Whenever I see a headline like that, the thought that comes to mind is "and boosted the IQ of the other half?"
It's interesting how none of the comments here have brought up the "but IQ doesn't mean anything" talking point yet. I wonder why.
It's interesting how none of the comments here have brought up the "but IQ doesn't mean anything" talking point yet. I wonder why.
Potentially you could interpret this as suggesting a tacit (mathematical) increase elsewhere, but I don't think the math works out like that.
There is in fact an upward trend to IQ scores:
When IQ tests are revised, they are again standardized using a new sample of test-takers, usually born more recently than the first; the average result is set to 100. When the new test subjects take the older tests, in almost every case their average scores are significantly above 100.