
Beyond the Flynn Effect (2006) - tokenadult
http://www.psychometrics.cam.ac.uk/about-us/directory/beyond-the-flynn-effect
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tokenadult
The first two comments here make me wonder how many people will read the
submission through to the end. Please do. This is one of the most clear online
presentations of what the Flynn effect is all about. (By contrast, the
Wikipedia article is still TERRIBLE.) Contrary to what the second comment
posted says, Flynn is a very highly regarded researcher on psychology. Arthur
Jensen wrote in 1987, in his festschrift _Arthur Jensen: Consensus and
Controversy_ "Now and then I am asked by colleagues, students, and
journalists: who, in my opinion, are the most respectable critics of my
position on the race-IQ issue? The name James R. Flynn is by far the first
that comes to mind. His book, _Race, IQ and Jensen_ (1980), is a distinguished
contribution to the literature on this topic, and, among the critiques I have
seen of my position, is virtually in a class by itself for objectivity,
thoroughness, and scholarly integrity." And Charles Murray, surviving author
of _The Bell Curve,_ wrote in his back cover description of Flynn's 2007 book
_What Is Intelligence?_ "This book is a gold mine of pointers to interesting
work, much of which was new to me. All of us who wrestle with the
extraordinarily difficult questions about intelligence that Flynn discusses
are in his debt."

Not everyone knows yet that IQ test scores have been rising steadily around
the world throughout the century when IQ tests have been in common use in the
developed world. Further gains in IQ are expected in most developing
countries, although some developed countries (notably, those in Scandinavia)
may be seeing the end of this trend. This phenomenon of IQ test scores rising
over time ("secular increase in intelligence," from the point of view of
psychologists) is these days called "the Flynn effect" since Herrnstein and
Murray referred to it that way in the 1994 book _The Bell Curve_. That
terminology has become mainstream because Flynn was the researcher who did the
most to raise awareness of the phenomenon and confirm it across data sets from
all over the world. Flynn had some important publications in the flagship
psychology research journal in the United States, _Psychological Bulletin,_
[1] that are widely cited to this day. The 2006 lecture text linked here is
Flynn discussing the implications of the rise of IQ scores, what they mean for
the definition of human intelligence and what societal changes we can expect
to go along with rising IQ.

AFTER EDIT: I don't fully agree with Flynn's political opinions, but he
expresses them very thoughtfully, while introducing a lot of interesting data
I don't see often mentioned in other books on social policy, in his book
_Where Have All the Liberals Gone?_ [2] I liked that book a lot better and
learned more from it than I expected to.

[1] Flynn, J. R. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978.
Psychological bulletin, 95(1), 29.

[http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pd...](http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1984b.pdf)

Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really
measure. Psychological bulletin, 101(2), 171.

[http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf](http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/fe/LinkedDocuments/flynn1987.pdf)

[2] [http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-
inter...](http://www.cambridge.org/tn/academic/subjects/politics-
international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/where-have-
all-liberals-gone-race-class-and-ideals-america)

~~~
api
The best simple explanations I've heard for the Flynn effect are better
nutrition and outbreeding. The world today is seeing a historically
unprecedented degree of migration and genetic mixing, which typically produces
stronger not weaker offspring in various ways (on average).

It's one way the Nazis were utterly wrong. Their program of Aryan purity would
likely have produced a master race of inbred knuckle-dragging ubermenschen.

~~~
danielweber
Once you exclude the nasty effects of inbreeding, what's the evidence that
mixing leads to healthier offspring?

~~~
api
It's actually a very complex subject. Start with things like outbreeding,
heterozygote dominance, etc.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcrossing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcrossing)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding_depression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding_depression)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis)

There are of course counter-cases. _Nothing_ in biology is totalistic or
absolute, including this sentence. :)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outbreeding_depression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outbreeding_depression)

Yet most of the evidence I've seen e.g. in immunology (which doesn't suffer
from the PC bias against studying it like IQ) suggests that _on average_
outbreeding tends to boost fitness to some extent. More distant crosses tend
to have healthier immune systems... again on average.

To a great extent outbreeding is the entire point of sexual reproduction-- to
use mating assortment to decrease the likelihood of being stuck with lower-
fitness genes that keep repeating in the same lineage. If it didn't work that
way we'd probably all reproduce by budding.

Edit: wacko left-field hypothesis: what if the immune system boosting effects
of outbreeding have helped the human race avoid a global super-plague brought
on by unprecedented degrees of mobility? In other words-- what if the genetic
effects of all that mobility have counter-balanced the immunological risks?

------
ZeroGravitas
Here's a related question: why are race and IQ so intertwined?

It seems to me that if you believe IQ is important, and that IQ tests can
measure it accurately, then why deal with races at all? Just administer the
test to individuals. It seems strange to be that concerned about IQ and then
decide to give a low IQ individual the benefit of being arbitrarily grouped
with higher IQ individuals, or vice versa,

------
spiritplumber
I was hoping this to be about Kevin, rather than James... oh well.

------
a8da6b0c91d
Egalitarians need the Flynn Effect. They are very bothered by the reams of
data showing IQ is over 70% heritable and group differences are persistent
over generations. The Flynn Effect is more comforting and makes it possible to
wave your hands and say IQs are rising. Nevermind that Flynn is just some
random Political Scientist, not a Psychologist or psychometric expert, or
genetics expert. And also nevermind that Flynn is active in left wing
organizations.

~~~
api
I'm a liberal who kind of agrees with you.

If you want to change some miserable condition of the world, you don't start
by denying reality. You start by acknowledging the way things are, and then
you start thinking creatively about how one might go about changing things.

... which leads me to be an ardent supporter of all kinds of research that
often falls under the popular banner of "transhumanism" \-- human genetic
engineering, cognitive enhancement, augmentation of human intelligence, etc. I
also think a great way to "sell" that kind of research is to position it as a
way to treat severe cognitive impairment. After all, if we can allow someone
born with an IQ of 50 to function normally, what can we do for someone with an
IQ of 100? 150?

Unfortunately that makes me a lonely liberal indeed. Most liberals today
insist on simultaneously ignoring the reality of heritable inequality and
taking a naturalistic-fallacy based position against any form of human
augmentation or genetic tinkering. "No GMO!" The total takeover of the "left"
by naturalistic fallacy thinking is insane.

Where in nature do we see equality, fairness, or an active attempt to uplift
the disadvantaged outside of very small family and kin groups? Nature is all
about selfish genes. Evolution takes some meat, wads it up, and throws it at
the wall to see if it sticks. Never mind that it's sentient and gets to
_experience_ its success or its failure. Fuck nature.

------
carsongross
The mental retardation paradox is the most humorous indictment of the popular
understanding (amongst upper-middles, anyway) of the Flynn Effect.

One need only look at the quality and quantity of fin de siecle science,
engineering, letters and arts to retire the concept with uproarious laughter.

