IQ and age

>Contrary to popular armchair psychology, there is no significant evidence 
>that IQ and age are inversely related.  In general, however, the older we 
>get, the less we use our brain, and it becomes like a muscle that we no 
>longer use.

Contrary to popular belief there is no sound evidence for believing many
of the claims made for IQ tests. IQ measures ones ability to do IQ 
tests and little else. 

They were originally invented as a means of measuring the response of 
mentally defective patients so that their progress under different
treatment regimes could be compared. 

There is no evidence to support the many claims made that IQ measures
"innate" intelligence. If you practice IQ tests your score will increase.
When I was 10 I used to spend each Friday afternoon practicing IQ tests 
for the entry examination to the upper school. My "IQ" increased by
30 points over that time, an most of the people in the class managed
to improve their score by at least 10.

>The point: Yes, you can improve your brain, and you can take proactive 
>steps to increase your IQ.

Absolutely, it may not be the best idea if you want to be able to fit
in socially however. You will then have to leave in a world where 
everyone you meet has a lower IQ.


	Phill

Phillip M. Hallam-Baker wrote:
> >Contrary to popular armchair psychology, there is no significant evidence
> >that IQ and age are inversely related.  In general, however, the older we
> >get, the less we use our brain, and it becomes like a muscle that we no
> >longer use.

> Contrary to popular belief there is no sound evidence for believing many
> of the claims made for IQ tests. IQ measures ones ability to do IQ
> tests and little else.
> They were originally invented as a means of measuring the response of
> mentally defective patients so that their progress under different
> treatment regimes could be compared.
> There is no evidence to support the many claims made that IQ measures
> "innate" intelligence. If you practice IQ tests your score will increase.
> When I was 10 I used to spend each Friday afternoon practicing IQ tests
> for the entry examination to the upper school. My "IQ" increased by
> 30 points over that time, an most of the people in the class managed
> to improve their score by at least 10.

> >The point: Yes, you can improve your brain, and you can take proactive
> >steps to increase your IQ.

> Absolutely, it may not be the best idea if you want to be able to fit
> in socially however. You will then have to leave in a world where
> everyone you meet has a lower IQ.

The biggest influence on IQ are the so-called "engrams" (fears, super-
stitions, anxieties, etc.) planted in your brain early in life.

Some of this can be overcome with mental exercise, and awareness of what
negative influences are holding you back.  Much easier said than done!

IQ as they attempt to measure it can probably be most easily explained
as pattern matching skills. Unfortunately for testing, and although you
can be every bit as intelligent at 70 as at 10, your pattern-matching
skills change and evolve over time, so any given tests will only apply
(more or less) at the age group they are optimized for.

Dale Thorn wrote:
> The biggest influence on IQ are the so-called "engrams" (fears, super-
> stitions, anxieties, etc.) planted in your brain early in life.
> 
> Some of this can be overcome with mental exercise, and awareness of what
> negative influences are holding you back.  Much easier said than done!
> 
> IQ as they attempt to measure it can probably be most easily explained
> as pattern matching skills. Unfortunately for testing, and although you
> can be every bit as intelligent at 70 as at 10, your pattern-matching
> skills change and evolve over time, so any given tests will only apply
> (more or less) at the age group they are optimized for.
> 

Would you dismiss strong correlations between IQ and success in life 
and academia as something irrelevant?

	- Igor.

Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
> Dale Thorn wrote:
> > The biggest influence on IQ are the so-called "engrams" (fears, super-
> > stitions, anxieties, etc.) planted in your brain early in life.
> > Some of this can be overcome with mental exercise, and awareness of what
> > negative influences are holding you back.  Much easier said than done!
> > IQ as they attempt to measure it can probably be most easily explained
> > as pattern matching skills. Unfortunately for testing, and although you
> > can be every bit as intelligent at 70 as at 10, your pattern-matching
> > skills change and evolve over time, so any given tests will only apply
> > (more or less) at the age group they are optimized for.

> Would you dismiss strong correlations between IQ and success in life
> and academia as something irrelevant?

Not at all, and I think you could make some interesting equations out of
this if you wanted to spend the time.

Factors for raw intelligence, i.e., pattern matching skills.
Factors for aggressiveness, assertiveness, self-confidence, etc.
Factors for manipulative ability (to manipulate people, etc.).  I don't
know how to properly categorize this last item, but perhaps a professional
psychologist would.

In sum, I think you could observe successful people and establish most
of the relevant factors, but be aware - if you are not an insider in
several of these "success circles", you might miss one or more key
factors, particularly those that would be denied by successful people,
such as willingness to do things people don't like to talk about openly.

> 
> > Contrary to popular belief there is no sound evidence for believing many
> > of the claims made for IQ tests. IQ measures ones ability to do IQ
> > tests and little else.

agreed. well put.

> > They were originally invented as a means of measuring the response of
> > mentally defective patients so that their progress under different
> > treatment regimes could be compared.

I will, however, have to point out, that the IG test was not originally 
developed to measure the response of mentally defective patients to anything.

The first IQ test was developed to gauge the academic progress of school 
children.  That is why the scores are calculated according to age.

Yes, they were at a later date used for what you mentioned, and many 
other things at that.

I agree with everything else you said.