Back in 2007 , Malcolm Gladwell wrote a grand article forThe New Yorkeronthe history of I.Q.At its nucleus , Gladwell ’s article is a book review , covering James Flynn’sWhat Is Intelligence?Gladwell talk about a series of surprising facts about I.Q. , and explains long - arrest debates about difference in I.Q. among population ( the most famous being the hubbub overThe Bell Curve ) . The salient facts are:1 . I.Q. tons are frequently normed . In general , the entire universe taking the tryout tends to get better at the test over time – this is called the Flynn essence , and on average we ’re getting 0.3 dot better per year . To account for the Flynn outcome , periodically the I.Q. test are normalize such that the median grievance remains at 100 . This mean that someone who mark a 100 on a young test has essay well than someone who get a 100 on the old trial .
Why does this matter?Well , I ’ll let Gladwell delve into the detail , but the core issue is that you ca n’t well compare scores over distich of time because the trial and their scores have been exchange . Where it gets really uncanny is when you look into the categorization of dispirited piles ( specifically , who is retarded ) and you chasten for norming over time . As Gladwell writes :
Now , distinctly this was not the font . So what exactly does the Flynn effect mean ?
2 . I.Q. tests appraise culturally specific cognition , not heart intelligence . Although I ’ve heard this parameter for year ( and agreed with it on principle ) , I ’ve never hear a succinct account of specifically what ’s going on in the tests . In what specific way is I.Q. a test of cultural characteristics?Here ’s what Gladwell writes ( in part ):
Gladwell ’s critical review isa fascinating read , and lift a change of interesting questions about the nature of intelligence service and what exactly I.Q. tests mensuration . If you ’re concerned in cultural complexity and noesis in general , I highly recommendEverything Bad Is Good for You , whose dissertation isnotthat crappy TV makes you smart , but instead that modern civilisation is cognitively complex .
