In page 40 - 41 of the Argument section of The Genius In All of Us, David Shenk quotes psychologists Mandel Sherman and Cora B. Key that "children develop only as the environment demands development", following their study that isolated societies tended to have lower IQ's than societies integrated into the modern world. How are the two societies different from one another? What selective advantages are providing for increasing intelligence capability in a more modern society? What is the selective advantage of not having this increase in a more isolated society? How is this phenomenon significant to the doctrine of survival? Explain and reference specific parts of the text.
Following on that assertion, Shenk references psychologist James Flynn in his study that IQ has steadily increased over the decades, "a staggering difference of eighteen points over two generations" (42). How does this trend cohere with the previous claim, and how has this shift in intelligence capacity reflected on our society? Cite from personal experience and from the text.
As our society continues to progress in complexity and innovation, the people of our modern world have been put under such different environmental pressures and their intelligence has changed with the times. A phenomenon known as the Flynn Effect was discovered by Richard Lynn in 1977, which observed that there was an average of a 3 point increase in IQ scores worldwide each decade (http://majorityrights.com/weblog/comments/a_possible_explanation_for_the_flynn_effect). This directly correlates to Shenk’s ideas about environment and its effect on the intelligence. Biologically, an increase in intelligence means more neural connections in the brain and increased maturity at an earlier age. Due to changes in our body, brain maturation just happens sooner now, meaning that a 10-year-old’s brain is the equivalent of a 12-year-old’s brain 50 years ago. Therefore, “real intelligence has not increased, children just acquire it sooner” (http://majorityrights.com/weblog/comments/a_possible_explanation_for_the_flynn_effect).
ReplyDeleteMost of the explanations for this change in intelligence have to do with changes in the environment. As our technology has advanced throughout the year, the environment in which people are growing up has also become more sophisticated and demands increased intelligence levels. Children are exposed to new pressures and more stimulating environments due to cultural changes such as “more intellectually demanding work, greater use of technology and smaller families” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#Proposed_explanations). As children are put under changes in the environment and increased pressures, they are forced to adapt and become more intelligent as a result over time. Higher IQ levels present a selective advantage, since it is much easier for a person to survive in society if they are able to think through tough situations from a stimulating society. More modernized societies experience these changes more directly, therefore we would expect to see a higher IQ of test-takers in these areas, as Shenk suggested. However, there is also evidence of increasing IQ in rural regions of developing countries. A study conducted by UCLA professors in Embu, Kenya, in 1984 and 1998 showed evidence to support the Flynn effect as well (http://pss.sagepub.com/content/14/3/215.short). One explanation for this could be the increasing level of nutrition in this country, going from 55.5% to 35.8% of the population with insufficient calorie intake. Also there was evidence that average family sizes decreased drastically by 1998, meaning that each family was able to provide more sufficiently for their children with more money to spend on each child (http://www.jstor.org/stable/40063891?seq=3). This could be a selective advantage of living in an isolated society, since in larger towns there tends to be a larger family size
However, there is still a discrepancy between IQ increases in different levels of sophisticated societies. Overall, modernized societies still score higher than isolated societies on the IQ scale. This could be a result of the demands of the society. Modernized societies put more emphasis on intelligence; therefore the pressure to achieve a high IQ is much higher than in a developing country. Also, people in more developed countries may have a familiarity with test-taking, giving them an advantage in the IQ test.
The isolated society of Colvin, Virginia had many adults who were “illiterate and access to newspapers, radio, and schools was severely limited” (Shenk 41). With the media immersing citizens of a modern society, adults are almost forced to be more in touch with the world. They also need to be more educated to be able to survive with the fast pace of bustling cities. With the information that Mandel Sherman and Cora B. Key gathered, it seems that IQ is not simply innate, but is also affected by environmental factors. In the remote town of Colvin, Virginia, “six-year-olds scored close to the national average in IQ” (Shenk 41), but as these kids grew older, “their IQ scores drifted lower and lower – falling further and further behind the national average due to inadequate schooling and acculturation” (Shenk 41). Advantages to living in a modern society would not necessarily mean the child is born with any selective advantages, but can adapt to them as the child grows up. This would happen when particular environmental factors turn on or off certain genes that may help the child excel more in life compared to those raised in isolated societies. Children living in modern societies are given more opportunities, and are probably told that they can achieve anything they want. In psychology, parents and teachers would be utilizing the self-fulfilling prophecy, which is the “tendency for our expectations to foster the behavior that is consistent with our expectations” (http://www.psychologyandsociety.com/self-fulfillingprophecy.html). In more isolated societies, parents may still encourage their children, but if the education is not very good, then students are not likely to be given as much positive feedback as those in modern societies are. In a modern society, there are more professional homes because most adults need to have a profession of some sort to live in well-developed areas. Psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley “sampled the actual number of words spoken to young children” (Shenk 45) that were part of different social classes for over three years. They discovered that “children in professionals’ homes were exposed to an average of more than fifteen hundred more spoken words per hour than children in welfare homes” (Shenk 45). The differences between isolated and modern societies are clear, and the data collected about the IQ of the citizens of each type of society illustrate that those who live in a modern society are more likely to survive. With a higher IQ and better knowledge of the world one lives in, one has a relatively higher chance of surviving and reproducing. Those who live in isolated societies have many disadvantages compared to well-developed societies and this would lessen the chances of survival. Eventually, the isolated societies will either evolve into more modern ones or simply deplete because its inhabitants are not able to survive and reproduce in as much abundance as those in modern societies.
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ReplyDeleteWhen James Flynn discovered that IQ scores increased every few years, this isn’t information that many should be shocked about. As time has passed, technology has improved greatly and new theories and hypothesis are being formed every day. All of these new insights lead us to a different way of thinking. Flynn explains that “we differ from them in that we can use abstractions and logic and the hypothetical” (Shenk 42). Back when IQ tests were first administered, people did not use a lot of abstract thinking as we do today. Back in the nineteenth century, people did not understand “the theory of natural selection”
(Shenk 43) and the scientific method was not at all common knowledge in the general public. This trend matches up with the previous claim because if those living in modern societies are more likely to survive and reproduce, then they will have offspring with higher IQs. Over time, natural selection will favor those with higher IQs because they are more likely to survive and reproduce, filling the world with generally smarter people. From experience, I know that young adults today are much more knowledgeable about technology and new thinking processes than middle-aged adults who have already established themselves in a profession. Yet, there are adults out there who are whizzes with high-tech equipment. This shift in intelligence capacity is a result of modern societies doing things better and faster, creating a more demanding environment for developing children to keep up with.
(Kalista Noegroho, Kalista.dara@gmail.com)