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JoeMerchant [soylentnews.org] writes:

A Norwegian study published Monday found a seven-point dip [newsweek.com] in IQ test scores per generation among men born from 1962 to 1991. The results suggest a reversal in the Flynn effect, an observed increase in IQ scores throughout the 20th century in developed countries.

Coverage from The Week [theweek.co.uk] adds:

The reasons for the Flynn effect and its apparent reversal are disputed. “Scientists have put the rise in IQ down to better teaching, nutrition, healthcare and even artificial lighting,” says The Times.

But “it is also possible that the nature of intelligence is changing in the digital age and cannot be captured with traditional IQ tests”, adds the newspaper.

“Take 14-year-olds in Britain. What 25% could do back in 1994, now only 5% can do,” Shayer added, citing maths and science tests.

More from The Daily Mail [dailymail.co.uk]:

Two British studies suggested that the fall was between 2.5 and 4.3 points every ten years.

But due to limited research, their results were not widely accepted.

In the latest study Ole Rogeburg and Bernt Bratsberg, of the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Oslo, found that Norwegian men's IQs are lower than the scores of their fathers when they were the same age.

The pair analysed the scores from a standard IQ test of over 730,000 men – who reported for national service between 1970 and 2009.

Original Submission