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Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

telegraph.co.uk

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Re: Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

#11

Post by JohnFen »

meghan_rain wrote: post #3

Is this because increase social media/internet use? Edit: Also, how can the average IQ be 112? I thought it was always 100?

The average IQ is 100 by definition. Any time you see someone claiming the average IQ is something other than 100, they either don't know what they're talking about, or they are trying to deceive you about something.

This is also why people who say that the average IQ has been rising or falling over time are mistaken.

IQ doesn't really mean what most people think it means. What it really means has been a matter of disagreement ever since it was introduced, but it is a poor proxy for "intelligence" at best, and can't be used to compare intelligence differences over time.

Re: Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

#13

Post by Atheros »

JohnFen wrote: post #11
meghan_rain wrote: post #3

Is this because increase social media/internet use? Edit: Also, how can the average IQ be 112? I thought it was always 100?

The average IQ is 100 by definition. Any time you see someone claiming the average IQ is something other than 100, they either don't know what they're talking about, or they are trying to deceive you about something. This is also why people who say that the average IQ has been rising or falling over time are mistaken. IQ doesn't really mean what most people think it means. What it really means has been a matter of di…

Why not?

Re: Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

#14

Post by dent9876543 »

mrlonglong wrote: post #6

[flagged]

True, but it is not opinion, and is reporting results contained in a paper. The reporting itself looks pretty even handed. (For example, paragraph 5 reads, "At the same time, the results do not prove a direct link between lockdowns and a drop in intelligence among school children.")

The paper itself also looks comprehensive (a French academic partnership, without conflicting interests if the paper's disclosure statement is to be taken at face value). A more substantive conclusion would need quite some reading.

As a parent, is a hugely disappointing finding. It's not appropriate to dismiss it simply on the basis of it being reported in the Telegraph.

It will hopefully be a catalyst for further work, and inform future NPI-based responses.

Re: Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

#15

Post by JohnFen »

Atheros wrote: post #13
JohnFen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average IQ is 100 by definition. Any time you see someone claiming the average IQ is something other than 100, they either don't know what they're talking about, or they are trying to deceive you about something. This is also why people who say that the average IQ has been rising or falling over time are mistaken. IQ doesn't really mean what most people think it means. What it really means has been a matter of di…

Why not?

Because the scale itself shifts over time. For the sake of argument, let's say that IQ really does measure "intelligence".

By the definition of the IQ scale, 100 is always whatever the average intelligence is. So the average intelligence of people in the 1960s was 100. Let's say people have become dumber (or smarter, doesn't matter) in the time since then -- the average IQ of people now is still 100.

How much absolute intelligence "100" represents now is not the same as how much intelligence "100" represented then. IQ is about measuring differences in populations at a moment in time. It is not suitable for (or intended to) measure differences over time.

Re: Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

#16

Post by addisonl »

Atheros wrote: post #13
JohnFen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The average IQ is 100 by definition. Any time you see someone claiming the average IQ is something other than 100, they either don't know what they're talking about, or they are trying to deceive you about something. This is also why people who say that the average IQ has been rising or falling over time are mistaken. IQ doesn't really mean what most people think it means. What it really means has been a matter of di…

Why not?

The average intelligence has been raising over time but the average IQ has not since, as the other reply said, it is nailed to 100.

Re: Children’s IQ dropped during lockdown, study finds

#19

Post by haswell »

meghan_rain wrote: post #3

Is this because increase social media/internet use? Edit: Also, how can the average IQ be 112? I thought it was always 100?

> Is this because increase social media/internet use?

This was the first thought that came to mind, and I also wonder if this goes further to increased media consumption and phone use/dependence across the board.

Smartphone adoption and use was already on a hockey stick trajectory, but adding lockdown to the mix added to many people’s screen time massively. And for kids growing up in that setting, learning that knowledge comes from these magical slabs of glass seems like a good way to stunt certain kinds of curiosity quite early.

To whatever degree phone and social media use is a factor, it does seem highly likely that lockdowns accelerated/magnified this effect.

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