smaller studies</a>, where participants are randomly assigned to video-game playing or a control group. Our finding is also in line with parallel lines of studies suggesting that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797618774253">cognitive abilities aren’t fixed</a>, but can be trained – including studies with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01118-4">cognitive training intervention apps</a>.</p>
<p>What about the other two types of screen activities? Social media did not effect the change in intelligence after two years. The many hours of instagramming and messaging did not boost children’s intelligence, but it was not detrimental either. Finally, watching TV and online videos showed a positive effect in one of the analyses, but no effect when parental education was taken into account (as opposed to the broader factor of “socioeconomic status”). So this finding should be taken with a grain of salt. There is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20053120?seq=1">some empirical support</a> that high-quality TV/video content, such as the programme Sesame Street, has a positive effect on children’s school performance and cognitive abilities. But those results are rare.</p>
<p>When thinking about the implications of these findings, it is important to keep in mind that there are many other psychological aspects that we didn’t look at, such as mental health, sleep quality and physical exercise. Our results should not be taken as a blanket recommendation for all parents to allow limitless gaming. But for those parents bothered by their children playing video games, you can now feel better knowing that it’s probably making them a tad smarter.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182950/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Torkel Klingberg receives funding from Medical Research Council in Sweden. He is the chief scientific officer at the company Cogmed. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruno Sauce received funding from the Strategic Research Area Neuroscience (StratNeuro) in Sweden.</span></em></p>A big study accounting for genes and socioeconomic background suggests that video games actually cause children’s intelligence to grow.Torkel Klingberg, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Karolinska InstitutetBruno Sauce, Assistant Professor of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1786452022-03-14T18:56:59Z2022-03-14T18:56:59ZMen think they’re brighter than they are and women underestimate their IQ. Why?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450861/original/file-20220309-2144-1oix4kf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C7076%2C4689&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When asked to estimate their own intelligence, most people will say they are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority">above average</a>, even though this is a statistical improbability. This is a normal, healthy cognitive bias and extends to any socially desirable trait such as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0146167211432763">honesty, driving ability and so on</a>. This pattern is so common that it’s known as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority">the above-average effect</a>”.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.812483/full">recent study</a>, my colleagues and I explored how consistently men and women estimated their own intelligence or IQ (intelligence quotient). We also assessed measures of general self-esteem and masculine and feminine personality traits. </p>
<p>We found the strongest predictors of overestimating IQ were biological sex and then psychological gender. Being born male and having strong masculine traits (both men and women) were associated with an inflated intellectual self-image. </p>
<hr>
<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-can-do-it-a-growth-mindset-helps-us-learn-127710">You can do it! A 'growth mindset' helps us learn</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Male hubris, female humility</h2>
<p>Despite people’s overall tendency to overestimate their own intelligence, individuals vary. Some doubt their intellectual ability while others greatly overestimate their talents. In general, though, when asked to estimate their IQ, men think they’re significantly brighter than they are, while women’s estimates are far more modest. </p>
<p>Our findings are consistent with those of other studies. Psychologist Adrian Furnham has termed this effect the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223906403_Male_hubris_and_female_humility_A_crosscultural_study_of_ratings_of_self_parental_and_sibling_multiple_intelligence_in_America_Britain_and_Japan">male hubris, female humility problem</a>. It’s true of many cultures. </p>
<p>Why do men see themselves as so much brighter, while women consistently underestimate their intelligence?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-emotions-is-nearly-as-important-as-iq-for-students-academic-success-131212">Understanding emotions is nearly as important as IQ for students' academic success</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>There are no gender differences in actual IQ</h2>
<p>Psychology and intelligence researchers are unequivocal: men and women do not differ in actual IQ. There is no “smarter sex”. However, it was only with the development of objective measures of assessing intelligence that this notion was invalidated. </p>
<p>Historically, women were believed to be intellectually inferior as they had slightly smaller skulls. By the same logic, an elephant’s intelligence dwarfs ours! Bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to brain size.</p>
<p>In the past century, <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/07/women-equally-more-competent">gender stereotypes have changed greatly</a>. Today, when asked explicitly, most people will agree men and women are equally intelligent. Overt endorsements of gender stereotypes about intelligence are rare in most countries.</p>
<p>But there is quite a difference in implicit beliefs about gender and intellect. Covert and indirect endorsement can still be widely seen. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Old black and white photo of man looking at a women in a superior way" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450863/original/file-20220309-20-18pneu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the past, men were openly declared to be the ‘smarter sex’. Even today many people still implicitly accept this stereotype.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1018772830511">classic social psychology study</a>, researchers asked parents to estimate the intelligence of their children. Sons were rated significantly more intelligent than daughters. This finding has been replicated across the world. </p>
<p>Parental expectations may be particularly important in influencing their children’s intellectual self-image, and are also predictive of later academic achievement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/youre-the-best-your-belief-in-your-kids-academic-ability-can-actually-improve-their-grades-161881">'You're the best!' Your belief in your kids' academic ability can actually improve their grades</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/01/self-esteem-gender">Gender differences in self-esteem</a> might also be an important factor, as people with higher self-esteem tend to see all aspects of their life (including intellectual ability) more positively. Girls and women rate their general self-esteem significantly lower than boys and men. This difference emerges early in adolescence. </p>
<h2>What did our study find?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.812483/full">our study</a>, we asked participants to estimate their IQ after briefing them on how intelligence is scored. The average score is 100 points. We showed participants that two-thirds (66%) of people score in the range between 85 and 115 points to give them a frame of reference for estimates. </p>
<p>Where our study differed is that we told participants they would complete an IQ test after estimating their own IQ. This would help counter false bragging and inflated estimates, and allow us to test the accuracy of the male and female self-estimates. </p>
<p>Participants also completed a measure of general self-esteem, and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Bem-Sex-Role-Inventory">Bem Sex-Role Inventory</a>, which measures masculine and feminine personality traits. We had a hypothesis that psychological gender (specifically masculinity) would be a better predictor of self-estimates than biological sex (male or female at birth). </p>
<p>Our sample reported a mean IQ score of 107.55 points. This was slightly above average, as expected. </p>
<p>First, we examined the accuracy of their judgments, as one possibility might simply be that one gender (males or females) had completely unrealistic estimates of ability. Looking at the lines plotting self-estimated IQ against actual IQ, we can see men and women in our sample were fairly consistent in their accuracy. The difference was that male scores (in blue) were more more often overestimates (above the line) and females scores (in green) were more often underestimates (below the line). </p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450315/original/file-20220307-23-waidcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Scatterplot of the relationship between self-estimated and actual IQ, by gender (blue line is men, green is women).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
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<p>After statistically controlling for the effects of actual measured IQ, we next examined the strongest predictors of self-estimated intelligence. The results showed biological sex remained the strongest factor: males rated their intelligence as higher than females. However, psychological gender was also a very strong predictor, with highly masculine subjects rating their intelligence higher (importantly, there was no association with femininity). </p>
<p>There was also a strong contribution of general self-esteem to participants’ intellectual self-image. As noted above, males report higher self-esteem than females.</p>
<h2>Why does all this matter?</h2>
<p>Educational psychologists pay attention to intellectual self-image because it’s often a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you think you can’t, you won’t. </p>
<p>When girls undervalue their intelligence in school, they tend to choose less challenging course content – especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the STEM subjects). These decisions limit their education and career choices after school. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/calling-all-parents-australias-future-female-scientists-need-your-support-now-89025">Calling all parents – Australia's future female scientists need your support now</a>
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<p>These gender differences may in part explain the gender gap in wages and bargaining power with employers. </p>
<p>We need to lift girls’ aspirations if they are to go on to solve the complex problems our society faces, while achieving equal pay. It starts early with gendered parental expectations of intelligence, and differences in self-esteem between boys and girls. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be nice if, as parents, educators and a society, we could build the confidence of girls and young women to a level where they believe in themselves and are free of those doubts?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Reilly is a member of the American Psychological Association, and an Associate Member of the Australian Psychological Society. There was no external funding of this study, and no financial interests to declare.</span></em></p>Intellectual self-image matters because it’s often a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you think you can’t, you won’t.David Reilly, Researcher, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1632842021-06-23T15:40:18Z2021-06-23T15:40:18ZIQ tests can’t measure it, but ‘cognitive flexibility’ is key to learning and creativity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407965/original/file-20210623-15979-1ydf8cp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C2048%2C1578&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Einstein thought imagination was crucial.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/43531522@N00/17083401791">Robert and Talbot Trudeau/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology. In fact, many people have an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-40-smartest-people-of-all-time-2015-2?r=US&IR=T">endless fascination</a> with the IQ scores of famous people. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfrancis/2018/05/08/no-scientists-are-not-smarter-than-non-scientists/?sh=6e16a5d128d9">primarily relied on</a> qualities such as creativity, imagination, curiosity and empathy. </p>
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<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Many of these traits are embedded in what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behaviour to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. It is essentially about learning to learn and being able to be flexible about the way you learn. This includes changing strategies for optimal decision-making. In our ongoing research, we are trying to work out how people can best boost their cognitive flexibility.</p>
<p>Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it. If you normally take the same route to work, but there are now roadworks on your usual route, what do you do? Some people remain rigid and stick to the original plan, despite the delay. More flexible people adapt to the unexpected event and problem-solve to find a solution.</p>
<p>Cognitive flexibility may have affected how people coped with the pandemic lockdowns, which produced new challenges around work and schooling. Some of us found it easier than others to adapt our routines to do many activities from home. Such flexible people may also have changed these routines from time to time, trying to find better and more varied ways of going about their day. Others, however, struggled and ultimately became more rigid in their thinking. They stuck to the same routine activities, with little flexibility or change. </p>
<h2>Huge advantages</h2>
<p>Flexible thinking is key to creativity – in other words, the ability to think of new ideas, make novel connections between ideas, and make new inventions. It also supports academic and work skills such as problem solving. That said, unlike working memory – how much you can remember at a certain time – it is largely independent of IQ, or “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01681.x?casa_token=Yq62iS_OEOcAAAAA:9sUHau1I_ByZ3GJ8s7blJYVmFRAcdsqMTtPjLKrzh5Vo3Gdbz3ZgxpM_LHUbnVqEdhkFwIL5MdNygg">crystallised intelligence</a>”. For example, many visual artists may be of average intelligence, but highly creative and have produced masterpieces. </p>
<p>Contrary to many people’s beliefs, creativity is also important in science and innovation. For example, we have discovered that entrepreneurs who have created multiple companies <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/456168a">are more cognitively flexible</a> than managers of a similar age and IQ.</p>
<p>So does cognitive flexibility make people smarter in a way that isn’t always captured on IQ tests? We know that it leads to better “<a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/cold-cognition">cold cognition</a>”, which is non-emotional or “rational” thinking, throughout the lifespan. For example, for children it leads to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24959155">better reading abilities</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220671.1971.10884185">better school performance</a>. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886919300285">can also help protect</a> against a number of biases, such as confirmation bias. That’s because people who are cognitively flexible are better at recognising potential faults in themselves and using strategies to overcome these faults. </p>
<p>Cognitive flexibility is also associated with higher resilience to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21432680/">negative life events</a>, as well as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20359355/">better quality of life</a> in older individuals. It can even be beneficial in emotional and social cognition: studies have shown that cognitive flexibility has a strong link to the ability <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15248372.2014.888350?casa_token=NkwyJ_idHqMAAAAA:cZPvD81u_5EGnecSvpHjfCVvg139zdLN06-qDIEa15N7XyjO2V8fEfnrmHM7TPguONR3xj04H-ZI">to understand the emotions</a>, thoughts and intentions of others. </p>
<p>The opposite of cognitive flexibility is cognitive rigidity, which is found in a number of mental health disorders including <a href="https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(16)32670-1/fulltext">obsessive-compulsive disorder</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17825802/">major depressive disorder</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0004867417708610?journalCode=anpa">autism spectrum disorder</a>.</p>
<p>Neuroimaging studies have shown that cognitive flexibility <a href="https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/jnnp/early/2020/10/30/jnnp-2020-324104.full.pdf">is dependent on</a> a network of frontal and “striatal” brain regions. The frontal regions are associated with higher cognitive processes such as decision-making and problem solving. The striatal regions are instead linked with reward and motivation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Image of brain scans." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C6000%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407909/original/file-20210623-15-l9bnm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people have more flexible brains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pet-ct-scan-human-brain-axial-1410637847">Utthapon wiratepsupon/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>There are a number of ways to objectively assess people’s cognitive flexibility, including the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221309.1948.9918159">Wisconsin Card Sorting Test</a> and the <a href="https://www.cambridgecognition.com/cantab/cognitive-tests/executive-function/intra-extra-dimensional-set-shift-ied/">CANTAB Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift Task</a>.</p>
<h2>Boosting flexibility</h2>
<p>The good news is that it seems you can train cognitive flexibility. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), for example, is an evidence-based psychological therapy which <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/npp2011183">helps people change</a> their patterns of thoughts and behaviour. For example, a person with depression who has not been contacted by a friend in a week may attribute this to the friend no longer liking them. In CBT, the goal is to reconstruct their thinking to consider more flexible options, such as the friend being busy or unable to contact them.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/37/35/8412.full.pdf">Structure learning</a> – the ability to extract information about the structure of a complex environment and decipher initially incomprehensible streams of sensory information –
is another potential way forward. We know that this type of learning involves similar frontal and striatal brain regions as cognitive flexibility. </p>
<p>In a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University, we are currently working on a “real world” experiment to determine whether structural learning can actually lead to improved cognitive flexibility.</p>
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<p>Studies have shown the <a href="https://prc.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41155-017-0069-5">benefits of training</a> cognitive flexibility, for example in children with autism. After training cognitive flexibility, the children showed not only improved performance on cognitive tasks, but also improved social interaction and communication. In addition, cognitive flexibility training has been shown to be <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01040/full#h5">beneficial for children</a> without autism and in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00529/full">older adults</a>.</p>
<p>As we come out of the pandemic, we will need to ensure that in teaching and training new skills, people also learn to be cognitively flexible in their thinking. This will provide them with greater resilience and wellbeing <a href="https://twitter.com/britishacademy_/status/1395752200631169028">in the future</a>. </p>
<p>Cognitive flexibility is essential for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/4551057a">society to flourish</a>. It can help maximise the potential of individuals to create innovative ideas and creative inventions. Ultimately, it is such qualities we need to solve the big challenges of today, including global warming, preservation of the natural world, clean and sustainable energy and food security.</p>
<p><em>Professors <a href="https://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?Trevor">Trevor Robbins</a>, <a href="https://www.ntu.edu.sg/cradle/our-people/annabel-chen-shen-hsing">Annabel Chen</a> and <a href="https://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?zkourtzi">Zoe Kourtzi</a> also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163284/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Her research is conducted within the NIHR MedTech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operative (MIC) and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Mental Health and Neurodegeneration Themes. She consults for Cambridge Cognition.
The University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC) research project is funded by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christelle Langley is funded by the Wellcome Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria Leong receives funding from the Ministry of Education, Singapore and the Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC). CLIC is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.</span></em></p>Are you good at changing perspectives? If so, it may benefit you in more ways than you imagine.Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of CambridgeChristelle Langley, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cognitive Neuroscience, University of CambridgeVictoria Leong, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Nanyang Technological UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1588372021-05-05T14:03:14Z2021-05-05T14:03:14ZIQ tests: are humans getting smarter?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396017/original/file-20210420-15-10edd46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C6%2C4230%2C2816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/double-multiply-exposure-abstract-portrait-dreamer-1502881307">sun ok/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From the algorithms that make our social media accounts function to the sleep-tracking technology in our smartwatches, the world has never seemed so technologically advanced and developed. Which is why it would be easy to assume that with each generation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ignore-the-iq-test-your-level-of-intelligence-is-not-fixed-for-life-30673">humans are getting smarter</a>. But is this the case?</p>
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<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>It’s a question many scientists have pondered, particularly so given that throughout the 20th century the average score on <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/iq-tests-21382">IQ tests</a> around the world increased significantly – especially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139235679">in the west</a>. This increase was around three IQ points per decade – meaning we are technically living with more geniuses on the planet than ever before.</p>
<p>This increase in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428">IQ scores</a> and the seeming tendency for intelligence levels to increase over time is known as the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4152423/">Flynn effect</a> (named after the late US-born educator, James Flynn). And improvements in health and nutrition, better education and working conditions, along with recent access to technology have all contributed. </p>
<p>Indeed, in the 19th century, for example, industrialisation created large overcrowded cities with poor health outcomes and premature death. But improved housing, health and parenting, along with greater access to free education and gradual progression from manual to more intellectually demanding jobs, led many to live longer and healthier lives. Research even suggests there’s what’s known as an “<a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/322/7290/819">IQ-mortality gradient</a>” whereby smarter people often live longer.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428">The IQ test wars: why screening for intelligence is still so controversial</a>
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<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.12.001">Research</a> in countries that have not undergone postindustrial development also supports the idea that improved access to education, housing and nutrition are the main factors that have led to <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/iq-tests-21382">IQ increases</a>. A study of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222684285_Raven's_test_performance_of_sub-Saharan_Africans_Average_performance_psychometric_properties_and_the_Flynn_Effect">sub-Saharan African countries</a>, for example, found that the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289611000924">Flynn effect</a> has not yet taken hold there. Or in other words, IQ test results have not massively increased because life circumstances haven’t significantly improved for a large number of people.</p>
<p>But that’s not the whole story, because over the <a href="https://www.gwern.net/docs/iq/2016-dutton.pdf">past 30 years</a> there have been <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/26/6674">some reports</a> of decreased performance on IQ tests in some countries. So is it fair to assume that humans in the west have reached peak intelligence?</p>
<h2>Peak intelligence?</h2>
<p>Intelligence quotient, or IQ tests, are a measure of reasoning and the ability to use information and logic quickly. The tests assess short and long-term memory through puzzles and test a person’s ability to recall information.</p>
<p>While IQ test results have been increasing for some time, research suggesting a “reverse Flynn effect”, indicates this upward trend may now be slowing. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/26/6674">A Norwegian study</a>, for example, found that men born before 1975 showed the expected positive “Flynn effect” of a three point gain for each successive decade. But for those born after 1975, there was a steady decline in IQ. This amounts to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289617302787#s0030">seven point</a> difference between generations – with average IQs having dropped by around 0.2 points a year. Other studies carried out between 2005 to 2013 in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.05.005">UK, Sweden and France</a> have also shown similar results.</p>
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<img alt="Genius word written on wood block." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396018/original/file-20210420-15-14u4cw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Does everyone have the potential to be a genius?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/genius-word-written-on-wood-block-283392290">TypoArt BS/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>These results are hard to explain, but it <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-26835-000">has been suggested</a> that it may be linked to changes in the way that children are taught in schools. This has been a time that has seen major shifts away from reading serious literature and rote learning – a memorisation technique based on repetition – to a more collective scientific problem-solving approach, which is now taught to most children in the west. </p>
<p>These “student-centred” teaching methods are now combined with interpersonal skills and teamwork along with encouragement for students to understand the emotional insights of others. The overall impact of this approach might encourage smarter and more effective working but places less emphasis on individual skills required in <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/iq-tests-21382">IQ tests</a>. So maybe in that sense, we’re just not as good at carrying out IQ tests any more. </p>
<p>It has been suggested that a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/feb/07/diet-children-iq#:%7E:text=Diets%20high%20in%20fat%2C%20sugar,performance%20as%20they%20get%20older.">decrease in nutritional standards</a> could also play a role. In the UK, for example, many people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/21/uk-poorest-nutrition-guidelines-obesity">struggle to meet</a> adequate nutritional guidelines. <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/IQ_and_Immigration_Policy.html?id=KvaMQwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Immigration</a> of people who grew up in conditions of greater poverty along with the tendency for the more intelligent to have <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25131282/">fewer children</a> have also been put forward as possible theories.</p>
<h2>“Biased and unfair”</h2>
<p>Another consideration is that over the past 50 years, questions about the suitability of IQ tests have been raised – described in some quarters as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emil-O-W-Kirkegaard/publication/339426524_Human_Biodiversity_for_Beginners_A_Review_of_Charles_Murray%27s_Human_Diversity/links/5e5080a6299bf1cdb93cd477/Human-Biodiversity-for-Beginners-A-Review-of-Charles-Murrays-Human-Diversity.pdf">biased, unfair and unappropriate</a>. Indeed, the use of IQ tests for job and school selection has diminished. It’s likely then that this decline in use, coupled with a reduction in coaching for such tests, has led to poorer performance when IQ tests are used.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/creativity-is-a-human-quality-that-exists-in-every-single-one-of-us-92053">Creativity is a human quality that exists in every single one of us</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>So, in answer to the question are humans getting smarter – it’s hard to say. But what is certain is that the lower IQ scores are not necessarily a sign that humans are now less intelligent, more just that people are scoring lower on IQ tests. And, in this sense, potential reasons for a declining IQ should be seen in context – one where the prevailing view of IQ tests has changed. </p>
<p>It’s also important to think about <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/iq-tests-21382">what IQ tests actually measure</a> – and what they don’t – along with what we mean when we talk about <a href="https://theconversation.com/blueprint-by-robert-plomin-latest-intelligence-genetics-book-could-be-a-gift-for-far-right-104499">intelligence</a>. IQ tests, for example, are no good at measuring things like personality, creativity, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-emotional-intelligence-and-why-do-you-need-it-36437">emotional and social intelligence</a> – or even wisdom. These are attributes that many of us may well prize over and above a high scoring IQ test result.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Or have we reached peak human intelligence?Roger Staff, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Ageing, University of AberdeenLawrence Whalley, Emeritus Professor of Mental Health, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1558412021-02-26T13:25:21Z2021-02-26T13:25:21ZWhat are phthalates, and how do they put children’s health at risk?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386581/original/file-20210225-19-1wfq2w3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5362%2C3583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Phthalates can be found in many common products and types of plastic packaging.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/plastic-bags-and-bottles-royalty-free-image/1127955502">Curtoicurto via Getty Images</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You may not realize it, but you likely encounter phthalates <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html">every day</a>. These chemicals are found in many plastics, including food packaging, and they can migrate into food products during processing. They’re in personal care products like shampoos, soaps and laundry detergents, and in the vinyl flooring in many homes. </p>
<p>They’re also in the news again after an editorial by scientists in the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306014">American Journal of Public Health</a> included an urgent call for better federal regulation of the chemicals.</p>
<p>In particular, scientists are urging state and federal agencies to eliminate phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) from products used by pregnant women and children. Despite evidence of the harm these chemicals can cause, federal regulation in the United States has been minimal beyond <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/26/2018-01451/prohibition-of-childrens-toys-and-child-care-articles-containing-specified-phthalates-revision-of">children’s toys</a>. A recent move by the General Mills-owned food brand Annie’s to <a href="https://www.annies.com/faq/">eliminate phthalates from its macaroni and cheese</a> suggests stricter rules are feasible.</p>
<p>So, what’s the risk, and what can you do about it? </p>
<p>I’m an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wKXbh1UAAAAJ&hl=en">environmental epidemiologist</a> who studies the impact of pregnant women’s exposure to environmental chemicals. Here are answers to three important questions about phthalates.</p>
<h2>Who’s at risk?</h2>
<p>Ortho-phthalates, commonly referred to as phthalates, are synthetic chemicals that are used to manufacture plastic. They help make plastic more flexible and harder to break. </p>
<p>Despite their abundance in many products, phthalates can be harmful to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018329908">pregnant women</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115001899?via%3Dihub">their children</a>. These chemicals can disrupt the endocrine system, the glands that release hormones as the body’s chemical messengers. Studies suggest that can lead to pregnant women <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021000684">delivering their babies early</a>. Other studies have found that children born to mothers exposed to high levels of phthalates can have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115001899?via%3Dihub">lower IQ</a> and poorer social communication development, and that these children are also more likely to develop <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP2358">ADHD</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161813X18303255?via%3Dihub">behavior problems</a>. Researchers have also found effects on the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280349/">genital development of male infants</a> born to mothers exposed to phthalates during pregnancy.</p>
<p>While phthalates can be found in nearly everyone, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018329908">minority women have been found to be especially burdened</a>. Studies show that many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.03.030">beauty products</a> targeted at these communities contain high levels of chemicals.</p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0b013e32835e1eb6">Infants and young children</a> may experience high phthalate levels because they often put plastic products in their mouths as they explore the world.</p>
<p>Phthalates can enter food at <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html">many places</a> in the supply chain, including through plastic tubing for liquids during production, plastic storage containers and even food preparation gloves. Foods that are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4050989/">high in fat</a> in particular can absorb phthalates through exposure during processing. Eating out doesn’t avoid the risk. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.029">study of U.S. children and adults</a> showed that those who ate food outside of their homes had higher phthalate levels.</p>
<h2>How do I know if a product has phthalates?</h2>
<p>Figuring out which products have high levels of phthalates isn’t always easy. While <a href="https://phthalates.americanchemistry.com/">phthalates</a> are required to be listed on ingredients labels, they are sometimes included instead as part of the fragrance, which <a href="https://www.safecosmetics.org/fragrance-disclosure/learn-more/trade-secrets/">allows them to be excluded</a> from the ingredients list. </p>
<p>Many companies have voluntarily removed phthalates, and many consumer products are now labeled “phthalate free.” The <a href="https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/">Environmental Working Group</a>’s Skin Deep website also offers a way to search for details about chemicals in cleaning and personal care products.</p>
<h2>How do I keep my family safe?</h2>
<p>Phthalates are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html">rapidly metabolized</a> and generally removed from the body once exposure stops. Until there is better regulation, a few simple changes can make a big difference in promoting health and reducing phthalate levels in the home. </p>
<p>One <a href="http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1003170">easy change</a> is to swap out all plastic food packaging containers with glass containers. If that’s not possible, it’s best to let food cool to room temperature before placing it in plastic food storage containers. </p>
<p>Don’t microwave anything in plastic, because phthalates can <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110100507">migrate from food storage containers</a> into food. </p>
<p>You can also reduce phthalate exposure by checking labels to avoid using products that include phthalates, by <a href="http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1003170">eating less processed food</a> that might have absorbed phthalates during production, and by cooking more meals at home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Eick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists issued an urgent call for better federal regulation of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Here’s what you can do to reduce your family’s risk.Stephanie Eick, Postdoctoral Researcher in Reproductive Health, University of California, San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1431442020-08-26T12:20:42Z2020-08-26T12:20:42ZForced sterilization policies in the US targeted minorities and those with disabilities – and lasted into the 21st century<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353240/original/file-20200817-18-b7q561.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1165%2C26%2C2383%2C2314&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An operation taking place in 1941 on South Side of Chicago.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.rawpixel.com/image/2301130">Library of Congress</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In August 1964, the North Carolina Eugenics Board met to decide if a 20-year-old Black woman should be sterilized. Because her name was redacted from the records, we call her Bertha. </p>
<p>She was a single mother with one child who lived at the segregated O'Berry Center for African American adults with intellectual disabilities in Goldsboro. According to the North Carolina Eugenics Board, Bertha had an IQ of 62 and exhibited “aggressive behavior and sexual promiscuity.” She had been orphaned as a child and had a limited education. Likely because of her “low IQ score,” the board determined she was not capable of rehabilitation. </p>
<p>Instead the board recommended the “protection of sterilization” for Bertha, because she was “feebleminded” and deemed unable to “assume responsibility for herself” or her child. Without her input, Bertha’s guardian signed the sterilization form.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 1950s era pamphlet that reads: The average feebleminded parent cannot be expected to provide good heredity, a normal home, intelligent care - to say nothing of the many other things needed to bring up children successfully." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353451/original/file-20200818-14-mzzs17.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pamphlet extolling the benefit of selective sterilization published by the Human Betterment League of North Carolina, 1950.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll37/id/14974/">North Carolina State Documents Collection/State Library of North Carolina</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bertha’s story is one of the 35,000 sterilization stories we are reconstructing at the <a href="https://ssjlab.weebly.com">Sterilization and Social Justice Lab</a>. Our interdisciplinary team explores the history of eugenics and sterilization in the U.S. using data and stories. So far, we have captured historical records from North Carolina, California, Iowa and Michigan. </p>
<h2>Eugenics</h2>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sterilization-united-states_n_568f35f2e4b0c8beacf68713">60,000 people were sterilized in 32 states during the 20th century</a> based on the bogus “science” of eugenics, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1051/medsci/2009256-7641">a term coined by Francis Galton in 1883</a>.</p>
<p>Eugenicists applied emerging theories of biology and genetics to human breeding. White elites with strong biases about who was “fit” and “unfit” embraced eugenics, believing American society would be improved by increased breeding of Anglo Saxons and Nordics, whom they assumed had high IQs. Anyone who did not fit this mold of racial perfection, which included most immigrants, Blacks, Indigenous people, poor whites and people with disabilities, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674445574">became targets of eugenics programs</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old map of the United States showing the status of state eugenics laws in 1913. About half the states either have laws or are in the process of creating them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353242/original/file-20200817-14-rlngdx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">By 1913, many states had or were on their way to having eugenic sterilization laws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/files/original/3f02811d6a83b0f896c4eaa6794ecffc.jpg">Boston Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine</a></span>
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<p>Indiana passed the world’s first sterilization law in 1907. Thirty-one states followed suit. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.114.3.776-a">State-sanctioned sterilizations</a> reached their peak in the 1930s and 1940s but continued and, in some states, rose during the 1950s and 1960s. </p>
<p>The United States was an international leader in eugenics. Its sterilization laws actually informed Nazi Germany. The Third Reich’s 1933 “<a href="https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/law-for-the-prevention-of-offspring-with-hereditary-diseases">Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases</a>” <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hitlers-american-model">was modeled on laws in Indiana and California</a>. Under this law, the <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674745780">Nazis sterilized approximately 400,000 children and adults</a>, mostly Jews and other “undesirables,” labeled “defective.”</p>
<h2>Anti-Black racism and sterilization</h2>
<p>The team at the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab has uncovered some remarkable trends in eugenic sterilization. At first, sterilization programs targeted white men, expanding by the 1920s to affect the same number of women as men. The laws used broad and ever-changing disability labels like “feeblemindedness” and “mental defective.” Over time, though, women and people of color increasingly became the target, as <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/fit-to-be-tied/9780813578910">eugenics amplified sexism and racism</a>.</p>
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<p>It is no coincidence that sterilization rates for Black women rose as desegregation got underway. Until the 1950s, schools and hospitals in the U.S. were segregated by race, but integration threatened to break down Jim Crow apartheid. <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/mothers-of-massive-resistance-9780190271718?cc=us&lang=en&">The backlash involved the reassertion of white supremacist control and racial hierarchies</a> specifically through the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/155575/killing-the-black-body-by-dorothy-roberts/">control of Black reproduction and future Black lives by sterilization</a>.</p>
<p>In North Carolina, which sterilized the third highest number of people in the United States – <a href="https://journalnow.com/news/local/against-their-will-north-carolinas-sterilization-program/image_acfc2fb8-8feb-11e2-a857-0019bb30f31a.html">7,600 people from 1929 to 1973</a> – women vastly outnumbered men and Black women were <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807855850/choice-and-coercion/">disproportionately sterilized</a>. Preliminary analysis shows that from 1950 to 1966, Black women were sterilized at more than three times the rate of white women and more than 12 times the rate of white men. This pattern <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520299948/how-all-politics-became-reproductive-politics">reflected the ideas</a> that Black women were not capable of being good parents and poverty should be managed with reproductive constraint.</p>
<p>Bertha’s sterilization was ordered by a state eugenics board, but in the 1960s and 1970s, new federal programs like Medicaid also started funding nonconsensual sterilizations. <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/population-control-politics-women-sterilization-and-reproductive-choice/oclc/1003747011">More than 100,000</a> <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814758274/women-of-color-and-the-reproductive-rights-movement/">Black, Latino and Indigenous women were affected</a>.</p>
<p>Many <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/no-mas-bebes/">felt shame and shrouded these experiences in secrecy</a>, not even telling their closest relatives and friends. Others took to the streets and filed law suits to protest forced sterilization. The powerful documentary “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/no-mas-bebes/">No Más Bebés</a>” tells the story of hundreds of Mexican American women coerced into tubal ligations at a county hospital in Los Angeles in the 1970s. One of them, who became a plaintiff in a case against the hospital, reflecting back decades later said <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/no-m-s-beb-s-looks-back-l-mexican-moms-n505256">her experience “makes me want to cry.”</a></p>
<h2>Forced sterilizations continue</h2>
<p>In the years between 1997 and 2010, unwanted sterilizations were performed on <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/new-documentary-illuminates-the-forced-sterilization-of-women-in-california-prison">approximately 1,400 women in California prisons</a>. These operations were based on the same rationale of bad parenting and undesirable genes evident in North Carolina in 1964. The doctor performing the sterilizations told a reporter the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/07/09/200444613/californias-prison-sterilizations-reportedly-echoes-eugenics-era">operations were cost-saving measures</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Unfortunately, forced sterilization continues on. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/07/roma-women-share-stories-forced-sterilisation-160701100731050.html">Romani women have been sterilized unwillingly in the Czech Republic</a> as recently as 2007. In northern China, Uighurs, a religious and racial minority group, have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-forcibly-sterilizing-uighur-women-xinjiang-abortions-contraception-ap-2020-6">subjected to mass sterilization</a> and other measures of extreme population control.</p>
<p>All forced sterilization campaigns, regardless of their time or place, have one thing in common. They involve dehumanizing a particular subset of the population deemed less worthy of reproduction and family formation. They merge perceptions of disability with racism, xenophobia and sexism – resulting in the disproportionate sterilization of minority groups.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Minna Stern receives funding from the National Institutes of Health-National Humane Genome Research Institute for portions of this research project. </span></em></p>The US has a long history of forced sterilization campaigns that were driven by the bogus ‘science’ of eugenics, racism and sexism.Alexandra Minna Stern, Professor of American Culture, History, and Women's Studies, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1323792020-02-26T14:24:30Z2020-02-26T14:24:30ZIs dangerous thinking about race and IQ at the heart of UK government?<p>An outrageous, racist and outdated belief in the innate intellectual inferiority of black people periodically re-enters public debate, usually masquerading as a bold initiative at the forefront of science; challenging convention and thinking the unthinkable. </p>
<p>A 27-year-old called Andrew Sabisky provides the latest example. In a matter of days, this Downing Street aide joined, then quit, the UK government’s policy machine after a series of controversial past comments came to light. It is easy to misunderstand the significance of this. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/17/andrew-sabisky-boris-johnsons-ex-adviser-in-his-own-words">Sabisky’s view</a> that black people are genetically pre-determined to be less intelligent than whites was widely attacked in the media and politics. Yet the evidence suggests that his thinking about the nature of intelligence may not be entirely out of step with those in power in the UK.</p>
<p>Like Sabisky, they may claim that a focus on past statements and actions is unfair: tweeting about his departure <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/17/boris-johnson-adviser-quits-over-race-and-eugenics-writings">Sabisky blamed</a> “selective quoting” and “media hysteria about my old stuff online”. But the record is all we have on these matters.</p>
<p>At a press briefing shortly before Sabisky’s departure, the prime minister’s deputy spokesman refused more than 30 times to state Boris Johnson’s views on eugenics and the supposed intellectual inferiority of black people. The press secretary <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/no10-refuse-say-boris-johnson-21513879?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar">repeatedly stated</a> that “the PM’s views are well publicised and well documented”.</p>
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<p>I have been researching racism in education for more than 30 years and, at regular intervals, this means revisiting the question of supposed racial differences in intelligence – a topic that refuses to die despite the wealth of evidence against it. Viewed from this perspective, there are some key takeaways from the Sabisky affair.</p>
<p>Much of the press coverage presented him as a maverick outsider; someone fitting Dominic Cummings’ search for “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dominic-cummings-misfits-weirdos-boris-johnson-womens-sport-paralympics-a9337226.html">misfits and weirdos</a>” to advance government thinking. But Sabisky’s appointment highlights a view that is in line with earlier statements on intelligence by the prime minister and his chief advisor.</p>
<h2>Letting the cat out of the bag?</h2>
<p>What sets Sabisky apart from some people in government is not his belief in intelligence as a fixed and measurable trait, but the way he expressed it. In 2013, for example, Boris Johnson sang the praises of the free market economy and the competition that it fosters when he <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/london-mayor-election/mayor-of-london/10480321/Boris-Johnsons-speech-at-the-Margaret-Thatcher-lecture-in-full.html">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That violent economic centrifuge is operating on human beings who are already very far from equal in raw ability, if not spiritual worth. Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests, it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85, while about 2% have an IQ above 130. The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is, of course, no mention of supposed race differences in intelligence here; but there is a clear belief in IQ tests as a useful measure of innate ability. What the prime minster failed to mention (or understand?) is that IQ tests are periodically re-calibrated so that 100 always falls at the overall average, despite the fact that average performance has risen over time. There will always be a percentage “of our species” below 85 because that is the way the test is designed and maintained. The significance of any IQ score is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0013189X07299881">always open to debate</a>. </p>
<p>A few years ago I wrote <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680939.2016.1139189">a paper</a> challenging many of the myths that surround IQ. I included analysis of Dominic Cummings’ 237-page essay, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/interactive/2013/oct/11/dominic-cummings-michael-gove-thoughts-education-pdf">Some Thoughts on Education and Political Priorities</a>. At the time, Cummings was special advisor to the then education secretary, Michael Gove. </p>
<p>His essay attacks policymakers’ failure to embrace what he calls the “relevant science” concerning “evolutionary influences” on intelligence. Those familiar with the debates will know that evolution is frequently invoked as a causal explanation for current race inequalities, for example, in the work of J Philippe Rushton, whose “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Race_Evolution_and_Behavior.html?id=BjuAAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">evolutionary theory</a>” of race and intelligence places “Negroids” at the lesser end of the spectrum.</p>
<p>I think most would read Cummings essay as inferring that evolution and genes shape IQ – but he never offers an explicit position on the controversial issue of race and intelligence. A section entitled “Genes, class and social mobility…” ends with a lengthy quotation from an MIT professor who speculates that, in the future, people <em>might</em> “discover alleles [types of genes] for certain aspects of cognitive function” and those alleles <em>might</em> vary between different ethnic groups: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Then for the first time there could be a racism which is based not on some kind of virulent ideology, not based on some kind of kooky versions of genetics.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately, Cummings offers no commentary whatsoever on the ideas contained in this quoted text.</p>
<p>I have called this strategy “racial inexplicitness” – a careful avoidance of clarity about race and education amid a long and winding discussion that prompts the reader to join the dots without ever stating clearly where he thinks the dots lead us. </p>
<h2>IQ, genetics and education</h2>
<p>Reviewing Cummings’ sources and influences is instructive. One of his heroes is the American psychologist Professor Robert Plomin. Plomin has made headlines in recent years for his increasingly exaggerated <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/there-is-no-nature-nurture-war/">claims</a> about the genetics of intelligence, including <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/298/298391/blueprint/9780141984261.html">most recently</a>, that DNA is a “fortune teller … giving us the power to predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses from birth”. Cummings <a href="https://dominiccummings.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/20130825-some-thoughts-on-education-and-political-priorities-version-2-final.pdf">invited</a> Plomin to visit the education department “to explain the science of IQ and genetics to officials and ministers”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316883/original/file-20200224-24694-5hn5qi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1171&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Allen Lane</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Plomin, like Cummings, is currently vague about his views on race and intelligence. But in the 1990s he supported the <a href="http://www1.udel.edu/educ/gottfredson/reprints/1994WSJmainstream.pdf">claims made famous</a> in the book <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=s4CKqxi6yWIC">The Bell Curve</a>, which stated that class and race inequities in society mostly reflect genetics. He was one of 52 people who signed a 1994 Wall Street Journal <a href="http://www1.udel.edu/educ/gottfredson/reprints/1994WSJmainstream.pdf">article</a> that claimed “mainstream science” shows that “intelligence tests are not culturally biased against American blacks or other native-born, English-speaking peoples”. The article also stated that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The bell curve for whites is centred roughly around IQ 100; the bell curve for American blacks roughly around 85; and those for different subgroups of hispanics roughly midway between those for whites and blacks.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These statements blithely ignore years of critique that has documented the misunderstandings and <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Inheriting_Shame.html?id=JRR2QgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">racist misuses</a> of <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Science_and_Politics_of_I_Q.html?id=O2uO2JkRelMC&redir_esc=y">IQ tests</a>. They are also remarkably similar to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/17/andrew-sabisky-boris-johnsons-ex-adviser-in-his-own-words">racist blog post</a> that came back to haunt Andrew Sabisky.</p>
<p>Asked, in 2015, whether he now regretted signing the Wall Street Journal statement, Professor <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j1qts">Plomin replied</a>, “Well I regret it to the extent it’s a distraction to my research. But I think the basic facts are there … erm, about heritability of intelligence”.</p>
<h2>Watch this space</h2>
<p>It would be nice to think that Cummings and Plomin now reject such spurious views, but they have not explicitly stated their current position. If these documented views do reflect their current thinking then it would be the case that deeply racist and regressive beliefs about the nature of intelligence and education lie at the heart of the British government.</p>
<p>These views are bad news for many groups in society, especially those deemed less “gifted”. And it’s not so unlikely that we could see them entering policy. Despite the negative press coverage generated by Sabisky’s beliefs, such dogma could conceivably be translated into a superficially acceptable policy brief. One way would be for education reforms to claim to apply “scientific” methods to identify the “brightest and best” and single them out for special attention. This would be presented as a meritocratic exercise, intended to fast-track clever children regardless of their social background. </p>
<p>The methods would include “cognitive assessments” (often a code for IQ tests) and the talk would be of “social mobility” and “colour-blindness”, whereby the approach treats everyone “as an individual”. No one in authority would worry about the fact that such assessments seem to always place a disproportionate number of black kids in the less-able bracket. That’s how institutional racism works.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Gillborn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Sabisky affair should not be seen as a random event: the real battle lies ahead.David Gillborn, Professor of Critical Race Studies, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1293142020-01-07T12:01:27Z2020-01-07T12:01:27ZChildhood deprivation affects brain size and behaviour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308655/original/file-20200106-123364-1dip4pj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5439%2C3293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hopeless-life-close-depressed-poor-little-336377765">Yakobchuk Viacheslav/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The human brain goes through dramatic <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5987539/">developmental changes</a> in the first years of life. During this period it is particularly <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn2639">sensitive</a> to environmental influences. This sensitivity helps babies learn and develop, but it also leaves them vulnerable to negative experiences, such as maltreatment, which can have a lasting physical and psychological impact. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/01/1911264116">latest research</a>, published in PNAS, we show that extreme adversity early in life is linked to changes in brain structure in adulthood. Early childhood adversity experienced in institutions was related to a smaller brain as well as regional changes in brain structures. Some of these changes were linked to neurodevelopmental problems, such as <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/">attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)</a>, which can arise following adversity. </p>
<p>Our study examined a group of adoptees who were exposed to severe early deprivation when living in institutions in Romania under the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolae-Ceausescu">Ceaușescu regime</a>. The conditions in these institutions were appalling. Often children did not have enough food and they had no toys to play with. They were confined to cots and had no permanent caretakers with whom to form a bond. Many children <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/15/romania-orphanage-child-abusers-may-face-justice-30-years-on">died</a> in these institutions. </p>
<p>After the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu, footage of the conditions in these institutions gained worldwide publicity. This was followed by a large international adoption campaign. For the children, adoption meant a sudden change in their circumstances for the better. They were now living in nurturing and loving families. </p>
<p>The English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) Study follows the development of some of these children who were adopted by families in the UK. The study included a comparison group of UK adoptees who did not experience any institutional deprivation.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1469-7610.00343?sid=nlm%3Apubmed">Previous research on the ERA study</a> has shown that the Romanian adoptees were severely affected when they first arrived in their adoptive homes. For most of them, this was followed by rapid recovery. </p>
<p>By <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-10667-007">age six</a>, many of the children, especially those who had spent only a limited time in the institutions, had fully recovered their physical and cognitive development. Yet many of the adoptees who had been exposed to institutions for an extended time developed cognitive problems and mental health disorders, such as increased symptom rates of ADHD and <a href="https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/brain-nerves-and-spinal-cord/autistic-spectrum-disorder-asd">autism spectrum disorder (ASD)</a> and lower IQ. These problems often <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)30045-4/fulltext">persisted</a> through to adulthood.</p>
<h2>Brain images</h2>
<p>We were interested to find out whether fundamental changes in brain development could explain this increase in mental health disorders. To do so we investigated the impact of early institutional deprivation on adult brain structure by taking brain scans of our participants in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. </p>
<p>We found that institutional deprivation was associated with a smaller brain in young adulthood. There was a direct relationship with the duration of deprivation – the longer the adoptees had spent in the institutions, the smaller their brains tended to be. A smaller brain volume was also linked to lower intelligence and more symptoms of ADHD.</p>
<p>Some regions in the frontal and temporal parts of the brain seemed to be particularly sensitive to deprivation. Changes in a region in the temporal part of the brain, the inferior temporal cortex, were associated with fewer symptoms of ADHD. This indicates that this change in brain structure might be compensatory, rather than impairing, as it was associated with better outcomes.</p>
<p>This research has shown that early institutional deprivation is associated with changes in brain structure that are still visible in adulthood more than 20 years after the adoptees left the institutions. These findings provide compelling evidence for the notion that extreme adversity early in life can lead to long-lasting changes in brain development despite later environmental enrichment.</p>
<p>Changes in brain structure did not always suggest impairment – in some cases they suggested compensation. Future research is needed to identify how we can best prevent and treat psychiatric conditions that arise from adversity. For example, it would be interesting to see whether the compensatory processes found in this study could be targeted in cognitive training to reduce ADHD symptoms in people
who experienced early deprivation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nuria Mackes receives funding from the Medical Research Council (MR/K022474/1). Her research is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN).</span></em></p>The lasting impact of neglect.Nuria Mackes, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Neuroimaging, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233062019-11-06T22:20:22Z2019-11-06T22:20:22ZDoes water fluoridation really damage your children’s IQ?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299753/original/file-20191031-30397-ov8sr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=165%2C77%2C7183%2C4781&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Experts have voiced concerns about the uptake of a recent Canadian study, in which water fluoridation was associated with slightly lower IQs in children. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent study showed that <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2748634">community water fluoridation was associated with lower IQ scores in young children</a>. <a href="http://fluoridealert.org/studies/brain01/">Opponents of water fluoridation</a> jumped on the study, claiming that it confirms the dangers of fluoride on the developing brain. </p>
<p>Since then, a <a href="https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-study-looking-at-maternal-exposure-to-fluoride-and-iq-in-children/">number of critics</a> have pointed out that the differences in IQ scores were small and that there were some methodological problems with the research. Now a group of 30 scientists have requested that a funder of the Canadian study, the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, ask the <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/health/so-much-is-at-stake-academics-call-for-release-of-data-behind-controversial-canadian-fluoride-study/wcm/641267b0-39cc-45da-a000-54f13a1a939d">authors to release their data for independent review</a>.</p>
<p>It is important that we continue investigating the possible health effects of water fluoridation. </p>
<h2>Concerns about safety</h2>
<p>One thing that we do know is that <a href="https://www.cochrane.org/CD010856/ORAL_water-fluoridation-prevent-tooth-decay">community water fluoridation reduces cavities</a>. </p>
<p>Thanks, in part, to water fluoridation, fewer children lose teeth prematurely and <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Oral-Health/Documents/OralHealthFCpagesF2_2_1.pdf">fewer children suffer from infections caused by cavities</a>. Children are far less likely to suffer from the torment of toothache.</p>
<p>However, my work on the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504307/">history of water fluoridation</a> suggests that concerns about safety will continue. In the 1950s and 1960s, people opposed to water fluoridation feared that it could cause heart and kidney problems, or that it might damage bones. One of the leading opponents, George Waldbott, claimed that some people were allergic to fluoride. </p>
<p>There has been <a href="https://www.healthevidence.org/view-article.aspx?a=systematic-review-public-water-fluoridation-report-15981">no decisive evidence</a> that water fluoridation caused any of these problems. In the 1970s, a number of studies showed that rates of cancer were much higher in fluoridated communities, but these were not published in peer-reviewed publications and were later refuted. </p>
<p>More recently, concern has shifted to fluoride and IQ rates, reflecting current parental concerns about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/measles-outbreak-why-are-anti-vaxxers-risking-a-public-health-crisis-116334">impact of medical technologies on children’s health and well-being, including vaccines</a>. In the contemporary economic climate, amid rising concerns about mental health and autism, parents are particularly concerned about children’s brains.</p>
<p>Opponents of water fluoridation also objected to being forced to drink fluoridated water against their will. But concerns about the possible health effects seem to have the biggest impact on the public debate. </p>
<h2>Voters chose caution</h2>
<p>In the 1950s and 1960s, when communities across North America debated whether to put fluoride in their water supply, dentists, university researchers and other experts were baffled as to why people would vote against a measure that so clearly had a beneficial impact on children’s teeth. A number of sociologists and political scientists began investigating. </p>
<p>Initially, husband-and-wife team <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001789695601400304">Bernard and Judith Mausner</a> concluded that people failed to understand the science behind fluoridation and that they had an “anti-scientific attitude.” Public health scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001789696101900107">William Gamson</a> argued that people voted against water fluoridation because they were “alienated” or because they felt suspicious of authority. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_politics_of_community_conflict.html?id=DPtpAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">a multi-authored study</a> concluded that people voted against fluoridation because they thought that they were being asked to decide on the safety of the measure. Bombarded with information from both sides, most voters chose caution. </p>
<p>Behind all this was a refusal by the public to accept that dental caries was a serious disease. Today, when children get fewer cavities than ever before, it has become even harder for community water fluoridation activists to make their case. </p>
<h2>Fluoridation reduces cavities</h2>
<p>Today, studies suggest that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/guidelines/cdc-statement-on-community-water-fluoridation.html">community water fluoridation can reduce cavities by approximately 25 per cent</a>. Fluoridation continues to be an extremely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.10.014">cost-effective public health measure</a>. It can help to reduce socio-economic inequalities. </p>
<p>In Canada today, Indigenous children, immigrant children and poor children still <a href="https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/oral-health-care-for-children">suffer disproportionately from tooth decay</a>. The pain of a toothache can stop children attending school, sleeping and growing, and can lead to behavioural problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299754/original/file-20191031-187934-ppbgdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Water fluoridation reduces tooth decay in children and adults by 25 per cent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/why-is-dental-surgery-for-preschoolers-on-the-rise/article551810/">The most common surgical procedure for toddlers</a> these days involves removing severely decayed teeth under general anesthetic. Water fluoridation can play an important role in reducing cavities among these groups. </p>
<h2>Alternatives to water fluoridation</h2>
<p>However, <a href="http://www.caphd.ca/sites/default/files/CHMS-E-tech.pdf">more than 40 per cent of Canadian children aged 12 to 19</a> have never had a cavity. It’s easy for their parents to worry about the possibility that fluoride might slightly reduce their IQ scores. </p>
<p>Canadians have long worried about the health effects of fluoride. Many Canadian cities, including Vancouver and Montréal, have never fluoridated their water supplies. Others, including <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-fluoride-study-1.5033242">Calgary</a> and <a href="https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/debate-on-fluoride-in-water-begins-again-1.4277239">Waterloo</a>, have chosen to remove it. </p>
<p>The fight for community fluoridation is likely to get even more difficult in the years to come. Canadians are unlikely to be persuaded that tooth decay is a serious problem. And there are alternatives: better oral hygiene education, more publicly funded oral health care, fluoride supplements, fluoridated milk and salt can also help to reduce tooth decay and may be more politically palatable. </p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Carstairs received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for this work.</span></em></p>Community water fluoridation is a cost-effective public health measure that can reduce cavities by approximately 25 per cent. Yet some communities are worried about it.Catherine Carstairs, Professor, Department of History, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1194692019-07-10T20:16:25Z2019-07-10T20:16:25ZMost people think playing chess makes you ‘smarter’, but the evidence isn’t clear on that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282611/original/file-20190704-126360-5mctrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We found students who played chess didn't show significant improvements in their standardised test scores.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Chess has long been an important part of school culture. Many people believe <a href="https://woochess.com/en/blog/10-benefits-of-teaching-kids-to-play-chess">chess has a range of cognitive benefits</a> including improved memory, IQ, problem solving skills and concentration. </p>
<p>But there is very little evidence supporting these conclusions. We conducted two studies (still unpublished) that found educators and parents believe chess has many educational benefits. But children in our study who played chess did not show significant improvements in standardised test scores compared to children who didn’t play.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-machines-can-beat-us-at-games-does-it-make-them-more-intelligent-than-us-60555">If machines can beat us at games, does it make them more intelligent than us?</a>
</strong>
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<h2>Most people think chess improves learning</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://eprints.usq.edu.au/36711/">first study</a> looked at the perceptions of educators and parents regarding the benefits of playing chess. </p>
<p>In 2016, 314 participants – which included school principals, teachers, chess-coordinators and parents in parts of Queensland and NSW – filled out an anonymous, online survey.</p>
<p>Participants were asked to state how much they agreed or disagreed with 34 statements about the benefits of playing chess, such as: learning chess helps children develop critical thinking abilities.</p>
<p>Most participants either agreed or strongly agreed with most of the statements for chess benefits. For instance, almost 80% (249 out of 313) strongly agreed learning chess had educational benefits for children.</p>
<p>Another 87% (269 out of 310) strongly agreed learning chess helps children develop problem solving abilities. And 59% (184 out of 314) strongly agreed learning chess has benefits for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Children.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282618/original/file-20190704-126369-broelv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some questions in the survey and the answers given by participants.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The survey also included a space for comments. Some comments from participants included:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Chess is a great activity for all children to be involved in. It is one of a number of activities that schools can offer that assist in the academic, social and emotional development of children. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>One parent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Since starting classes [my son] has become a full-time student and is managing social situations a lot better than before. Chess has pushed him to think in different ways.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>But does it?</h2>
<p>Previous studies that explored whether chess improves children’s cognitive abilities have had mixed results.</p>
<p>Some studies have found playing chess was linked to better thinking abilities. For instance, a significant 2012 <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED551703">New York study</a> found that children in a group that had learnt either chess or music performed slightly better than children in the group who learnt neither. </p>
<p>But the study also noted the improvement in the chess group was not statistically significant.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-use-music-to-fine-tune-your-child-for-school-86776">How to use music to fine tune your child for school</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A 2017 trial of more than 4,000 children in England <a href="http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2017/06/01/jhr.53.4.0516.7952R.abstract">found no evidence</a> that chess instruction had any effect on children’s mathematics, reading or science test scores.</p>
<p>We wanted to test if there was, in fact, a positive correlation between learning to play chess and learners’ verbal, numerical and abstract (visual) reasoning skills. The study explored this in Year 1 to Year 5 students in a private school in Queensland.</p>
<p>In particular, the study examined whether a range of chess-related and non-chess related variables affected the standardised test scores of the chess group as compared to the control groups.</p>
<p>The study consisted of 203 students (with approval of their parents) who opted into the study. They made up four groups (based on the same approach as the 2012 New York study mentioned above). The groups were made of: </p>
<ul>
<li>46 students who learnt to play chess </li>
<li>48 students who learnt to play music</li>
<li>37 students who learnt to play chess and music</li>
<li>72 students who neither learnt chess nor music</li>
</ul>
<p>Weekly chess lessons were given to 83 students for six months: 24 from Year 1, 20 from Year 2, 8 from Year 3, 18 from Year 4 and 13 from year 5. </p>
<p>Weekly music lessons were given to 85 students for six months: 16 from year 1, 15 from year 2, 12 from year 3, 23 from year 4 and 19 from year 5.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283446/original/file-20190710-44457-gfqogs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many schools have chess programs, and there are state and nation wide competitions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We used standardised tests to measure whether there was any significant change in the scores of the different groups. </p>
<p>Year 1 and 2 students were tested using the Raven’s Progressive Matrices (<a href="https://www.assessment-training.com/raven-s-progressive-matrices-test?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgq_g4tGp4wIVzIBwCh0fzwF8EAAYASAAEgLdN_D_BwE">RPM</a>) tests, which are multiple-choice intelligence tests of abstract reasoning. </p>
<p>Grade 3, 4 and 5 students were tested using the ACER (Australian Council of Educational Research) General Ability Tests (<a href="https://www.acer.org/au/agat/year-levels">AGAT</a>), used to assess learners’ reasoning skills in three areas: verbal, numerical and abstract (visual).</p>
<p>There were small improvements in the standardised test scores of the chess and music groups but these were not statistically significant.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-good-move-to-master-maths-check-out-these-chess-puzzles-20200">A good move to master maths? Check out these chess puzzles</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our findings don’t mean learning to play chess has no benefits for cognitive skills. There are many different types of thinking and measures of intelligence we do not yet fully understand. This is especially relevant in a world where conceptual thinking has become such a vital skill. </p>
<p>The different ways of thinking associated with the benefits of chess may include creative thinking, critical thinking, logical thinking, intuition, logical reasoning, systemic thinking, strategic thinking, foresight, convergent thinking, analytical thinking, problem solving and concentration.</p>
<p>Further research should aim to explore which type of thinking chess may improve, if we are to agree with the positive views of academics, educators, parents and players.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Gardiner, now retired, who has recently completed his Masters Research degree at the University of Southern Queensland, is a former President of the Australian Chess Federation (1999-2003) and founder and former owner of Gardiner Chess (2001-2015). He was also a staff member at Somerset College, where the main study was carried out, from 1989-2001. Graeme does regular voluntary work at the college, and occasional paid duties at inter-school chess tournaments.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gail Ormsby and Luke van der Laan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Previous studies that explored whether chess improves children’s cognitive abilities have had mixed results. We found playing chess wasn’t linked to better standardised test scores.Graeme Gardiner, PhD Student, University of Southern QueenslandGail Ormsby, Researcher, University of Southern QueenslandLuke van der Laan, Senior Lecturer (Foresight) and Director; Professional Studies, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1190032019-07-03T20:00:08Z2019-07-03T20:00:08ZEarly days, but we’ve found a way to lift the IQ and resilience of Australia’s most vulnerable children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282574/original/file-20190703-126364-rhx48y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=468%2C715%2C11027%2C3527&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Early results of a targeted intervention program suggest it's possible to fix brokenness early.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What happens in our first three years profoundly influences the rest of our lives.</p>
<p>Children who encounter extreme adversity in those early years – including prolonged exposure to physical or sexual abuse and living in a highly stressful family environment – are likely to suffer major impairments to their development that can lead to lower educational achievement and workforce participation, involvement in risky behaviours including criminal activity, and lifelong health problems.</p>
<p>These things are expensive, both to society and to governments. </p>
<p>It has long been established overseas through trials of programs <a href="https://abc.fpg.unc.edu/">implemented in the United States in the 1960s</a> that targeted interventions that direct high-quality care and education to highly disadvantaged children can have big impacts. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282575/original/file-20190703-126345-1gbvbci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/3085770/EYERP-Report-4-web.pdf">Melbourne Institute</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet often the refrain here has been: “Well, these programs worked in the United States, but that was a long time ago in a different environment – how do we know they would work in Australia?” </p>
<p>For the past decade, as part of a multidisciplinary team of researchers, we have been taking up this challenge - trialling a new type of intervention in Australia in partnership with the <a href="https://www.kidsfirstaustralia.org.au/">Children’s Protection Society</a>, an independent not-for-profit child welfare organisation in Melbourne.</p>
<p>Developed by Associate Professor Brigid Jordan and Dr Anne Kennedy, it is called the Early Years Education Program (<a href="https://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/3059297/EYERP-Report-3-web.pdf">EYEP</a>). </p>
<p>Today in Canberra our research team will release <a href="https://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/3085770/EYERP-Report-4-web.pdf">the results of an evaluation</a> of its effects after 24 months.</p>
<h2>Highly targeted</h2>
<p>To be eligible for the trial, children had to be aged less than 36 months, assessed as having <a href="https://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/2548808/background-report-final-web.pdf">two or more defined risk factors</a>, be currently engaged with family services or child protection services, and have early education as part of their care plan.</p>
<p>Compared with a general population of children, these children had lower birth weight and, at the time of entry to the trial, compromised development of intelligence as measured on IQ tests, weaker language and motor skills and adaptive behaviour. Their primary caregivers had lower levels of labour force engagement and family income and greater levels of psychological distress than other caregivers.</p>
<p>A total of 145 children from 99 families were recruited to the trial; 72 in the intervention group and 73 in the control group.</p>
<p>Those in the intervention group were offered three years of care and education in EYEP (50 weeks per year and five hours per day each week from Monday to Friday). </p>
<p>The novelty of EYEP is its twin objectives to address the consequences of family stress on children’s development and to redress their learning deficiencies. </p>
<p>The key features of the program are high staff/child ratios (1:3 for children under three years, and 1:6 for children over three years), qualified and experienced staff, a rigorously developed curriculum, and an in-house infant mental health consultant who assessed each child and drew up an individualised learning plan.</p>
<h2>Higher IQs, language skills and resilience</h2>
<p>The estimated impact on IQ was 5 to 7 points.</p>
<p>This is a relatively large impact, representing about one-third to one-half of a standard deviation, which is a measure of deviation from what was expected. By comparison, recent reviews of early years demonstration programs in the US have generally found average impacts on IQ of about one-quarter of a standard deviation.</p>
<p>The estimated impact on within-child protective factors related to resilience was about one-third of a standard deviation. The proportion of children enrolled in the program who required clinical attention for social-emotional development was 30 percentage points lower than the control group, a substantial impact.</p>
<p>Primary caregivers of the children, usually parents, had a reduced level of distress on the 30-point Kessler Psychological Distress K6 Scale of about 1.5 points. </p>
<p>The impact on IQ appears to have been concentrated in the initial twelve months of the program. Other outcomes show a more pronounced impact after the second year. For protective factors related to resilience the estimated impact size after 24 months is two to three times larger than after twelve months. </p>
<h2>Proof of concept</h2>
<p>The results so far provide a “proof of concept” showing that it is possible to design and implement a program to improve the lives of children who experience extreme adversity. </p>
<p>And they confirm the necessity and value of having a program that is targeted at children experiencing the worst adversity. Considerable time and effort were required to initiate and maintain day-to-day contact with children who otherwise would have been unlikely to attend.</p>
<p>We have made enormous progress in dealing with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27548291">childhood diseases</a>. While there is still a way to go in the trial, these results hold out the possibility of doing the same for children who experience extreme adversity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Funding for the trial of the Early Years Education Program has been provided by the Children’s Protection Society, Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (now Department of Education), Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (now Department of Social Services), the Victorian Department of Human Services (now Victorian Department of Health and Human Services), the Victorian Department of Education and Training (now Victorian Department of Education), the Ian Potter Foundation, the RE Ross Trust, the Pratt Foundation, the Barr Family Foundation, the Sidney Myer Fund, Vic Health, the Antipodean Family Foundation, the Murphy-McNicol Family, the Crawford Foundation, the Brougham Family Trust, the William Buckland Foundation, and Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP140100897. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Funding for the trial of the Early Years Education Program has been provided by the Children’s Protection Society, Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (now Department of Education), Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (now Department of Social Services), the Victorian Department of Human Services (now Victorian Department of Health and Human Services), the Victorian Department of Education and Training (now Victorian Department of Education), the Ian Potter Foundation, the RE Ross Trust, the Pratt Foundation, the Barr Family Foundation, the Sidney Myer Fund, Vic Health, the Antipodean Family Foundation, the Murphy-McNicol Family, the Crawford Foundation, the Brougham Family Trust, the William Buckland Foundation, and Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP140100897. </span></em></p>An economic evaluation of a program of interventions for Australia’s most vulnerable children has produced startling results.Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of MelbourneYi-Ping Tseng, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1077182019-01-21T18:42:21Z2019-01-21T18:42:21ZHow to identify, understand and teach gifted children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253354/original/file-20190111-43510-1qps0px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gifted students learn faster than their peers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is a longer read at just under 2,000 words. Enjoy!</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The beginning of the 2019 school year will be a time of planning and crystal-gazing. Teachers will plan their instructional agenda in a general way. Students will think about another year at school. Parents will reflect on how their children might progress this year.</p>
<p>One group of students who will probably attract less attention are the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/gifted-and-talented-students-are-neglected-by-our-schools-20160928-grqd6c.html">gifted learners</a>. These students have a capacity for talent, creativity and innovative ideas. They could be our future Einsteins. </p>
<p>They will do this only if we support them to learn in an appropriate way. And yet, there is less likely to be explicit planning and provision throughout 2019 to support these students. They’re more likely to be overlooked or even ignored. </p>
<h2>Giftedness in the media</h2>
<p>You may have noticed the recent interest in gifted learning and education in the media. <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/child-genius">Child Genius on SBS</a> provided a glimpse of what the brains of some young students can do. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A5Kp89N6tLc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>We can only marvel at their ability to store large amounts of information in memory, spell words correctly they’d probably not heard before and unscramble complex anagrams.</p>
<p>The Insight program on SBS, provided another perspective. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h6r63GIezt4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Students identified as gifted explained how they learned and their experiences with formal education. Most accounts pointed to a clear mismatch between how they preferred to learn and how they were taught. </p>
<h2>Twice exceptional</h2>
<p>The students on the Insight program showed the flipsides of the gifted education story. While some gifted students show high academic success – the academically gifted students, others show lower academic success – the “<a href="https://medium.com/@bigmindsunschool/characteristics-of-2e-children-5ad7d3c91c38">twice exceptional</a>” students.</p>
<p>Many of the most creative people this world has known <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Minds-Eye-Thinkers-Difficulties-Creativity/dp/1573921556">are twice exceptional</a>. This includes scientists such as Einstein, artists such as Van Gogh, authors such as Agatha Christie and politicians such as Winston Churchill. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/intellectually-gifted-students-often-have-learning-disabilities-37276">Intellectually gifted students often have learning disabilities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Their achievements are one reason we’re interested in gifted learning. They have the potential to contribute significantly to our world and change how we live. They’re innovators. They give us the big ideas, possibilities and options. We describe their achievements, discoveries and creations as “talent”.</p>
<p>These talented outcomes are not random, lucky or accidental. Instead, they come from particular ways of knowing their world and thinking about it. A talented footballer sees moves and possibilities their opponents don’t see. They think, plan, and act differently. What they do is more than what the coach has trained them to do. </p>
<h2>Understanding gifted learning</h2>
<p>One way of understanding gifted learning is to unpack how people respond to new information. Let me first share two anecdotes. </p>
<p>A year three class was learning about beetles. We turned over a rock and saw slater beetles scurrying away. I asked: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Has anyone thought of something I haven’t mentioned? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Marcus, a student in the class, asked: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>How many toes does a slater have? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I asked: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why do you ask that? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Marcus replied: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They are only this long and they’re going very fast. My mini aths coach said that if I wanted to go faster I had to press back with my big toes. They must have pretty big toes to go so quick. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253355/original/file-20190111-43510-1c3u5iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Slater beetles, also known as wood lice, pill bugs or roley poleys.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He continued with possibilities about how they might breathe and use energy. Marcus’ teacher reported that he often asked “quirky”, unexpected questions and had a much broader general knowledge than his peers. She had not considered the possibility he might be gifted.</p>
<p>Mike was solving year 12 calculus problems when he was six. He has never attended regular school but was home-schooled by his parents, who were not interested in maths. He learned about quadratic and cubic polynomials from the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a>. I asked him if it was possible to draw polynomials of x to the power of 7 or 8. He did this without hesitation, noting he had never been taught to do this. </p>
<figure>
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<h2>Gifted students learn in a more advanced way</h2>
<p>People learn by converting information to knowledge. They may then elaborate, restructure or reorganise it in various ways. Giftedness is the capacity to learn in more advanced ways. </p>
<p>First, these students <a href="https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2016/06/5_ways_gifted_students_learn_differently.html">learn faster</a>. In a given period they learn more than their regular learning peers. They form a more elaborate and differentiated knowledge of a topic. This helps them interpret more information at a time.</p>
<p>Second, these students are more likely to draw conclusions from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. They stimulate parts of their knowledge that were not mentioned in the information presented to them and add these inferences to their understanding. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-gifted-students-go-to-a-separate-school-71620">Should gifted students go to a separate school?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>This is called “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02783190802201796">fluid analogising</a>” or “far transfer”. It involves combining knowledge from the two sources into an interpretation that has the characteristics of an intuitive theory about the information. This is supported by a range of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233627762_Transforming_gifts_into_talents_The_DMGT_as_a_developmental_theory">affective and social factors</a>, including high self-efficacy and intrinsic goal setting, motivation and will-power.</p>
<p>Their theories extend the teaching. They’re intuitive in that they’re personal and include possibilities or options the student has not yet tested. Parts of the theory may be incorrect. When given the opportunity to reflect on or field-test them, the student can validate their new knowledge, modify it or reject it. </p>
<p>Marcus and Mike from the earlier anecdotes engaged in these processes. <a href="http://inthemindseyedyslexicrenaissance.blogspot.com">So did</a> Einstein, Churchill, Van Gogh and Christie. </p>
<h2>Verbally gifted</h2>
<p>A gifted learning profile manifests in multiple ways. Much of the information we’re exposed to is made up of concepts that are linked and sequenced around a topic or theme. It’s formed using agreed conventions. It may be a written narrative, a painting, a conversation or football match. Some students exposed to part of a text infer its topic and subsequent ideas – their intuitive theory about it. </p>
<p>These are the <em>verbally gifted</em> students. In the classroom they infer the direction of the teaching and give the impression of being ahead of it. This is what Mike did when he extended his knowledge beyond what the information taught him. Most of the tasks used in the Child Genius program assessed this. The children used what they knew about spelling patterns to spell unfamiliar words and to unscramble complex anagrams. </p>
<h2>Visual-spatially gifted</h2>
<p>Other students think about the teaching information in time and space. They use imagery and infer intuitive theories that are more lateral or creative. In the classroom their interpretations are often unexpected and may question the teaching. These are the <em>non-verbally gifted</em> or <em>visual-spatially gifted</em> students. </p>
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<p>They frequently do not learn academic or social conventions well and are often twice exceptional. They’re more likely to challenge conventional thinking. Marcus did this when he visualised the slaters with large “beetle toes”. </p>
<h2>What we can learn from gifted students</h2>
<p>Educators and policy makers can learn from the student voice in the recent media programs. Some of the students on Insight told us their classrooms don’t provide the most appropriate opportunities for them to show what they know or to learn. </p>
<p>The twice exceptional students in the Insight program noted teachers had a limited capacity to recognise and identify the multiple ways students can be gifted. They reminded us some gifted profiles, but not the twice-exceptional profile, are prioritised in regular education. </p>
<p>These students thrive and excel when they have the opportunity to show their advanced interpretations initially in formats they can manage, for example, in visual and physical ways. They can then learn to use more conventional ways such as writing. </p>
<p>Multi-modal forms of communication are important for them. Examples include drawing pictures of their interpretations, acting out their understanding and building models to represent their understanding. The use of diagrams by the the famous physicist Richard Feynman is an example of this.</p>
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<p>For students like Mike, adequate formal educational provision simply does not exist. With the development of information communication technology, it would be hoped that in the future adaptive and creative curricula and teaching practices could be developed for those students whose learning trajectories are far from the regular. </p>
<p>As a consequence, we have <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/education/bright-but-bored-schools-need-better-pathways-for-talented-kids-ng-b88914843z">high levels of disengagement</a> from regular education by some gifted students in the middle to senior secondary years. High ability Australian students <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-high-achieving-students-lagging-behind-in-victoria-20181022-p50b8h.html">under-achieve</a> in both NAPLAN and international testing.</p>
<h2>The problem with IQ</h2>
<p>Identification using IQ is problematic for some gifted profiles. Some IQ tests assess a narrow band of culturally valued knowledge. They frequently do not assess general learning capacity. </p>
<p>As well, teachers are usually not qualified to interpret IQ assessments. The parents in the Insight program mentioned both the difficulty in having their children identified as gifted and the high costs IQ tests incurred. In Australia, these assessments can cost up to <a href="https://www.pearsonclinical.com.au/products/view/579">A$475</a>. </p>
<p>An obvious alternative is to equip teachers and schools to identify and assess students’ learning in the classroom for indications of gifted learning and thinking in its multiple forms. To do this, assessment tasks need to assess the quality, maturity and sophistication of the students’ thinking and learning strategies, their capacity to enhance knowledge, and also what students actually know or believe is possible about a topic or an issue. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/show-us-your-smarts-a-very-brief-history-of-intelligence-testing-45444">Show us your smarts: a very brief history of intelligence testing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Classroom assessments usually don’t assess this. They are designed to test how well students have learned the teaching, not what additional knowledge the students have added to it. </p>
<p>Gifted students benefit from open-ended tasks that permit them to show what they know about a topic or issue. Such tasks include complex problem solving activities or challenges and open-ended assignments. We are now <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=433369775938947;res=IELHSS">developing tools</a> to assess the quality and sophistication of gifted students’ knowledge and understanding.</p>
<h2>Tips for teachers and parents</h2>
<p>Over the course of 2019, teachers can look for evidence of gifted learning by encouraging their students to share their intuitive theories about a topic and by completing open-ended tasks in which they extend or apply what they have learned. This can include more complex problem solving. </p>
<p>During reading comprehension, for example, teachers can plan tasks that require higher-level thinking, including analysis, evaluation and synthesis. Teachers need to assess and evaluate students’ learning in terms of the extent to which they elaborate on the teaching information.</p>
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<p>Parents are often the first to notice their child learns more rapidly, remembers more, does things in more advanced ways or learns differently from their peers. Most educators have heard a parent say: “I think my child is gifted.” And sometimes the parent is correct. </p>
<p>Parents can use modern technology to record specific instances of high performance by their children, and share these with their child’s teachers. The mobile phone and iPad provide a good opportunity for video-recording a child’s questions during story time, their interpretations of unfamiliar contexts such as a visit to a museum, drawings or inventions the child produces and how they do this, and ways in which they solve problems in their everyday lives. These records can provide useful evidence later for educators and other professionals. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-differentiation-and-why-is-it-poorly-understood-55757">Explainer: what is differentiation and why is it poorly understood?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Parents also have a key role to play in helping their child understand what it means to learn differently from one’s peers, to value their interpretations and achievements and how they can interact socially with peers who may operate differently.</p>
<p>It is students’ intuitive theories about information that lead to creative, talented outcomes and innovative products. If an education system is to foster creativity and innovation, teachers need to recognise and value these theories and help these students convert them into a talent. Teachers can respond to gifted knowing and learning in its multiple forms if they know what it looks like in the classroom and have appropriate tools to identify it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107718/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Munro has been a chief researcher on ARC funded projects and has completed contracted projects for Australian educational authorities. </span></em></p>Gifted students have the potential to be our future Einsteins. But they will only do this if we support them to learn in an appropriate way.John Munro, Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1083202018-12-13T11:46:05Z2018-12-13T11:46:05ZThe key to our humanity isn’t genetic, it’s microbial<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250115/original/file-20181211-76977-1euccsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The microbes that live in our gut are essential to good health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1139164184?size=huge_jpg">Alpha Tauri 3D Graphics/SHutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What if the key to perfecting the human species were actually … yogurt? </p>
<p>The fantasy of trying to perfect humanity through genetics was recently reignited by the announcement of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-scientist-says-he-made-a-gene-edited-baby-and-what-health-worries-may-ensue-107764">Chinese scientist claiming</a> to have made the first “CRISPR babies,” which were named for the technique used to edit the DNA of the embryos. While major <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-road-to-enhancement-via-human-gene-editing-is-paved-with-good-intentions-107677">ethical and regulatory concerns</a> are present, fears that CRISPR will lead us into the dystopian world depicted in the movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/">“Gattaca”</a> are unfounded. In fact, if the movie were remade today it would likely be a story about the government mandating probiotics and healthy eating. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250117/original/file-20181211-76956-cpnsri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Probiotic or yogurt drink filled with billions of beneficial bacteria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/probiotic-yogurt-drink-pouring-into-glass-1121493248?src=dpWotwn10K3dSiJNImWmOg-1-74">HstrongART/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/boyer-lectures-the-new-eugenics-is-the-same-as-the-old-just-in-fancier-clothes-103165">Eugenics</a> is the belief that humanity can be perfected through genetic manipulation. Past eugenic policies placed restrictions on marriage and immigration, justified slavery and forced sterilizations, and ultimately culminated in the Holocaust. I am a physician-scientist specializing in allergies who became interested in eugenics not in relation to skin color, but skin rashes. Most prominent researchers who study a a skin rash called eczema were convinced that the vast majority of the disease is determined by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791162/">fixed genetic sequences</a>. Many still are. However, just like the studies of intelligence and criminal behavior that came before it, research into the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=22197932">genetics of eczema</a> has fallen well short of what the 15th-century techniques had predicted. </p>
<p>To be fair, the public’s fascination with this subject is understandable. Commercial breaks are filled with pseudoscientific claims that your DNA can reveal, for example, that you are 12.4 percent Italian, 3.1 percent Neanderthal, and 1/512th Native American. Spoiler alert: <a href="https://theconversation.com/two-native-american-geneticists-interpret-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test-105274">It can’t</a>. Prominent <a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/denying-genetics-isnt-shutting-down-racism-its-fueling-it.html?gtm=bottom&gtm=top">magazines</a>, <a href="https://samharris.org/ezra-klein-editor-chief/">podcasts</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html">newspapers</a> have pushed the debunked claim that intelligence is genetically encoded. In reality, genetic studies that were supposed to explain at least 80 percent of being a genius have explained <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0152-6">only 5 percent</a>. This means your genes, at best, have less impact on your IQ score than a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2009.09.007">good night’s sleep</a>. However, modern misunderstanding of how complex traits are passed down isn’t just burdening society with hucksters and racists. Ignorance is causing us to overlook opportunities for improving health and treating disease.</p>
<h2>Where did ideas like a ‘gene for IQ’ come from?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250274/original/file-20181212-110240-17m6fdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Researchers conducting twin studies assumed that common behavior and trait was a result of common genes, not a common environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/phop-phratakthailand-august-9an-unidentified-child-695003356?src=wSmW-PLJvOou3F102BarfQ-1-43">natthawut ngoensanthia/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Most of the ideas of “genes for” complex traits come from twin studies that assumed that identical twins and fraternal twins would differ only by the amount of shared DNA. What twin researchers either didn’t realize, or willfully ignored, is that the influence of the environment is also stronger for identical twins. Because identical twins are more likely to be dressed alike and confused for one another, they form more of a <a href="https://www.madinamerica.com/2013/03/the-trouble-with-twin-studies/">shared identity</a>. </p>
<p>Thus, identical twins are more likely to share the same hobbies, eat the same foods, and run in the same social circles than fraternal twins. Modern research shows these differences are more psychology than biology. Furthermore, since identical twins share the same embryonic sac in the womb, their environmental exposures are also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-3782(01)00171-2">more biologically similar</a> than fraternal twins. As such, researchers claiming that twin study data is indicative of genetics are, at best, ill-informed. </p>
<h2>What is the modern understanding of heritable traits?</h2>
<p>It may seem counterintuitive, but just because one change can worsen a gene’s function, that doesn’t mean that a different change can enhance it. When scientists say a gene “contributes to intelligence” they are referring to situations in which mutations in the gene cause a loss of intelligence or delay in cognitive development. They are not implying that a special version of the gene can guarantee a college degree. </p>
<p>Enhancing the functions of genes is most often accomplished via <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1402513">epigenetic modifications</a> – chemical tags that are attached to the DNA but do not alter the genetic code. If genes are words, sentences and paragraphs, then <a href="https://www.whatisepigenetics.com/fundamentals/">epigenetics</a> is the cadence, emphasis and diction. This is akin to having Hamlet performed by Gilbert Gottfried versus Benedict Cumberbatch. While epigenetic changes can be passed on from parents to children, they can also be altered by <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-stress-in-childhood-is-toxic-to-your-dna-99009">stress</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-your-grandparents-life-could-have-changed-your-genes-19136">diet, environment</a> and <a href="https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/how-exercise-changes-our-dna/">behavior</a>. Therefore, I believe that environmental modification, not CRISPR, would be needed to enhance the vast majority of genetic functions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250283/original/file-20181212-110240-1b4glsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are a lot more factors than genes that influence good health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/health-components-556504684">arka38/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Another way to inherit traits</h2>
<p>A more recently appreciated influencer of heritable traits is the microbiome, the term for all of the microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that peacefully co-exist with humans. </p>
<p>From a genetic standpoint, your human genes are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08821">probably outnumbered</a> over 100 to 1 by microbial genes. Modern research suggests that the microbiome may be directly involved in diseases ranging from <a href="https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/microbiome/disease/">autism to obesity</a>. The microbial influence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000268127">can be passed</a> from mother to child during and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-00664-8">possibly before</a> birth, but remains partially sensitive to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-13-61">diet</a> and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.10.029">environment</a> into adulthood. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1108&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1108&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250286/original/file-20181212-110228-1v2li1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1108&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gut microbes are known to play a role in mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/gutbrain-connection-gut-brain-axis-concept-643664689?src=37dpIXc2E7W92dSOsymsrQ-1-15">Anatomy Insider/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The microbiome can even influence your epigenetics. Researchers are just beginning to tap into the potential of microbial treatments for diseases. Similar to our lab’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/applying-live-bacteria-to-skin-improves-eczema-95920">experimental treatment for eczema</a>, live bacterial therapies for <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01584">food allergies</a>, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1600266">depression and anxiety, heart disease and select cancers</a> are in development. As scientists clarify which strains of microbes are most helpful, these treatments are expected to become even more powerful. </p>
<p>Think of it this way: The current and former U.S. presidents <a href="https://www.genome.gov/19016904/faq-about-genetic-and-genomic-science/">share 99.9 percent</a> of their genetic sequence, despite being slightly more than 0.1 percent different. As such, modern scientists do not hide from eugenics-based ideas because they are controversial; they dismiss them because both <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/">“Gattaca”</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/10/17182692/bell-curve-charles-murray-policy-wrong">The Bell Curve</a> are to genetics what Flat Earthers are to astrophysics. </p>
<p>While properly conducted <a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/therapy/genetherapy">gene therapy</a> does offer real hope for curing rare genetic diseases, its limitations stop well short of sci-fi. As just one example, feeding mice <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5056/jnm16018">one specific type of bacteria</a> significantly enhanced their memory, whereas genomics has failed to find any genes that could do the same. Ancestry charlatans and neo-eugenicists may deny the fact that people are more a product of their experiences than their genetic heritage, but perhaps their mothers just didn’t <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2214-109X%2818%2930371-1">breastfeed them</a> long enough.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Myles receives government funding from The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.</span></em></p>The effort to edit the genes of Chinese twins implies that all our traits are determined by our genes. But changing our diet, environment, lifestyle and microbes may have a greater effect.Ian Myles, Head, Epithelial Therapeutics Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/958252018-05-10T09:24:21Z2018-05-10T09:24:21ZBabies prefer the sounds of other babies to the cooing of their parents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218145/original/file-20180508-34038-10vbrlt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C50%2C1000%2C615&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/152684360?src=Tm6tNablsZ8A9BOqPgPfSA-1-20&size=medium_jpg">Elena Stepanova/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know that babies <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02885.x">prefer</a> the high-pitched sounds produced by their caregivers in “babytalk” over regular speech, but a <a href="https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/asoa-ftm042618.php">new study</a> provides an exciting new perspective. At five months of age, it seems that babies prefer to listen to the sounds of their peers to the cooing of their mother. </p>
<p>Researchers at the University of Quebec tested babies on their preference for different speakers by using a specialised speech synthesizer. They were able to simulate the effects of the human vocal tract – the vocal cords, tongue and mouth – to create vowels with differing pitch and resonance, representing vowels produced by vocal tracts of different sizes. </p>
<p>The apparatus let the researchers compare babies’ responses to vowels produced by infants their own age, as well as vowels typical of an adult female’s speech. They tested the babies’ responses to different vowel sounds by training them to look towards or away from a chequerboard image. Simply by turning their heads, the babies indicated which sounds they preferred. </p>
<p>The results were striking. Five-month-olds listened to the infant vowels for 40% longer than the adult vowels, showing a clear preference for vowels that closely matched the sounds they produce themselves. </p>
<p>These findings present a new view on how we think about babies’ early language learning. A lot of existing research focuses on the effect of parents’ speech on language development; for example, how words produced in a higher pitch <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0163638387900178">grab babies’ attention</a> more easily and go on to shape their <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-child-language/article/how-salient-are-onomatopoeia-in-the-early-input-a-prosodic-analysis-of-infantdirected-speech/E2181662B64A5527A72221452E23E56B">early vocabulary</a>. And there is no denying that babytalk is important in child development. Babies who hear more high-pitched babytalk from their caregivers have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/desc.12172">larger vocabularies at two years of age</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/desc.12479">higher IQs at age seven</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218320/original/file-20180509-34018-1gyd6qg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You’re going to be a smart baby. Yes you are. Yes you are.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/198703256?src=96IV99DLQD-H0OPA__wi1w-1-0&size=medium_jpg">Ekaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Babble teaches babies to talk</h2>
<p>But while babies prefer to listen to adult speech when it is produced at a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163638385800059">higher pitch</a>, a preference for infant vocalisations over and above this might have important implications for very early language learning. Authors of the study propose that it might motivate them to vocalise more in the first months of life, which could promote the transition to babble production just a few months later. </p>
<p>Babble is the emergence of repeated language-like syllables consisting of one or two “favourite” consonants, such as “bababa”. And we now know that it is an important indication of later language ability. Earlier onset of stable babbling leads to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.12671">earlier word production</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/infa.12150">a larger vocabulary</a> in the first two years of life. With this in mind, babies’ implicit preference for their own vocalisations could be an important factor in their path to full language use.</p>
<p>This is not the first study to suggest that infants’ own vocalisations may play an important role in language learning. Perception of consonants produced in their own babble may help infants filter the speech stream into something more manageable. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that infants prefer to listen to words that match the sounds produced in their babble. For example, an infant who produces many “bababa” sounds will prefer made-up words containing “b”, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163638311000713">“bapeb”, “pabep” and “pobep”</a>. This is similar to the “cocktail-party effect”, where even in a noisy room we can pick out words that are more relevant to us, such as our name or the town where we live. </p>
<p>In the same way, infants’ attention is drawn to words that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15475441.2013.829740">match the sounds they produce most often</a>, helping them pick out words from the speech stream that they’re more likely to be able to produce. It’s no coincidence that infants’ very first words have <a href="https://jslhr.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=1780649">babble-like qualities</a>: “mummy”, “daddy”, “baby” and <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0142723714550110">onomatopoeic words</a> such as “baa baa” and “woof woof”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iO3jTl0WuS4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The cocktail party effect explained.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The importance of infants’ perception of their own vocalisations is supported by research into babies who are deaf. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1130323?casa_token=avVnMHZJaE8AAAAA:PApI5j8DrH2B2feaBc8Hlp7iIlRddwmI0x95LzHCi3cy2DH-3BNwN-Un6vUJQrdrAWJSTwXwATArS4jL4MhqcPp86QT9ddnuVCyoPqWACxrvfUY5rLjN&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">Studies of deaf babies</a> have shown that they do babble but they start babbling much later than hearing infants. </p>
<p>Without feedback on their own babble production, deaf infants typically cease to babble after a few months. These studies have allowed us to piece together a more comprehensive picture of how human language emerges, taking into account the importance of infant vocalisation long before they produce their first word. </p>
<p>Babies learn from the adult world around them, but they also learn from their own early vocalisations. These new findings suggest that this begins much earlier than we previously thought. Perhaps language production does not start with words or even babble, but with vocalisations that begin long before the first speech-like sounds are produced.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Laing works for Cardiff University. She received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>Babies would rather listen to each other than to their parents’ babytalk, according to new research.Catherine Laing, Lecturer in Child Language Acquisition, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/923442018-04-03T22:56:14Z2018-04-03T22:56:14ZFrom IQ to blood pressure, we should not be complacent about lead<p>We poisoned ourselves with lead during the 20th century in most industrial nations. We used the metal widely, because lead paint is durable, engines run better on leaded gasoline and lead water pipes don’t rust. </p>
<p>We now have good news. My colleagues and I have recently shown that, in Canada, <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6579/aa904f/pdf">our accumulated lead exposure has reduced by half since the early 1990s</a>. </p>
<p>Improvements to federal, provincial and municipal regulation and monitoring have been very successful. We <a href="http://www.ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/default.asp?lang=En&n=54FE5535-1&wsdoc=8E3C2E9B-38A8-461A-8EC3-C3AA3B1FD585">have removed lead from gasoline</a>, lowered permitted levels in paint and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/environmental-contaminants/lead/lead-information-package-some-commonly-asked-questions-about-lead-human-health.html#a19">banned the use of lead solder in drinking water plumbing</a>. We have lowered our body burdens of lead.</p>
<p>But I want to warn people that we cannot be complacent. Lead exposure reductions require active management. I point to Flint, Mich. in the United States, where lead exposure controls failed in 2014 and <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-lewis-flint-needs-help_us_5aa7b857e4b087e5aaedb962">children were lead-poisoned for months</a>.</p>
<p>In the time since I conducted this study, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-job-cuts-tracking-the-rollout-1.1138401">austerity measures have led to staff reductions in regulatory agencies</a> in Canada. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa/epa-workforce-shrinking-to-reagan-era-levels-agency-official-idUSKCN1BH1LY">agency changes</a> are now under way and <a href="https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/02/06/dump-coal-waste-into-streams/">reversions to older legislation</a> have occurred. </p>
<p>I worry that measures such as <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-water-20170228-story.html">relaxed permissions around mine waste could have an impact on heavy metal levels in drinking water</a>.</p>
<h2>Lead affects IQ, blood pressure, menopause</h2>
<p>I am very happy that lead exposure is reduced because this metal is so toxic. </p>
<p>Lead <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257652/">lowers children’s IQ</a>. The evidence shows that children with blood lead levels of 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood (μg/dL) score four points lower on IQ tests than children with blood lead levels of 2 µg/dL. The reduction increases to seven points in children with blood lead levels of 30 µg/dL.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I have also shown that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajim.10096/full">lead-exposed children have higher blood pressure</a> late in life. </p>
<p>We also found that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1278489/">women exposed to lead undergo menopause earlier than non-exposed women</a>. </p>
<p>Reductions in lead exposure are therefore good news for us all. We <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2717145/">are healthier and our children are, on average, smarter</a>. </p>
<h2>From bone into blood</h2>
<p>Health Canada supported our study to determine lead exposure in Canada, contributing funding and scientists’ time. </p>
<p>Together, we set up a laboratory and equipment at St. Joseph’s Medical Centre in Toronto and invited people from the area to come and be assessed. We studied 273 people of all ages, from small children on their mothers’ laps to elderly grandparents. Our volunteers in the study ranged from 14 months old to 82 years of age. </p>
<p>We took blood samples and we used an X-ray technique (developed by us at McMaster University) to painlessly measure the lead content of bone. We measured both bone and blood lead levels. This allowed us to assess recent and long-term lead exposure. </p>
<p>When we ingest lead, it enters the blood stream and moves from blood into bone, where it is stored for years to decades. Over time, it slowly comes back out from bone into blood. </p>
<p>When we measure blood lead levels, we are measuring two separate exposure components. We measure ongoing exposure from external sources like water and dust over the last month or two. We also measure lead in blood that is released from bone. </p>
<p>By measuring both blood and bone lead levels, we can calculate the portion of blood lead level that is recent, and the portion that is from our historical exposure, stored in bone. </p>
<p>In our study, we measured two bone sites, shin and heel, and whole blood and blood serum levels to get a full picture of lead exposure in Toronto.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212344/original/file-20180328-109190-155b1pt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The X-ray based bone lead measurement system is a low risk and painless way to measure long-term lead exposure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Paulina Rzeckowska)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We measured lead in bone by placing a small gamma-ray source against a person’s leg and capturing the X-ray signal reflected back into a specialized radiation detector system. </p>
<p>Lead emits X-rays that are characteristic of, and specific to, the metal. We detect those X-rays, and compare the signal intensity from a person with signals from calibration standards. We can thus accurately estimate bone lead levels in our volunteers.</p>
<h2>A remarkable public health achievement</h2>
<p>We found that bone lead levels increased with age as we expected. Lead builds up in the skeleton over time, so we predicted that older people would have higher lead levels than younger people. </p>
<p>Importantly, we found <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969804396002230">bone lead levels in Ontario were lower</a> than they were nearly 20 years earlier, when <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0969804394901732">we published two similar studies</a>. </p>
<p>I was excited to find that bone lead levels are now 50 per cent lower than two decades ago. I was even more excited when I realized that current lead exposure is so low that more lead is leaving bone than entering bone. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212856/original/file-20180402-189827-cu8igr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blood lead levels have fallen significantly since 1978 in a very similar patter across both Canada and the United States. Data are drawn from the Canada Health Measures Survey, the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Survey and our recently published study.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Fiona McNeill)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bone lead levels have fallen with time. I, like everyone else aged 50 in Ontario, now have less lead stored in me than when I was 30.</p>
<p>Our results can be extended to all of Canada and are compatible with data from the U.S. We have defined a new “normal” for long-term lead exposure. This is a remarkable public health achievement in North America, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1247191/">similar patterns are seen in most other industrialized countries in the world</a>. </p>
<p>Exposure to a widespread toxin has fallen dramatically. Even if we introduce no further preventive measures, blood lead levels will continue to fall for years, as levels fall in peoples’ bones.</p>
<h2>Smugness could be our downfall</h2>
<p>This is an excellent result, but we do need to remain vigilant. Lead has not disappeared from the planet, we have instead actively managed our exposure. We cannot stop. </p>
<p>Smugness could be our downfall if we allow ourselves a mindset that lead exposure cannot be a future issue because it is not now an issue.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/snyder/FWATF_FINAL_REPORT_21March2016_517805_7.pdf">Complacency and intransigence were factors in the increase in lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212355/original/file-20180328-109199-js58s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blood lead levels were assessed on a subset of children in Flint Michigan. After the switch in water source, a higher percentage of children were found to have blood lead levels over the action level of 5 µg/dl. The increase is a result of a failure to manage lead exposure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The lead pipes were throughout the city, but the percentage of children with increased blood lead levels changed because the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0624-water-lead.html">change in water source and exposure-monitoring was badly managed</a>.</p>
<p>We must avoid any increase in lead exposure. The saddest future I can imagine is one where major improvements in health and IQ are lost. </p>
<p>Our children face many challenges, like climate change, in the future. They will need to be smarter than us to manage them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92344/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona E. McNeill receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and her recently published work on lead was funded by Health Canada.</span></em></p>Reduced lead exposure has made us smarter and healthier. Could changes in regulatory agencies across North America endanger this?Fiona E. McNeill, Professor of Radiation Sciences, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/937412018-04-02T19:59:04Z2018-04-02T19:59:04ZWhy some migrant school students do better than their local peers (they’re not ‘just smarter’)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212541/original/file-20180329-189830-tb953a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Asian Australian students tend to spend more time studying than Anglo-Australians.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians from some migrant backgrounds achieve better results than their local peers, according to recent reports on the academic performance of school students.</p>
<p>The 2017 OECD <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/the-resilience-of-students-with-an-immigrant-background-9789264292093-en.htm">review of migrant education</a> found that students from the Philippines, China and India were more likely to achieve baseline academic proficiency than their Australian born counterparts. Baseline academic proficiency is demonstrating key knowledge and skills in science, reading and mathematics at the standard expected for age 15.</p>
<p>Similar patterns <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-national-report-2017_final_04dec2017.pdf?sfvrsn=0">have been seen</a> in the 2016 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results. Students who don’t speak English at home scored higher in spelling, grammar, writing and numeracy tests than those from English speaking backgrounds. Numeracy scores were also higher among primary school students who came from a non-English speaking background.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/international-study-shows-many-australian-children-are-still-struggling-with-reading-88646">International study shows many Australian children are still struggling with reading</a>
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<p>This isn’t a new phenomenon, nor is it unique to Australia. Since the 1980s, researchers have hunted for explanations. Why do migrant students, who otherwise experienced considerable challenges settling in a new country, do better than local-born students? And why is this seen not in all, but in particular, migrant groups?</p>
<h2>Not just smarter</h2>
<p>The stereotype of the model minority student dates back to a <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=Ed012275">1966 US report</a> that found Asian Americans matched or exceeded the performance of “white” Americans on IQ tests and basic achievement. Studies in the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-98782-000">1980s</a> and <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/24938938">1990s</a> showed similar findings. </p>
<p>The answer isn’t as simple as “they’re smarter”. In 1991, the intelligence researcher, James Flynn, reanalysed previous IQ research with Asian Americans and <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/7864008/asian-americans-achievement-beyond-iq">concluded that</a> their mean IQs roughly equalled those of North Americans. Similarly, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01443410220138502">our study</a> with Chinese and Vietnamese Australian primary students found they had higher mathematics achievement than their Anglo-Australian counterparts, despite having the same IQ.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/six-ways-australias-education-system-is-failing-our-kids-32958">Six ways Australia's education system is failing our kids</a>
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<p>Asian Australian students also reported spending more time studying than did Anglo students, which contributed to their higher maths achievement. But that they worked harder wasn’t a sufficient explanation for better results. </p>
<p>Occupational and educational aspirations, so important to the migrant experience, were a crucial factor. Our Asian Australian participants had much higher goals for their future education and hoped for higher status- and-income occupations than did their Anglo peers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212551/original/file-20180329-189801-arbd32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Confucian, East Asian, cultures place a high value on education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/TVSRWmnW8Us">Photo by Tra Nguyen on Unsplash</a></span>
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<h2>Migrant aspirations</h2>
<p>In our research, Asian-Australian children <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0144341022000023662">reflected the aspirations of their parents</a>, pointing to what might be called a migrant effect. This is a pattern of <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED264336">higher educational aspirations</a> among immigrants in general. </p>
<p>Migrants are motivated to exploit opportunities that aren’t available in their homelands, with the ultimate goal of increasing their social standing. Researchers <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-98782-000">have proposed</a> that education is an <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-10744-005?doi=1">attractive way to achieve this</a> as it’s a system assumed to be based on merit and less affected by the racial discrimination and prejudice encountered by migrants in other areas.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-were-making-no-progress-tackling-the-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-62961">Why we're making no progress tackling the exploitation of migrant workers</a>
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<p>This is particularly the case for migrants who are visibly different from the majority, such as those from India, China and the Philippines, compared to those from the UK, Scotland or non-Maori New Zealanders. The latter were found to be less likely to attain baseline proficiency than Australian born students in the OECD report. </p>
<p>But not every country’s educational and social systems offer educational opportunities, which may be why the OECD findings show country of destination matters. </p>
<p>The differences between countries could also be due to cultural factors that interact with the drive for social mobility through education. These include the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-10744-005?doi=1">high value placed on education</a> in Confucian (East Asian) cultures and in countries like India.</p>
<p>Valuing education, having high educational aspirations and working hard might also translate into teachers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1034912X.2014.984591">holding higher expectations</a> for students from some minority groups, which in turn, could enhance academic performance.</p>
<h2>So, what about Australians?</h2>
<p>This doesn’t mean local-born Australians don’t value education. Our study showed they just may not <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0144341022000023662">make it the same priority</a> as some migrant parents.</p>
<p>And it’s important to remember that high expectations can have negative <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2014-36696-001">mental health consequences</a> for some children and young people. This was perhaps the reason why some Anglo-Australian parents in our study said it was more important their children were happy and free to choose whatever occupation they wanted, than encouraging them to focus on academic achievement and high status occupations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/migrant-children-are-often-their-parents-translators-and-it-can-lead-to-ill-health-55309">Migrant children are often their parents' translators – and it can lead to ill health</a>
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<p>But this is arguably the privilege of those born into the majority cultural group who aren’t subject to the same obstacles as some migrants, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who still lag behind their peers in educational attainment. These differences highlight a bigger question: how can we can ensure all Australian children take advantage of the educational opportunities on offer?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93741/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Dandy has received funding from the Ministerial Council for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs in the past. She is a member of GetUp and CARAD, the Coalition for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Detainees.</span></em></p>Students from the Philippines, China and India consistently achieve better results at school than their Australian-born counterparts. This is due to a number of factors, including parents’ values.Justine Dandy, Senior lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/934632018-03-21T08:37:42Z2018-03-21T08:37:42ZHow clever people help societies work together better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211012/original/file-20180319-31633-2npx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/home">via shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What drives people to cooperate with each other? And what characteristics lead a person to do something that will both benefit them, and those around them? Our <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxhbmRpc3NvZmlhbm9zfGd4OjcxYWMwN2ExNzMwOGQ1YWE">new research</a> suggests that the answer is intelligence: it is the primary condition for a socially cohesive and cooperative society.</p>
<p>In the past, some economists have suggested that <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.2.3.187">consideration of others</a> and generally <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v90y2000i4p980-994.html">pro-social attitudes</a> are what motivate people towards more generous and cooperative behaviours which help sustain a cohesive society. Others have suggested that adhering to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2780243?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">good norms</a> and respecting <a href="https://economics.mit.edu/files/4123">institutions</a> push us towards more socially useful behaviours. </p>
<p>But another possibility is that insightful self-interest guides us to become effectively good citizens – and that cooperation arises in society if people are smart enough to foresee the social consequences of their actions, including the consequences for others. </p>
<h2>The prisoner’s dilemma</h2>
<p>Our study, which took part in behavioural labs in the US and UK with 792 participants, was designed to test these three different suggestions for why people cooperate with each other. In it, we used games that contain a set of rules that assign a reward to two players depending on their decisions. </p>
<p>One of these games was the prisoner’s dilemma game. The easiest way to describe the game is using the original example of two criminals who have been arrested. They are interrogated in separate rooms with no means of communicating with each other. Each prisoner is given the opportunity either to: betray the other by testifying that the other committed the crime – an uncooperative choice – or to cooperate with the other by remaining silent. </p>
<p>If both prisoners betray each other, they each serve two years in prison – the uncooperative outcome. If one betrays the other and the other remains silent, the first will be set free and the other will serve three years in prison – and vice versa. If both remain silent, they will only serve one year in prison – the cooperative outcome.</p>
<p>This is a standard example of a game analysed in game theory that shows why two completely rational individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. It is also a good example of a non zero-sum game – where the cooperative behaviour is mutually beneficial. In general, it depicts a situation reflecting the properties of the interactions we all experience most frequently in society. </p>
<p>As usual in experimental economics, we had participants play this game with monetary payoffs – instead of imprisonment. We matched two subjects in the same session in an anonymous way and we let them play the same game repeatedly for an indefinite number of times. After that, we re-matched them with a different partner and the game started again. And this went on for 45 minutes. Each player learns by adjusting their decisions based on how others in the same room have played in the past. </p>
<h2>Intelligence sparks cooperation</h2>
<p>We then created two “cities”, or groups of subjects, sorted by characteristics based on cognitive and personality traits that we had measured two days earlier, by asking the participants to fill in a standard questionnaire. One such characteristic was a measure of pro-social attitudes, namely the personality trait of agreeableness. Another characteristic was a measure of adherence to norms, specifically the personality trait of conscientiousness. The third characteristic was that of intelligence. </p>
<p>We then analysed the frequency of cooperative choices they made in the prisoner’s dilemma game – so the number of times they chose the less selfish option. From this we calculated what we called the cooperation rate.</p>
<p>Overall, we found that the higher a person’s intelligence, the more cooperative they became as they continued playing the prisoner’s dilemma game. So while intelligent individuals are not inherently more cooperative, they have the ability to process information faster and to learn from it. We didn’t see such stark differences for the other two groups – those that scored highly in agreeableness and conscientiousness.</p>
<h2>Helping each other</h2>
<p>It’s possible that smarter people may try to use their cognitive advantage and take advantage of others. So in further analysis, we created combined “cities”, grouping together people who are similar across all characteristics in the personality test, and have similar levels of intelligence. We observed something quite different. </p>
<p>As the graph above shows, the smarter individuals – the blue line – within these combined groups helped to teach the less smart ones – the red line – and lead them to eventually increase their cooperation rate by the end of the experiment. This was eventually beneficial for all involved: on average, everyone was better off in terms of earnings. Taken together, these results show how even having a few intelligent people present in a group or the workplace can benefit others.</p>
<p>As other recent research has looked at how education can help from early childhood to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/312/5782/1900.full">develop cognitive ability</a>, our results indicate how such interventions need not only benefit each individual, but society as a whole.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andis Sofianos has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aldo Rustichini has received funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eugenio Proto receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>A new study shows how even having a few intelligent people in a group can benefit others.Andis Sofianos, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Economics, University of HeidelbergAldo Rustichini, Professor of Economics, University of MinnesotaEugenio Proto, Professor of Economics, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/906002018-01-24T13:52:58Z2018-01-24T13:52:58ZThe IQ test wars: why screening for intelligence is still so controversial – podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203215/original/file-20180124-107943-k9ytg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/iq-intelligence-quotient-concept-line-style-383838703?src=ZYKuJMCBFDL4Ktn2ufnHpw-1-19">shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Online <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/iq-tests-21382">IQ “quizzes”</a> purport to be able to tell you whether or not “you have what it takes to be a member of the world’s most prestigious high IQ society”. But despite this hype, the relevance, usefulness and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428">legitimacy of the IQ test is still hotly debated</a> among educators, social scientists, and hard scientists.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428">The IQ test wars: why screening for intelligence is still so controversial</a>
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<p>To understand why, it’s important to understand the history underpinning the birth, development and expansion of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/iq-tests-21382">IQ tests</a> – one that includes their use to further marginalise ethnic minorities and poor communities. Listen to our in depth article, which explores this history. </p>
<p>It is written by Daphne Martschenko and read by Gemma Ware.</p>
<iframe src="https://player.acast.com/5e29c8205aa745a456af58c8/episodes/5e29c8365aa745a456af58d3?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="110px" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
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<p>You can read the text version of the article <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428">here</a>. And click <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/in-depth-38616">here</a> to read or listen to more in depth articles.</p>
<p><em>The music in this episode is <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_06_Night_Caves">Night Caves</a>, by Lee Rosevere from the Free Music Archive. A big thanks to City University London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios to record this podcast.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90600/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daphne Martschenko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since its invention, the IQ test has generated strong arguments in support of – and against – its use.Daphne Martschenko, PhD Candidate, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/865952017-12-02T08:11:26Z2017-12-02T08:11:26ZFrom fireworks to iodine and IQ: the perchlorate connection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195249/original/file-20171117-19269-92mbul.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">"Remember, remember the fifth of November"...</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/andywilkes/2999025703/in/photolist-5z1MRH-aCbJGQ-aC93UB-8dB8Fa-9YqFGx-aC94Dp-crT21N-HiUxBN-qkHvQv-cHTykU-aCbHHQ-JLrPqN-2799SR-cQzwaj-TaGKjN-cQzx2N-cQzBDE-52buvj-crSWy7-279aAc-27dC9u-6C4Wu5-8gFFfa-527gb4-cQzy5W-52buVo-NWkXAF-sCEhSj-cM7oAG-fkazHg-4NDrL-6Wn5jE-ZiuxmN-dnyuXc-BWFuoC-7g3ExK-WyvWcL-uH6eF-cWzaBW-8vsCQR-RCpSw3-8vw2Hj-b5qeRz-D7uWAo-8RUi72-GAD3Z-8vwgeL-21eh9zY-q48Jxg-8vtyRx">Andy Wilkes/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fireworks are a key part of a wide number of public celebrations around the world, including Australia Day (January 26), the Festival of Sant Joan in Genoa, Italy (June 24), US Independence Day (July 4), Bastille Day (July 14), National Day in Signapore (August 9), Diwali in India (October), Guy Fawkes Night in the United Kingdom (November 5) and New Year’s Eve in Jakarta, Indonesia (December 31). But while they are a visual delight, fireworks are anything but innocuous. Research has shown that they can cause <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-prettiest-pollutant-just-how-bad-are-fireworks-for-the-environment-52451">significant air pollution</a> and the residues they leave behind – including <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389410009672">strontium, barium, cobalt and lead</a> – can be highly dangerous.</p>
<p>A less-known fact is that fireworks contain significant amounts of <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0700698">perchlorate</a>, a chemical of particular concern because of its potential effects on foetal brain development. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25057878">2014 study</a> published in <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism</em> examined data from more than 21,000 pregnant women in the United Kingdom and Italy. All of tested positive for perchlorate, and many also had low iodine levels. Children born to women with the highest levels of perchlorate and the lowest levels of iodine were found to be at greater risk of significant IQ loss. So what’s the connection between perchlorate, iodine and IQ?</p>
<h2>Perchlorate and thyroids</h2>
<p>The answer is that perchlorate blocks iodine uptake by the body’s thyroid glands, reducing their ability to produce sufficient levels of thyroid hormone. This hormone (and hence iodine) is needed for normal brain development. Since the 1970s most children world-wide are tested at birth to ensure they have enough thyroid hormone. If not they are given thyroid supplementation. Thyroid hormone is needed before birth as well, and it was recently demonstrated that a pregnant women’s thyroid hormone levels are vital for her <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26497402">child’s future IQ and brain structure</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195639/original/file-20171121-6061-ngve35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Structure of the chemical compound perchlorate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perchlorate">Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>As a consequence, too much perchlorate or other factors that interfere with thyroid function are bad news for pregnant women. In the United States, the Environment Protection Agency has estimated that up to 16 million people could be drinking <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-08/documents/epa815f11003.pdf">perchlorate-contaminated water</a>. Worse, because perchlorate is highly soluble in water as well as colourless, tasteless and odourless, people won’t know if their water is safe without it tested.</p>
<p>Perchlorate is thus a problem for human health because it interferes with production of thyroid hormone, something we all need. The condition of not having enough is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothyroidism">hypothyroidism</a>, and can cause us to become tired, depressed and overweight. So essential is thyroid hormone that some doctors have referred to it as the “fire of life”.</p>
<p>The importance of thyroid hormone for pregnant women and young children cannot be understated: The lack of either iodine or thyroid hormone during early development, especially the foetal and perinatal periods, results in lower IQ as well as an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disease such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum">autism spectrum disorder</a> (ASD) or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder">attention deficit hyperactivity disorders</a> (AD/HD). It has been estimated that neurodevelopmental disorders affect <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/ehp358/">1 in 6 American children today</a>. In the United Kingdom, it is estimated that <a href="http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/194/6/500">1 in 100 children are diagnosed with ASD</a>, while in the US the rate is approximately 1 in 68. There was an unprecedented and worrying increase in ASD incidence between 2000 and 2014, and given that human DNA has been relatively stable over that time period, genetics are unlikely to explain this increase.</p>
<h2>Endocrine-disrupting chemicals</h2>
<p>An increasing number of scientists and health professionals, including paediatricians and psychiatrists, are focusing on the multitude of chemicals to which we are exposed on a daily basis that can affect brain development. Of particular concern are chemicals that disrupt hormones – <a href="https://theconversation.com/everyday-chemicals-may-affect-brain-development-including-foetal-iq-75897">endocrine-disrupting chemicals</a> as they are called. When thinking of brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders, experts immediately think of the main hormone needed for brain development: thyroid hormone. Hence the concern over perchlorate, which is notorious for interfering with our bodies’ capacity to make this hormone.</p>
<p>Fireworks are by no means the only source of perchlorate in our environment. Because it’s highly soluble in water and stable, perchlorate can contaminate croplands and be taken up by vegetables and fruits grown there. Foods with the highest documented levels of perchlorate include melons, dairy and leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce. Given the vulnerability of the rapidly growing brains of babies, another particularly unfortunate source is breast milk and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/jes200918">infant formula</a>. New-borns are particular vulnerable, not only because their brains are growing quickly, but they also absorb more food and water for their body weight. But both cows-milk and soy-based infant formulas have been found to contain significant levels of perchlorate as well. Yet soy products are not at option, as they contain yet another compound that interferes with thyroid hormone production, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genistein">genistein</a>. So, soy-fed infants and children are doubly at risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195247/original/file-20171117-19256-wut8mk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Perchlorate has been found in infant formula.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jar0d/5210381038/in/photolist-8WqyKQ-afSLWn-7iC395-hfoPc3-5MpAP9-74JdxA-npGxaH-8jvNSf-4Zd2xa-63ciJk-9UEsSC-8GCTVh-97EuXJ-aCJcxU-83TkS4-eAJYH4-4ofkhB-8HxQU8-fGsD6o-89XJGq-nSnTvy-q4xLNW-5N1dM3-bDrVAq-63s3Qu-L6bj8-G4idSs-gZqyzW-qQFizY-2sBXeA-hpsHQ1-o6Ufj3-nbAGzz-85fzGt-8gtHi7-PA1GN-9SxjMu-j1hPUK-p2oLsT-QPqYun-h6fFDM-njYPFp-stGeAT-oULHMR-dYibRp-bCEz7L-9Go18u-57kkRH-q772t-bRzk1R">Sander van der Wel/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the United States, perchlorate can even be used in food packaging. Despite well-founded objections from a <a href="http://www.packaginglaw.com/news/ngos-request-hearing-fda%E2%80%99s-denial-their-perchlorate-food-additive-petition">number of NGOs</a>, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently <a href="http://www.packaginglaw.com/news/fda-removes-clearance-potassium-perchlorate-sealing-gaskets-based-abandonment">upheld their 2005 decision</a> to allow perchlorate to be used as an anti-static or sealing agent.</p>
<p>Ironically, the same administration reported that levels of perchlorate in the American diet had <a href="https://chemicalwatch.com/52040/us-fda-amount-of-perchlorate-increasing-in-food-products">increased significantly</a> since this decision was taken. Comparing results from two surveys made between 2003-2006 and 2008-2012, revealed significant increases in perchlorate content in various foods, with packaged foods such as salami showing increases of 150-fold. Certain samples of infant food also showed an increase of more than 100-fold. Overall it was estimated that the perchlorate content of the food eaten by infants and toddlers had increased by 34 and 23 % since the FDA decision.</p>
<p>In Europe, perchlorate can also be found on food, as indicated in a 2017 study, <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/5043">“Dietary exposure assessment to perchlorate in the European population”</a>. In toddlers and children – the most vulnerable populations along with pregnant and nursing women – maximum levels were ten times as high as in adults. Food is thus a significant source of perchlorate both sides of the Atlantic.</p>
<p>Finally, perchlorate is not the only chemical that affects thyroid hormone production. Others include pesticides, per-fluorinated compounds, flame retardants and plasticizers. Because multiple thyroid-hormone disrupting chemicals are found in human amniotic fluid, babies are exposed during their entire development in their mother’s womb. My team recomposed a mixture of chemicals commonly found in human amniotic fluid, including perchlorate. They were used at exactly the same concentrations in amniotic fluid as measured by epidemiological studies, and we found that the mixture affected not only thyroid hormone signalling but also <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28266608">brain development, brain gene expression, numbers of neurons in the brain and behaviour</a>.</p>
<h2>So what can be done?</h2>
<p>What can be done if governmental agencies continue to fail to regulate perchlorate and other thyroid disrupting chemicals? First, try to limit the effects of perchlorate:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If you’re pregnant or nursing, use iodized salt. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22335882">Studies show</a> that women increase the iodine content of their breast milk when using iodized salt.</p></li>
<li><p>Take vitamin and mineral supplements that contain 150µg iodine per tablet per day, especially if pregnant or breast feeding. This meets half of the <a href="http://www.who.int/elena/titles/guidance_summaries/iodine_pregnancy/en/">WHO recommendations for iodine intake in pregnancy</a>; the remaining half will come from a balanced diet.</p></li>
<li><p>Eat as much fresh, preferably organically grown, produce as possible. Organically grown produce will have lower pesticide levels. Certain pesticides can act as <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/efsajournal/pub/3293">thyroid disruptors at high levels</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Reduced the use of packaged foods. In addition to perchlorate, packaging can contaminate food with other thyroid disruptors, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28651165">such as phthalates</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>And, of course, skip the fireworks displays. They may be beautiful, but the consequences of perchlorate exposure for you and your infant’s health could be serious.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86595/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Demeneix a reçu des financements de Europe (H2020), Agence National de la Recherche, France). Barbara Demeneix is a co-founder of Watchfrog (<a href="https://www.watchfrog.fr/">https://www.watchfrog.fr/</a>) but receives no financial compensation from this company. </span></em></p>A chemical found in products as diverse as fireworks and food packaging, perchlorate can interfere with thyroid function as well as foetal brain development.Barbara Demeneix, Professor Physiology/ Endocrinology, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/865542017-11-20T15:19:37Z2017-11-20T15:19:37ZIs it possible to boost your intelligence by training? We reviewed three decades of research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195306/original/file-20171119-11454-9u3qnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It will certainly make you better at doing sudoku.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicola Keegan/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientists achieved astonishing results when training a student with a memory training programme in a landmark experiment in 1982. After 44 weeks of practice, the student, dubbed SF, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079742108605460">expanded his ability to remember digits</a> from seven numbers to 82. However, this remarkable ability did not extend beyond digits – they also tried with consonants.</p>
<p>The study can be considered the beginning of cognitive training research, investigating how practice in areas ranging from music to chess and puzzles impacts our intelligence. So what’s the state of this research 35 years later – have scientists discovered any foolproof ways to make us smarter? We reviewed the evidence to find out. </p>
<p>The topic of cognitive training is still very controversial, with scientists expressing <a href="http://longevity3.stanford.edu/blog/2014/10/15/the-consensus-on-the-brain-training-industry-from-the-scientific-community-2/">opposing views</a> about its effectiveness. Enthusiastic claims about the effects of cognitive training programmes usually follow the publication of a single experiment reporting positive findings. </p>
<p>Much less attention is paid when a study reports negative results. This phenomenon is quite common in many areas of social and life sciences and <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003081">often provides a biased view</a> of a particular research field. That is why systematic reviews such as ours are essential to rule out the risk of such bias.</p>
<h2>Making sense of conflicting evidence</h2>
<p>In a new paper, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721417712760">published in Current Directions in Psychological Science</a>, we synthesise what the reviews say about several cognitive training programmes. Our main method was meta-analysis – that is, a set of statistical techniques for estimating the true overall effect of a treatment.</p>
<p>To begin with, music expertise has been associated with superior memory for music material (notes on a stave). Remarkably, music experts exhibit a superior memory even when the musical material is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13421-016-0663-2">meaningless</a> (random notes). In the same vein, musical aptitude predicts music skills such as pitch and chord discrimination.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195304/original/file-20171119-11482-1xh8aoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Did playing the violin make Einstein smarter?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://rg.ru/2016/08/30/kakie-professii-budut-samymi-vostrebovannymi.html">wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, music instruction does not seem to exert any true effect on skills outside of music. Indeed, our <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X16300641">meta-analysis</a> shows that engaging in music has no impact on general measures of intelligence, when placebo effects are controlled for with active control groups. Music training does not affect either cognitive skills – fluid intelligence, memory, phonological processing, spatial ability and cognitive control – or academic achievement. These outcomes <a href="http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/%7Ew3psygs/FILES/SwaminathanEtAl2017.pdf">have been recently confirmed</a> by other independent labs.</p>
<p>The field of chess presents an analogous pattern of findings. Chess masters’ exceptional memory for chess positions is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1207/s15516709cog2404_4/pdf">renowned</a>. However, to date, chess training appears to exert <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X16300112">only a small effect</a> on cognitive and academic skills. What’s more, almost none of the studies reporting such effects actually used a control group – suggesting that the results were mainly due to placebos (such as being excited about a new activity).</p>
<p>Similar results have been observed in the field of <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-training-your-working-memory-make-you-smarter-we-reviewed-the-evidence-74322">working memory training</a>. Working memory is a cognitive system, related to short-term memory, that stores and manipulates the information necessary to solve complex cognitive tasks. Participants undergoing working memory training programmes systematically improve their performance in several working memory tasks. However, experimental groups consistently fail to show any improvement over active controls in other skills such as fluid intelligence, cognitive control or academic achievement. These findings were confirmed in three independent meta-analyses about <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giovanni_Sala5/publication/310752508_Working_Memory_Training_in_Typically_Developing_Children_A_Meta-Analysis_of_the_Available_Evidence/links/589f0d6145851598bab6ec5f/Working-Memory-Training-in-Typically-Developing-Children-A-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Available-Evidence.pdf">children</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-016-1217-0">adults</a>, and the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691616635612">general population</a>.</p>
<p>Video game training also fails to enhance cognitive function. In another recent meta-analysis, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321110846_Video_Game_Training_Does_Not_Enhance_Cognitive_Ability_A_Comprehensive_Meta-Analytic_Investigation">to be published in Psychological Bulletin</a>, we show that video game players outperform non-gamers on a variety of cognitive tasks. However, when non-players take part in video game training experiments, no appreciable effect is observed in any of the outcome measures. This suggests the video game players may just have been better at those tasks to start with. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195305/original/file-20171119-11462-1eafzwa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Korean brain training exercise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%ED%8C%8C%EC%9D%BC:NDSL-Brain_Training_Korean_Version.png">wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another group of scientists also recently carried out a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1529100616661983?journalCode=psia">systematic review</a> on general <a href="https://theconversation.com/brain-training-why-its-no-walk-in-the-park-66245">brain training programmes</a> (often including puzzles, tasks and drills). While the researchers reported some effects, they found an inverse relationship between the size of the effects and the quality of experimental designs of training programmes. Put simply, when the experiment includes essential features such as active control groups and large samples, the benefits are very modest at best. </p>
<h2>The problem with misinterpretation</h2>
<p>A pervasive problem with cognitive training studies is that improved performance in isolated cognitive tasks is often seen as a proof for cognitive enhancement. This is a common misinterpretation. To provide solid evidence, it is necessary to investigate the effects of training programmes on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latent_variable">“latent cognitive constructs”</a> – the variables underlying the performance in a set of cognitive tasks. </p>
<p>For example, working memory skill is a cognitive construct and can be measured by collecting data such as digit span. But if the training exerts an actual effect on the cognitive skill (construct) you should see the effects on many different tasks and latent factors – multiple measures of the same cognitive skill. And it is rare that these training programmes are set up to do that.</p>
<p>That means that, to date, cognitive training programmes do not even necessarily boost those cognitive functions that the trained tasks are supposed to involve. What is enhanced is just the ability to perform the trained task and similar tasks. </p>
<p>Researchers and the general public should be fully aware of the limits of benefits from training the brain. However, these negative findings shouldn’t discourage us from searching for ways to boost intelligence and other skills. We do know that our cognition is extraordinarily malleable to training. What we need now is more promising pathways to general cognitive enhancement rather than domain-specific enhancement. Our best bet for achieving that is probably by carrying out research on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8ycRdy23s0&t=1783s">genetics and neuroscience</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fernand Gobet receives funding from the University of Liverpool and is Research Associate at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural & Social Science, London School of Economics. He is author of the book "Understanding Expertise: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach".</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giovanni Sala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New studies investigate whether music, chess, video games or puzzles can make us smarter.Giovanni Sala, PhD - Cognitive Psychology, University of LiverpoolFernand Gobet, Professor of Decision Making and Expertise, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/876252017-11-17T12:38:40Z2017-11-17T12:38:40ZWhy video games could be the new IQ tests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195013/original/file-20171116-15400-s7fw4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sacramento-april-15-esports-athlete-hiddenbyart-626635889">Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gamers won’t be surprised. We and our colleagues have discovered a link between people’s ability to play video games and their general intelligence. Our research, published in the journal <a href="http://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?msgid=RPCzm5iBKDvP_FEv3hb-jA2&target=http%3a%2f%2fjournals.plos.org%2fplosone%2farticle%3fid%3d10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0186621&v=hsUQn2J7fWifcQt4YTUKHQ2&lc=930384088047796341">PLOS ONE</a>, can’t establish whether playing video games makes people smarter or whether being smart makes you better at video games (or some other explanation). But it points to intriguing possibilities in using games more generally for behavioural science, in particular for measuring people’s intelligence.</p>
<p>To demonstrate this, our team (led by Professor <a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/psychology/staff/academicstaff/alex-wade/">Alex Wade</a>) ran two studies. The first involved 56 experienced players of League of Legends, a “multiplayer online battle arena” (MOBA) game where two teams of five players compete in a fast-paced strategy game. <a href="http://gameinfo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/get-started/what-is-lol/">League of Legends</a> is highly popular – millions play it every day around the world. It has a thriving professional <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-the-pro-player-as-australia-hosts-its-richest-computer-gaming-event-76865">esports scene</a> – a rapidly growing <a href="https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/esports-revenues-will-reach-696-million-in-2017/">US$700m industry</a> where millions of viewers watch matches between highly-skilled professional players.</p>
<p>For our study, the experienced players conducted standard paper-and-pencil intelligence tests. The results showed that those with higher <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient">IQ test</a> scores tended to perform better at the game. Our measurements showed that highly ranked League of Legends players have an average IQ of around 115-120, putting them in the top 15% of the population. </p>
<p>In our second study, we analysed gameplay data for more than 20,000 participants playing two MOBAs (League of Legends and Dota 2) and two “first-person shooters” (Destiny and Battlefield 3). First-person shooters are fast-action games involving shooting enemies and other targets, in which players view the action as though through the eyes of the character they are controlling.</p>
<p>We used data for the players’ performance in the game and their age, and found that performance in the strategy games League of Legends and Dota 2 tended to be strongest in players around their mid-twenties – the same age as one’s IQ peaks. This is similar to the behaviour seen for players of traditional strategy games <a href="https://www.chess.com/blog/LionChessLtd/age-vs-elo---your-battle-against-time">such as chess</a>, where the peak skill follows a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268114003023#fig0010">similar pattern with age</a>, and for other strategy video games such as <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094215">Starcraft II</a>.</p>
<p>There was no similar age pattern for the first-person shooters, possibly because skill in these games depends more on speed, target accuracy and operational decision making. MOBAs rely more on working memory and the ability to make strategic decisions. Many of these strategic decisions require the ability to recognise novel patterns based on surroundings and opponents, <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-1698-3_1731">something that has been linked to a high IQ</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195014/original/file-20171116-15393-qge34q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">No cheating on the test.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/katowice-poland-march-16-ninjas-pyjamas-182839520">adamziaja.com</a></span>
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<p>Previous research suggests that people who are good at strategy games <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289616301593">such as chess</a> tend to score highly at IQ tests. Our research has extended this to games that hundreds of millions of people across the planet play every day. This suggests that performance in these games could provide a useful, general, easy-to-collect measure of intelligence. The idea of games as intelligence tests has also been put forward for the complex 3D puzzle game <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fb82/c5b69baf2dd5ba564952e8a5444777bae7e0.pdf">Portal 2</a>. Testing through gameplay is much cheaper than pen-and-pencil tests, and much less likely to provoke feelings of test anxiety.</p>
<h2>National IQ test</h2>
<p>Across many games, this opens up a huge new potential source of behavioural data, for example as a useful proxy test for estimating the IQ of entire populations. This could be used in fields such as cognitive epidemiology, where we examine how intelligence and health are linked over time in order to monitor the brain health of a population.</p>
<p>With systems such as these in place it might be possible to create an early-warning system for problems such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-helped-uncover-a-public-health-crisis-in-flint-but-learned-there-are-costs-to-doing-good-science-54227">Flint water crisis</a>, when the water supply of the town of Flint, Michigan, was polluted with the neurotoxin lead. By monitoring a population’s IQ and comparing it with similar populations from “control” areas, we might be able to spot any decline in cognitive abilities that such an event could cause. Monitoring IQ at population levels would also allow studies to use completely anonymised data.</p>
<p>Every click and button push in a networked game generates a piece of data. With billions of people around the world playing such games, we have the ability to explore human play behaviour at an unprecedented scale. Our work shows that behaviour during gameplay could indicate behaviour across a wider range of (non-game) activities. This gives us a tantalising glimpse of a future where we might use data on game behaviour to evaluate the effects of environment, policy or drugs on mental wellbeing and performance across whole populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87625/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Cowling currently receives funding from EPSRC, AHRC and InnovateUK and has previously received funding from ESRC, ERDF, and EU sources.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anders Drachen is part of the Digital Creativity Labs which receives funding from the EPSRC (part of RCUK) and other public and foundation sources.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Athansios Kokkinakis receives funding funding from the EPSRC (IGGI).</span></em></p>New research shows your ability to play certain computer games is linked to your intelligence.Peter Cowling, Director of IGGI and DC Labs, Professor of Computer Science, University of YorkAnders Drachen, Professor of Computer Science, Games, Analytics and Business Intelligence, University of YorkAthanasios Kokkinakis, PhD Candidate, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/870512017-11-09T21:05:56Z2017-11-09T21:05:56ZHave you ever wondered if you were exceptionally gifted?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199239/original/file-20171214-27583-bip45i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shinjuku, Japan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/2TlAsvhqiL0">Eutah Mizushima/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When you were in school, did you ever wonder why your grades fell short yet your puzzled teachers insisted that you were intelligent? As an adult, have you struggled to gain recognition for your work, despite making what you feel are creative and valuable contributions? Do you often feel like your mind works more quickly than others do? Could it be that you’re exceptionally gifted, yet don’t know it?</p>
<p>It’s a comforting thought in today’s society, given its strong emphasis on intelligence. But before rushing off to complete the latest phoney online IQ test, it’s important to take a closer look at the terminology. Although the terms <a href="http://www.scilogs.fr/ramus-meninges/la-pseudoscience-des-surdoues/"><em>gifted</em></a>, <em>precocious</em> and <em>high potential</em> are often used interchangeably, they’re not synonymous.</p>
<h2>Talent as a “gift”</h2>
<p>Logically, the most common one – <em>gifted</em> – implies the possession of a gift. It conjures up images of fairy godmothers endowing a child with beauty, grace, and intelligence in the cradle, Sleeping Beauty-style. A gift is seen as a bonus, a special ability granted by genetics, chance or the heavens.</p>
<p>The notion of <em>precocity</em> is linked to time. Psychologist Todd Lubart, a professor at Paris Descartes University, explained this in greater detail in a <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=Ul6Lx3Q82FMC&oi=fnd&pg=PA12&dq=notion+de+pr%C3%A9cocit%C3%A9+intellectuelle&ots=K9P0f1GaS_&sig=6tefTlrl-WbpjqwLLSoOqPpb8-0">2006 book</a>. The term implies a linear conception of intellectual development, from birth to adulthood – a theory developed by the Swiss psychologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget">Jean Piaget</a> in the mid-1960s.</p>
<p>To be considered “precocious” is to be seen as being ahead of the majority of students of the same age. The educational system will occasionally offer such students the opportunity to skip ahead a year. </p>
<p>Yet more recent work in psychology is challenging this linear vision of development. Numerous studies have demonstrated that intellectual development accelerates at certain times while regressing at others. Even adults are capable of making blatant errors in logical reasoning, while babies turn out to be far more logical than previously thought, as French psychologist Olivier Houdé <a href="https://books.google.fr/books?id=-PGrZmByrC0C&pg=PA410&lpg=PA410&dq=houd%C3%A9+et+les+plis+du+temps&source=bl&ots=2rsLDMRE8N&sig=NsAzDQkA6pFzLxcO_3FDeFpISP4&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMu6jn3brWAhXOZFAKHXmSCoAQ6AEIOzAG">demonstrated in 1995</a>.</p>
<h2>Aptitude may be obvious, or not</h2>
<p><em>High potential</em> is a more subtle and, no doubt, more useful term. It refers to the difference between a person’s aptitudes and their performance. What an individual demonstrates – their performance – is not always representative of their actual abilities, in other words, their aptitudes.</p>
<p>A person with high potential has specific potential, meaning an aptitude in a particular area. As American psychologist <a href="https://gifted.uconn.edu/schoolwide-enrichment-model/what_is_giftedness/">Joseph Renzulli has explained</a>, potential may either be fulfilled or not, depending on the individual’s environment. Therefore, an individual with high potential may not show any particular <em>talent</em> – a word that refers to observable performance.</p>
<p>To better understand this paradox, we can draw a parallel with physical potential. A child with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermobility_(joints)">hypermobility</a>, for example, has great elasticity in certain muscles, tendons and ligaments and, therefore, a high potential for flexibility. If the child is born into a circus family, he or she may become a contortionist. Otherwise, this potential flexibility may never express itself as talent, but remain hidden. Had Mozart been born into a family where music was never played, would he have become a great composer?</p>
<h2>Potential in sport and music</h2>
<p>Consequently, there are more people with high potential than people with talent, because not all those with high potential will benefit from the conditions required for their potential to manifest.</p>
<p>It should be stressed that high potential exists outside of the intellectual domain. This becomes clearer when seen through the lens of the theory of multiple intelligences, developed by American psychologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences">Howard Gardner in 2004</a>. While the theory is not yet sufficiently vetted scientifically for use in research, it draws attention to areas that are often undervalued in schools, such as sports, music, drawing, the capacity for introspection, and even charisma. Gardner argues there are eight separate forms of intelligence, some of which we refer to as intelligence, such as verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities, while others are less typical, such as musical-rhythmic and bodily-kinaesthetic.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">American developmental psychologist Howard Gardner speaks about his work.</span></figcaption>
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<p>It is too often assumed that high potential is simply a matter of IQ. Psychologists assess IQ using psychometric tests, notably WISC-IV (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and, recently, <a href="https://ecpa.fr/psychologie-clinique/test.asp?id=2046">WISC V</a> for children, and WAIS IV for adults. However, two researchers in psychology have demonstrated that a high IQ is a necessary condition to qualify as having high potential, but not sufficient per se.</p>
<h2>The necessity of enthusiasm and perseverance</h2>
<p>Let’s start with Renzulli. In his <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-bulletin-de-psychologie-2006-5-page-463.htm">2002 model</a>, he argued that high potential requires several factors to be united, including elevated intellectual abilities (which can be measured with an IQ test) and creativity (the ability to produce original responses), but also a high level of commitment, meaning strong personal motivation, entailing interest, enthusiasm, curiosity, perseverance, endurance, self-confidence, and a need for achievement.</p>
<p>In this theory, high potential can still be viewed as a “gift”. However, it should first be identified, then sustained by the individuals themselves and those around them, who will make the necessary efforts so the potential is eventually manifested as talent.</p>
<p>Canadian psychologist Françoys Gagné published <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1359813042000314682">his own model in 2004</a>. He theorized several types of catalysts required for high potential to manifest itself. The first relates to exceptional mental or physical capacities as well as personality traits, such as open-mindedness, conscientiousness, and high motivation. The second relates to the person’s environment – for example, a favourable sociocultural background, or positive feedback from family, friends or teachers. The third is made up of life events, positive or otherwise, such as a birth, a new home, or the death of a loved one. He also highlighted a fourth type of catalyst – luck, correlated with meeting the right person at the right time.</p>
<p>All of these possible catalysts work together to bring out a person’s natural capacities (gift). This model places great importance on an enriching environment, conducive to the manifestation of a person’s potential (child or adult), in the home, at work, and in leisure activities.</p>
<p>So what should we do if we want to understand our own potential, or that of our children? The first step is to consult a psychologist who can provide a complete analysis. In addition to an IQ test, he or she will examine the areas where high potential can be expressed, with the use of recognized diagnostic tools by trained professionals. These will establish, with little margin for error, whether or not you have “high potential”. </p>
<p>Note that this label is of little value in and of itself. The most important thing is to establish a picture of your strengths and weaknesses, to help you better know yourself and reach your own potential.</p>
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<p><em>Translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast for Word</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valérie Pennequin has received funding from the MAIIF Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elodie Tricard ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The words “gifted”, “precocious” and “high potential” represent different ways of seeing and valuing exceptional abilities.Valérie Pennequin, Professeur en psychologie du développement et psychologie cognitive, Université de ToursElodie Tricard, Doctorante en psychologie, Université de ToursLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.